The Tree Man Waits

 Here is a new ink drawing from today, another variation on the theme of Bosch's Tree Man. I'm looking to do some more figurative drawings with groups of figures, perhaps. Stay tuned.

The Tree Man Waits, 2020, ink on paper, 17" x 14".

Some 3D printed models

 Here are some recent tiny sculptures. The tallest is only a few inches high. I've been experimenting with Blender & a 3D (Monoprice Voxel) printer...

3D printed models (3 x Narcissus, Head of Old Man, Isle of the Dead), 2020

Isle of the Red, 2020

The Constellation Art Project (CAP)

 Below is the new logo (as of last night) for the Constellation Art Project (CAP), a global series of interconnected Augmented Reality (AR) installations in major cities (or other prominent locations) around the world. As part of this project, we count New Babel (in NYC) & New World City (San Francisco) as the first two examples. More news to follow.

Constellation Art Project (CAP) logo/symbol, 2020, digital image

First 3D Print: Winged Head

 This is the first "real" 3D print I've done (I did a test run with a little 3D boat which is used to test 3D printers). It's tiny...about 2 inches high. Also the red filament came with the printer, it wouldn't have been my first choice. Future prints will be substantially larger, no doubt.

Winged Head, 2020, 3D print, 2" high

Through the Veil at NCAC art auction

 My recent small acrylic painting, "Through the Veil" is featured in the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) virtual benefit auction, to coincide with their virtual annual benefit on November 11 (coincidentally my birthday). The auction is open for viewing now (October 21-27) and bidding goes from October 28-November 13, 2020. 

Here is the link to my page: http://vugalleries.com/product/william-ayton/

Here is the auction main page link: http://vugalleries.com/ncac-auction-home/

Through the Veil, 2020, acrylic on panel, 10" x 8"

Project for an AR sculpture gallery

 This is an early version of a projected AR installation. More info will be posted as it (hopefully) develops.

Project for an AR sculpture gallery

The Unlikely Vehicle (test)

 This was just a test where I was playing around in Blender with cuboid shapes, loop cuts & the extrude option. Then I remeshed it & started sculpting it. This may be a better way to create figures than starting with a sphere, which can be quite long & tedious. I'll try it out & post the results here if they're worthwhile.

The Unlikely Vehicle, 2020, digital sculpture in Blender

The Unlikely Vehicle, 2020, digital sculpture in Blender

The Unlikely Vehicle, 2020, digital sculpture in Blender

Psyche Sleeps and Psyche Dreams

 This could be the final piece of the Psyche series...but probably not.

Psyche Sleeps and Psyche Dreams, 2020, acrylic on plywood, 14" x 11".

Over the Hills and Far Away

Probably the best thing about Unity's terrain toolbox is the ability to easily & quite rapidly create very large environments (in which to place one's digital sculptures). See below:

Over the Hills and Far Away, 2020, digital image

 

Narcissus in the Desert

 Just playing around with the terrain generator in Unity, with one of my Blender (3D modeling) pieces.

Narcissus in the Desert, 2020, digital image

Narcissus in the Desert, 2020, digital image

Narcissus in the Desert, 2020, digital image

The Domain of Psyche

 Another new monochrome painting in the Psyche series.

The Domain of Psyche, 2020, acrylic on plywood, 14" x 11"

Thought Worlds of Psyche

 A continuation of the Psyche series, this is a small monochrome acrylic painting that opened up some new avenues of artistic exploration, I think.

Thought Worlds of Psyche, 2020, acrylic on plywood, 14" x 11"

Psyche Gold video

 This is a short screen capture video (no sound) from Unity to show the Psyche sculpture animated with particle effects. This is intended to be used as an AR installation, ultimately.

Psyche Gold, 2020, screen capture from Unity

Psyche—Planetary Eye version

 I painted the acrylic piece below specifically to try & use as a texture in Blender on the Manna From Psyche variation also below. Not too bad. I will probably try some more variations...

Planetary Eye, 2020, acrylic on plywood, 14" x 11"

Psyche (planetary eye version), 2020, digital image

More Psyche

 Here are a couple more new pieces. The first one is a painting of the 2 Psyches (goddess & asteroid) -- I want the digital & traditional work to complement & feed off of each other, & it's getting easier to switch between the two. The other image is a Blender rendering with the painting inserted as a texture within a frame. The idea partly comes from Max Ernst, who used his bird avatar, Loplop, to introduce various things (Loplop introduces the surrealists, even Loplop introduces Loplop...)

Manna from Psyche, 2020, acrylic on plywood, 14" x 11"

Psyche presents Manna from Psyche, 2020, digital image

Pscyhe: and now in metallic finish

I was experimenting with the preset materials in Blender (3D software) & realized that Psyche the asteroid/planetary core is probably/possibly metallic in origin, hence this version in a reddish metallic finish. I also realize that in space, iron does not rust & turn reddish, but this still seemed appropriate & visually appealing...

Manna from Psyche revisited

Manna from Psyche is/was the AR installation I created (with the help of ASU's Meteor Studio) for the Emerge Festival scheduled for Mesa, Arizona in the spring, which was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic. We did manage to launch the installation (it should still be available on the App & Play stores), but it was a last-minute fix & some features were rushed, etc. So, now that I have more time (& appropriate skills in better shape), I'm revisiting the idea. You can see some early new prototype ideas below...

A Trio of Heads

These are 3 separate paintings of heads in monochrome that make a good combination together. It's not technically a triptych, but they fit together very well.

