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