I recently took this photo and was immediately reminded of assemblage art. According to the Webster dictionary that is art that is a composition made from scraps, junk, and odds and ends (as of paper, cloth, wood, stone or metal).
The photo was taken recently in a men’s restroom in Cincinnati. It is a kind of work of art in itself. Does anyone recognize where it was taken???
I was rooting through some old boxes of artwork and found this piece. I had totally forgotten about it – it was an illustration for a Graphic Artists Guild Event poster or something like that. I pulled it out because it had yellowed – so I scanned it and corrected the color. The first photo is the piece adjusted – the second photo is the piece as I found it, with all the yellowing. I assume the yellowing was due to the fixative that I used.
When it was printed there was a blue background that covered the entire piece except for the shoes. The shoes had a white background to make them pop out. The effect was make it look like a duotone. I will have to see if I have the actual printed piece somewhere.
I decided to vector trace the red, tentacle-like object in the center of the last drawing posted. I used Illustrator and the pen tool to trace it. I now have an object that I can blow up as large as a billboard or print out as small as a postage stamp and it will look clean. This resolution independence makes this object much more usable to me. I can see it showing up in my next narrative scroll. Additionally, I can change the color inside and change the color of the outside stroke to whatever I want. I just threw a basic radial gradient and an orange colored stroke on it below. I am not quite sure why this object appeals to me. Perhaps the appeal is it’s lack of symmetry, even though, at first glance, it appears to be rather symmetrical.
Sometimes I just start out doodling and come up with an image through my subconscious. This is one of those drawings. I started out just drawing these tentacles and then started adding to it. The final image looks to me like a kind of amoeba proteus. I added color to it and am not quite sure what to make of it. It is a truly subconscious piece or maybe just an abstract play of shapes and color. I don’t really know.
I am thinking about tracing the central red tentacle-like object in Illustrator. I think it may have some application as a vector object.
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