A Trio of Heads, 2020, acrylic on board

Details (left to right):

1. Destiny Unraveling, 2020, acrylic on board, 16" x 12"

2. Growing in the Dark, 2020, acrylic on board, 14" x 11"

3. The Persistence of Fate, 2020, acrylic on board, 14" x 11"

Lost Soul(s)

Another 3D sculpture in Blender of a head. Maybe it needs a bit more work, but it's a little raw & maybe that's best. Montage of different views.

Lost Soul (multiple views), 2020, digital image

Master of All Realities

A new drawing from today—drawn with a damaged hand (I sprained my right thumb while clearing the overgrown jungle in our yard), I'm not sure that the misfortune has made much difference (maybe the lines are a little more tentative). Hoping it gets better soon anyway. The subject is just your usual time-traveling inter-dimensional omnipotent omniscient being.

Master of All Realities, 2020, brush & soluble carbon on paper, 17" x 14"

Satyr in Red

Here is another view of the Satyr head, rendered in red in Blender.

Satyr in Red, 2020, 3D image rendered in Blender

Close-up view

The Hero's Lonely Tale

Here is the first piece I created in my NY studio after getting back from Tempe, AZ. It's done in ink on paper with a small brush, which is how I do most of my drawings.

The Hero's Lonely Tale, 2020, ink on paper, 17" x 14"

Satyr

Well, we're back for the summer from Arizona (where we've been the last 9 months or so). I'm back in my NY studio working on some new pieces & just got a new computer (refurb) as my old ones are in AZ. Here is my first return to Blender (3D sculpting etc. program) with a horned head, name of "Satyr"...

Satyr, digital sculpture

Narcissus (digital)

It's more difficult to sculpt a figure in Blender than, say, a head. Maybe it's the way I'm going about it, starting with a sphere & pulling out parts, filling them in, smoothing them out, rinse, repeat...

It's my intention to reproduce some of my artworks in 3D, and making them available in some way as AR (augmented reality) pieces. Narcissus seemed like a good place to begin. This piece is by no means finished, but it's a good start.

Narcissus, 2020, digital image

Narcissus, 2020, digital image

In the Web of Sleep

Much of my work deals with dreams & a dreamlike state, as a metaphor for imagination & yearning, so here's another dreamer.

In the Web of Sleep, 2020, ink on paper, 17" x 14"

The Further Adventures of Bosch's Tree Man

This is a new drawing I did today as part of the Tree Man series...based of course on Hieronymus Bosch's creation in the right hand panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights triptych (which is in the Prado in Madrid, where I used to live many moons ago). The end purpose of all these Tree Man deptictions is probably to create a large-scale augmented reality (AR) piece of the Tree Man. This project is still developing, but expect more Tree Men to show up around here.

The Further Adventures of Bosch's Tree Man, 2020, ink on paper, 17" x 14"

Tree Man Rotating

An updated version of Hieronymus Bosch's Tree Man, created in Blender & animated in Unity. I'm gradually refining & improving this piece. The rotation is to show the piece from all sides.

Tree Man Rotating, digital image

And below are some nice renderings of the piece, done in Blender, of course.

Tree Man (rendered in Blender)

Tree Man (rendered in Blender)

Tree Man with Birds (rendered in Blender)

Only Dreams Are Real

This is an edit of a 3D model I made a while ago, in fact I think it was my first good one (in the sense that it held its own). From time to time I experiment with different lighting, materials, composition & so on. This one seemed to have a life of its own. It's a depiction of a Greek god with winged head; Morpheus or Hypnos.

Only Dreams Are Real

Tree Man Evolving

I'm continuing to work on the Tree Man object...my skills gradually get better & I replace & refine parts of him. The most recent addition is the boats at his "feet"...the original version by Bosch in the right panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights depicts him as having boats for shoes, a tavern inside his torso, as an allegory of drunkenness, it is assumed.

Tree Man 3D sculpture, now with boats on his feet

Ancient Trees

An attempt to model a semi-realistic old tree in Blender, with the roots & all visible. Blender is good at organic shapes as well as more geometric ones. The more objects I create in 3D, the better I get. I'd like to be able to do what I do in 3D to be of a similar standard to my 2D media work (drawing & painting). I'm getting there.

Ancient Trees, 2020, digital sculpture

A World of Souls

Just clearing the backlog of artwork here. This one was done a couple of weeks ago, & is part of my "World Series" artworks, as well as part of the Coronavirus series (works either directly about Coronavirus, or created during lockdown). The World Series can be seen on Flickr here. The Coronavirus Series is on Flickr here.

A World of Souls, 2020, acrylic on panel, 12" x 9"

They Found the Sphere

Another new drawing from about a week ago, done here in Tempe AZ during self-imposed lockdown. Moving back to the Hudson Valley soon for the summer...

They Found the Sphere, 2020, brush & ink on paper, 14" x 17"

The Outsider

This is one of a series of new drawings done here in Tempe AZ while sitting out the Coronavirus crisis, possibly the best of the bunch. I usually have to look at these things for weeks, months or years before I can decide how much I actually like them & rank them in my body of work.

The Outsider, 2020, brush & ink on paper, 17" x 14"

A Strange Group

And, finally for today, here is a little grouping of some of the characters I've made in Blender. I guess at some point in the future, I'd like to do a scene with many strange creatures, more or less like a Bosch painting, with all kinds of creatures, monsters, animals, fantastic beasts, and so forth. I feel that this little image suggests some kind of bizarre narrative of a group of outcast beings who band together...for some reason...

The lurid lighting effect is one of Blender's default lighting/instant rendering options, which seemed to fit in this context.

The Unexpected Friends, digital image