I can't remember the last time I was here. Lots of minor things have happened in the interim I suppose. I lost an old friend. Regret kicks in and reminds me of all the opportunities to talk we missed. We typed exchanges once or twice on social media but that's not really the same thing is it. The level of interaction and, I don't know depth(?) are lacking.
They formed a large part of my teen years. Three friends who unknowingly helped me through a great deal of crap growing up. I don't know what I'm trying to say here. I guess I just miss her. I can hear her laugh if I try hard enough to remember, but it' s faint and at some point I'll forget that too.
I'd wish her well and peace only I don't believe in an afterlife. So instead I pm my care to those who miss her too.
Something about the plastic and the digital
My interests in art are wide. I am currently obsessed with the ideas of AI creating art. Unfortunately my coding abilities are some what lacking and my laptop would lack the power to handle a neural network. Big sad face.
That being the case I've opted for the idea of producing paintings and drawings and glitching or datamoshingthem as a digital siblings to the 'plastic' actual painting.
This has been a big learning curve for me. I started off with processing ( and I will someday master it), but I found it hard to commit the time required to learn it due to a little thing I like to call life. So I began looking at glitch art and datamoshing.
I'm using ffmpeg to create loops of the paintings and then cause the pixles to move with various filters. Its been a long road, but I've been helped by my friend google , and a lovely group on facebook. They have taught me many things.
Enough words have a look at thethings below. I'll update part 2 of this at some point in the near future.
Not everything has to mean something, Oil on deep edge canvas, 10" x 10"
This is the image I've chosen to datamosh.
A ten second (ish ) loop of a shot of my painting. I used FFmpeg to create the loop. ASK if you want to know more. This loop will be glitched in FFmpeg, using sonification, audacity, and avidemux. I'm still at the experimenting stage.
Here I have used a line of code in ffmpeg to create the randomly wandering camera movement. It's still a bit to much and needs to be somewhat more subtle. I'm still at the experimenting stage. Finding out what filters and codes do what and which ones I like.
The next stage is to refine the above movement and to add glitches.
I've been through a lot this past year. More than some and a lot less than others. A bad bout of depression, turning 40 and recently the death of an old and dear friend.
They say ever experience is a chance to learn. What have I learnt? I'm still learning from these experiences, but my immediate thoughts turn to the knowledge that pretty much everyone I know is or has suffered from some mental health problem.
Knowing this has given me strength to face my own issues and deal with them. I wonder if this is why I'm feeling drawn to portraits at the moment?
By being open about my issues others in turn have opened up to me. I never knew how much some close friends were suffering and I wish they had felt they could reach out to me.
I've taken tiny steps to right myself. Things like drawing a little bit more often. Being more precise about my daily routine. Nothing really earth shattering in itself. However the effect on my mental out look combined with medication is nothing short of phenomenonal.
I travelled back to Omagh for a friend's funeral, rather than sit on my phone I took a cheap sketchbook and a H pencil. I filled my travel time sketching. The results are mixed. I had to work at speed as I could not tell how long anone would hold a pose.
Turns out drawing people on the sly is difficult.
The backs of heads can be more interesting than you'd think.
Sleepy airplane lady slumped pretty much as soon as I started.
This was a quick 5 minute sketch I was hoping to get to work into. But my model got off at the next station.
This model was really inconsistent moving their arm all over the place.
The foot model shifted her foot as soon as I started drawing. I had to wait 30 minutes for the foot to return.
Just loved this really odd composition.
The longest drawing I managed to complete. There was some kind of scandal about someone called Sam.
This would be my favourite of the drawings. I love the unconventional cropping.
Something something something
I'm gearing myself back up slowly. Very slowly, but soon I hope to be running at full cathal speed and be on this here blog with regular updates and have my art all updated and up to scratch too.
I've been to Northern Ireland to see my folks and get some R&R. I also turned 40. To celebrate this momentous occasion I gathered together a few friends and attended a life drawing session arranged by Dr Sketchy in Derry . It was great fun. I only have some small images that I have posted to Facebook on my page. I'll shove them all over to my laptop and post them here as well before long.
In other news I have been uploading details of paintings and images I like to redbubble, who will print the image onto all most anything for you.
Anyways I can hear my kids calling for me. Laters
