The William T. Ayton Art Menagerie
William T. Ayton is a British artist based in Tempe, Arizona & New York's Hudson Valley. His work deals with the human condition, social issues and myth. He creates drawings, paintings & augmented reality pieces.
Friday, June 03, 2022
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Forgotten Idol of Tomorrow
I just took this new one up to the Limner Gallery in Hudson NY for the upcoming "Show of Heads". I believe it's currently displayed in the window. It came out well, it kind of has an amber glow about it, which offsets the post-apocalyptic subject matter a little. I took this photo outdoors, on the back deck by the kitchen window, trivia fans.
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Forgotten Idol of Tomorrow, 2021, acrylic on panel, 14" x 11" |
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Occimore / Sette Occhi
Interestingly, I've had two paintings published on book covers recently (in the last year or so, but Covid has slowed things down, so I only recently received them). Both paintings were from the same series, created in 2019 (called the Revelations series). Both authors are young, one is French-Lebanese (Paul Rizk), the other is Italian (Enzo Ciruolo), so, both basically European. Even the names of the books are slightly similar, "Sette Occhi" & "Occimore", though they are in different languages & have different meanings. Life is full of coincidences...
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Occimore by Paul Rizk & Sette Occhi by Enzo Ciruolo |
Occimore is published by Editions Glyphe in Paris, France.
Sette Occhi is published by 0111 Edizioni in Cocquio-Trevisago, Lombardy, Italy.
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
The Collapsing Edifice of a Dream
Sunday, August 22, 2021
The Non-Human
This is a little head I sculpted today in Blender. It's quite a simple artwork. However I was experimenting with lighting & textures, which gave the piece a lot more depth & interest than just the bare sculpture. These are various versions of the piece...the red one was more post-processed than the others.
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The sculpture without texturing |
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Digital Medusa
As part of a series of mythological figures that I've worked on over the years (drawings & paintings mostly), here is a digital sculpture done in Blender. I'll probably be reworking some of my other themes in coming days & weeks...\
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Digital Medusa, 2021, sculpted & rendered in Blender |
The Dream Wings of Night
An important thing about the Blender 3D digital sculptures that I make is that they can be almost endlessly recomposed, textured, lit, post-processed and so on. Like a photographer or painter with a favorite subject, there are infinite variations to be discovered and displayed. (See previous posting for another version of this one.)
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The Dream Wings of Night, 2021, digital Blender image |
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
The Mists of Time
A new variation on the "winged head" theme...going back to classical mythology (Hypnos, Morpheus) & Symbolists like Fernand Khnopff...post-processed with noise & reducing of contrast.
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The Mists of Time, 2021, digital image |
Monday, August 09, 2021
Monochrome Melancholy
The good thing about sculpting in Blender (& sculpting in general), is that with a 3D object you should ideally have a multitude of angles from which to view the piece & appreciate the interplay of forms.
With Blender's texturing, lighting, coloring etc., options, the possibilities are multiplied. Add to that the ability to insert a background image or objects, & then post-process (I set the image levels to "auto" & added noise), & you can almost endlessly recycle the images and find something new to present.
I also like the way the exposed mesh structure of the piece in places can resemble chisel marks, giving the work a handmade quality of sorts, whilst still maintaining its digital origins.
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Monochrome Melancholy, digital Blender image |
The Pact
This is a 3D rendered image created in Blender of 2 angels (of the somewhat terrifying, Rilkean variety) coming to an agreement of how to share the mundane world, perhaps. That's what seems to be happening here, but I never really know. I prefer to allude to narratives and let the viewer fill in the rest, which makes the piece more interactive, I think.
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The Pact, digital Blender image |
The Chaos Series
I've been working on a series of around 20 (currently 18 done as of this writing) drawings that I've entitled The Chaos Series, as the intention was to do something more intense, improvised & chaotic than my usual work (which can often also be described in the foregoing terms to some extent). So, these are taken to some kind of an extreme & with little forethought, which might be a good recipe for disaster, but so far I'm liking the results. Here is one example, the rest are in an album on my Flickr.
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A Head for Figures (Chaos Series), 2021, brush & soluble carbon on paper, 17" x 14". |
Sunday, August 08, 2021
Head for a PietÃ
This is a 3D digital sculpture done in Blender. It seems to have a quite strong emotional resonance.
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Head for a Pietà , Blender digital image |
Friday, July 30, 2021
The Angel's Hand
Close-up rendering of the Angel's hand (from Angel Manipulating Spheres). Hands are difficult & time-consuming to sculpt, and this one came out quite well.
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Angel's hand, digital rendering from Blender |
Here is another view of the piece:
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Angel Manipulating Spheres, another view |
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Sun Angel I & II
This was done in Blender using a winged head I sculpted a short while ago. I added a partial body & gave it a metallic gold texture, then lit it with an HDRI (high dynamic range image) as well as a sun light. By experimenting with the lighting, HDRI placement, composition, etc., I came up with the following images. The only difference between I & II is the rendering engine used (Eevee in the first, Cycles in the second). The results were suitably ethereal & heavenly, I think.
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Sun Angel II, Blender digital image (Cycles renderer) |
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Sun Angel I, Blender digital image (Eevee renderer) |