Three Singularities

The images posted today are all individuals. Each has a unique look, palette and texture. They result from my ongoing exploration using Procreate app along with iColorama to create abstract compositions.

I would describe this as a digital version of a painterly collage. Paint-like tools in Procreate were used to make “brush strokes” and various textures. Over the background, some geometric areas were painted a solid color and then, using the erase tool, a woodcut texture was etched out.
Very different from the first image this one, also done in Procreate app, features flat areas of color using a very limited palette. The raised or embossed texture along the edges was generated in iColorama app.
In some ways this composition combines features of the first two. There is a painterly underlying texture running through the background as in the first. Geometric shapes are central to the design as in the second and finally, iColorama was used to add an embossed element.

The Ancient One

It’s been a while since I did any urban sketching and with the pandemic, I haven’t really been motivated to go out and try to do so. I had to bring the car in to our local garage for brake work and since it would take at least two hours, I decided to take along my drawing stuff and try to get a drawing in.

There is a small apple orchard right in town that we pass by every time we go into Danville. It has some old gnarly patriarchs that caught my eye and one of them cried out to be drawn. I used a mechanical pencil to do the first draft drawing and refined that with two Micron pens (#3 and #5). Two brushes were used for the watercoloring, a 3/4 in flat from American Journey and a #8 round DaVinci Casaneo, both travel brushes. The drawing was done in an 8 1/4 square Hand Book Travelogue sketchbook across two pages. What I loved about this tree was the way the clipped back branches created an umbrella shape over time. New growth has started to shoot vertically out on the left side and at the top. Overall it had a wonderful grace while commanding respect for its age and stature.

You can select the image below to see it full sized.

Texturing and Blending

My newest digital abstractions make use of various brush textures as well as virtual texturing to make the images look like they were painted on porous stone-like surfaces. They were created using layers. On each layer there were various objects and colors which when combined made up the composite final image. I also made extensive use of blending modes. These are used to change the transparency and color relationship (blending) with the layers below. Applying blending modes made it possible to build up rich combinations of shapes and colors, something like pasting different colored pieces of thin tissue paper in layers.

All three of these compositions were created on an iPad using Procreate app and an Apple pencil. When the images were finished I used iColorama app to add surface textures to complete the process.

Select any of the thumbnail images below to see composition at full size.

Connect the Dots

Below are three visual fantasies. I used circles of many sizes to create these free flowing arrangements. Sometimes the circles are positive and sometimes negative, being “punched out” of the larger free form shapes. All three use the same palette of analogous colors with little contrast in values so that they appear flattened. Just let your eyes wander through, following the lines and strings of dots.

These digital compositions were created in Procreate app for iPad using an Apple pencil.

Select any of the thumbnail images below to see composition at full size.

Cutouts

The digital abstract designs below use a palette of purples and oranges. The subject matter represents a variation on the themes of other recent abstractions; the use of circular cutouts in various shapes along with line work. Most of the lines were made by using a pen tool in an eraser mode. The eraser cuts through the solid shape to make straight or curved lines.

They were created in Procreate app for iPad.

Select any of the thumbnail images below to see composition at full size.

Shape, Line and Circle

In contrast to several recent abstractions that used black as a background color, the new ones below are lighter and have a more “airy” appearance. They use the same basic color palette. The compositional elements, polygons, circles and lines are used in various ways in all three.

They were created in Procreate app for iPad.

Select any of the thumbnail images below to see composition at full size.

Levitation

Many people are practicing meditation and relaxation during this anxious time of Covid-19. These abstracts hint at a meditative state that conjures a sense of levitation. Some of the objects float calmly above the background. Although there is complexity in these compositions, the controlled palette of colors helps to keep things relaxed.

All three were created on an iPad with Procreate app using the same color palette and general subject matter.

Having so much in common, they also make a nice triptych.

Luminescence

Living in northern Vermont we experience about six months of winter weather with literal and figurative darkness. Add to that the continuing despondency created by the coronavirus. There is a growing need for warmth, light and human camaraderie. How does one portray these needs visually. Start with warm colors, reds, oranges and yellows. Make them glow against the darkness with a unity of composition, creating a promise of hopefulness and possibility for better things to come.

All three compositions were created in Procreate app for iPad.

Dreamscapes

My latest abstractions carry through one of the elements of my last posting. All three of them have a solid black background. I like the effect of lighter colors and lines against the stark black. These three are all very similar in composition with a subdued color palette and could easily be displayed in triptych arrangements although they weren’t designed specifically for that. While looking at the finished images I couldn’t help thinking that they had both a restful yet whimsical feeling, a dreamlike quality.

All three were created in Procreate app for iPad.

Darkness into Light

These three compositions started out as most of my digital abstracts. I had no preconceived subject or meaning when I began. The only constraint was that I wanted all three to have a black background. As I composed the first two images I thought of the ancient concept of Darkness into Light and that these images might act as visual metaphors for the present darkness of the coronavirus. Darkness into Light is itself a metaphor for overcoming the difficulties of life, going from ignorance to knowledge, fear to courage. The third composition is the lightest of all three. Hopefully over time we will find the answers to bring us through this pandemic and into that metaphorical light.

All three images were created in Procreate app for iPad.