VLAC - The Source
The Value, Line, and Association Chart, or VLAC. This painting was created to bring together several areas i was focusing on at the time; color fundamentals, abstract line expression, mental and emotional association.
Color Fundamentals - Value:
From a distance, the chart is a just a stepped gradient scale. Once you get closer shape come into focus. From row to row, I was using principals of simultaneous contrast. Its quite shocking in person, to realize how easily the eye is fooled. Once you go down that rabbit hole, obtaining correct colors can be challenging, because the color you need on the painting is completely different than what you see when mixing.
Mental and Emotional Association:
One of the main principles i realized about association was that when playing the association game, the first things seen, are connected to surface level consciousness, the prevailing dialogue in the surrounding culture. What interests me though, is when you sit with the imagery, what you see changes over time, and generally the longer you allow the image to continue in a state of abstraction, the more personal the associations become. So with this chart, my intent was to create a source of line abstractions that i could sit with for long term.
Abstract Line:
The 2 common ways i produce imagery; starting with abstract line, and starting with texture (sometimes brush, sometimes a rubbing). For the VLAC I put a emphasis on line because my grandpa was a hard edged sign painter, and I wanted to honor that, as i had with the recently completed "Payne's Gray" series. In the "Payne's Gray" series, i kept it completely line based. With VLAC i want to create a source of line based work, that i could incorporate texture based imagery into as well.
lived with my grandparents, and they had a big red barn across the street from there house, out on the northern edges of Topeka, Kansas. As a young child I would sit in the barn workshop, and watch him perched on a stool, working on large signs. The smells of brush cleaner and cigarette smoke in the air. He would have a full cigarette worth of ashes still attached and dangling from his mouth as he made his gestures. sometimes he'd let me have a sip of his beer.
With the VLAC , I incorporated a abstract approach to writing in cursive. I guess not many know the feeling of writing in cursive anymore, but it has a sensuality to it. So I removed the actual words and letters and just wrote in the flowing abstract cursive to capture the lines for the VLAC.
Color Fundamentals - Value:
From a distance, the chart is a just a stepped gradient scale. Once you get closer shape come into focus. From row to row, I was using principals of simultaneous contrast. Its quite shocking in person, to realize how easily the eye is fooled. Once you go down that rabbit hole, obtaining correct colors can be challenging, because the color you need on the painting is completely different than what you see when mixing.
Mental and Emotional Association:
One of the main principles i realized about association was that when playing the association game, the first things seen, are connected to surface level consciousness, the prevailing dialogue in the surrounding culture. What interests me though, is when you sit with the imagery, what you see changes over time, and generally the longer you allow the image to continue in a state of abstraction, the more personal the associations become. So with this chart, my intent was to create a source of line abstractions that i could sit with for long term.
Abstract Line:
The 2 common ways i produce imagery; starting with abstract line, and starting with texture (sometimes brush, sometimes a rubbing). For the VLAC I put a emphasis on line because my grandpa was a hard edged sign painter, and I wanted to honor that, as i had with the recently completed "Payne's Gray" series. In the "Payne's Gray" series, i kept it completely line based. With VLAC i want to create a source of line based work, that i could incorporate texture based imagery into as well.
lived with my grandparents, and they had a big red barn across the street from there house, out on the northern edges of Topeka, Kansas. As a young child I would sit in the barn workshop, and watch him perched on a stool, working on large signs. The smells of brush cleaner and cigarette smoke in the air. He would have a full cigarette worth of ashes still attached and dangling from his mouth as he made his gestures. sometimes he'd let me have a sip of his beer.
With the VLAC , I incorporated a abstract approach to writing in cursive. I guess not many know the feeling of writing in cursive anymore, but it has a sensuality to it. So I removed the actual words and letters and just wrote in the flowing abstract cursive to capture the lines for the VLAC.
Skull Stoic Source Lineage
In the NFT space, the most common way of releasing work is through a "drop". Sometimes it will be a limted edition set of the same image, just as it would be in print, and sometimes, and the way that interests me particularly, is the pfp / or generative art drop. With this style of drop, the artist creates multiple variations for parts of the image, and then the drop machine randomly puts them together to achieve varying results. This is absolutely fucking delicious. I've incorporated this notion into my long established working style, and i think the approach is very uncommon. Ill be having my drop on NFThive, on the wax blockchain.
The photo gallery above shows the lineage to the skull stoic drop. Skull Stoic is part of the "5 Dog Rhino" project, which is an area isolation in the "Energy Decision" acrylic painting, which is a single pain in the Value Line and Association Chart, or VLAC.
With the Skull Stoic Drop, i am officially merging digital art processes, specifically those of the NFT space, with my physical work process. They will now feed off of each other. The NFT space is of particular interest because it makes digital scarcity a reality. Also, the nature of the blockchain means that the process is being captured by digital history. Along with the dynamics of a digital community of collectors that can take part, like never before.
"5 Dog Rhino" is the first of many macro level isolations from the "Energy Decision" painting. "5 dog Rhino" is broken up into multiple parts, and each part will be developed on its own, and be a NFT drop. Then, once all sections of "5 Dog Rhino" are developed, the varieties of version will be combined and a master drop created. From that master drop, there will be a Physical Painting Created. That physical painting will be available to purchase and trade as a NFT voucher, and only be shipped, once the owner of the linked NFT voucher wants to claim the physical piece.
The "Energy Decison" painting has many areas to be developed like this. It is my trial run. What is learned from this process will be used to create new physical pieces from scratch.
The photo gallery above shows the lineage to the skull stoic drop. Skull Stoic is part of the "5 Dog Rhino" project, which is an area isolation in the "Energy Decision" acrylic painting, which is a single pain in the Value Line and Association Chart, or VLAC.
With the Skull Stoic Drop, i am officially merging digital art processes, specifically those of the NFT space, with my physical work process. They will now feed off of each other. The NFT space is of particular interest because it makes digital scarcity a reality. Also, the nature of the blockchain means that the process is being captured by digital history. Along with the dynamics of a digital community of collectors that can take part, like never before.
"5 Dog Rhino" is the first of many macro level isolations from the "Energy Decision" painting. "5 dog Rhino" is broken up into multiple parts, and each part will be developed on its own, and be a NFT drop. Then, once all sections of "5 Dog Rhino" are developed, the varieties of version will be combined and a master drop created. From that master drop, there will be a Physical Painting Created. That physical painting will be available to purchase and trade as a NFT voucher, and only be shipped, once the owner of the linked NFT voucher wants to claim the physical piece.
The "Energy Decison" painting has many areas to be developed like this. It is my trial run. What is learned from this process will be used to create new physical pieces from scratch.
5 Dog Rhyno
Pictured above is "5 Dog Rhino". The image on the left is with the orginal color from the painting. On the right, i have a black and white filter on it to prepare it for development. In the upper right area, you can see the source imagery for "Skull Stoic".