Author: Paul Petersen

If May had a theme, it was spinning! From tornadoes to news narratives. Our neck of the Pennsylvania woods had three once-rare tornado warnings in the past month. Our house lost a few roof shingles, but nothing compared to the damage in other parts of the country.

My experiments with art created inside tetrahedrons continued with a spinning look, with the addition of a procedural texture called “smear.” It creates the swirling shapes you see in the images below. I tried to create compositions that avoid the typical symmetrical mandala-look.

Remember “spin art” from a fair or carnival? They gave you a squirt bottle of paint that you aimed at a spinning piece of paper on a turntable. That’s what one of my friends said this image below reminded him of.

These next two pieces were made from the same render from my 3D program. The difference was in the post processing I did in Photoshop. If you compare them, you’ll see some similar shapes. I rarely do monochromatic pieces, but the black and white composition was so striking, I didn’t think it needed color.

Sometimes my choice of compositions seem too boisterous to me, and I try to calm things down with a more soothing color scheme or pattern. “Jupiter’s Moon” and “Rainbow Drapes” are two such pieces with a more tranquil feel.

At the end of the month, I added a punch card pattern called “Windows” to my sphere. It creates that additional layer of meaning, that of a city or urban quality. I went for drama, and spin, in these two below.

I tried doing an “over my shoulder” video, so you could watch me do one of these from start to finish.
But I wasn’t happy with the result. I promise to get it done right for the June Newsletter. Thanks for reading this far and have a calm, spin-free June! – Paul

Everything grows in April, including the art output from the simple, three-sided tetrahedron I use to create images. It seems like the fewer sides a geometric shape has, the more variety of art I can find inside it.

In “Tetra Moon” below, that round-edged tetrahedron “moon” exerts its pull on the “tide” (which is a view of its insides.)
“Sailor’s Delight” was done on Easter, with a wave-like pattern mapped to its surface. The setting sun in the composition looks like an egg!
“Bipolar” uses the same pattern in an op art art fashion. I burred the periphery to give it a centered focus effect.

I returned to where I left off last month with the surface normal technique that produces pure rainbow colored gradients. “Sorbet Eruption” bursts with sweet colors! But I departed the dessert theme for “Bullied” which depicts those colors in an emotional confrontation theme. “Rainbolt” is spectrum-colored lightning that forms beautiful gradient intersections.

It’s difficult for me to do a series on a theme, because of the Rorschach test-like discovery process I use, but I can apply successful textures over again to find similar new compositions. One of my favorites is shown in the next three pieces, below. All three seem like grand vistas of surreal landscapes. I love how the fine texture becomes rectangles as it gets closer to us.

I experienced a 3D program error, or glitch, that resulted in little dots appearing in my artwork. I decided to go with it. It’s the green speckles in “Bark Vision” below, which became more widespread in “I Got Your Pointilism” and “Before I Wake.” I will want to come back to this glitch again!

Another favorite from the March newsletter, strata, is a versatile texture that can look like Mother of Pearl, or ocean waves, or even fire, as in the art below:

Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I enjoy sharing my art progress with you. If you have questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear them.  -Paul

Spring is sprung here in the northern hemisphere, and everywhere I look outside, there are signs of growth and creativity.

It’s the same everywhere I look inside, too! Especially inside the tetrahedron below, which I used to create all of this month’s art. I modified it slightly from last month, by rounding off its sharp edges, and applying some different pattens on its surface.

The “stretchy triangle’ pattern above yielded the two images just below, when I placed virtual cameras in just the right place. The surfaces inside were shiny and reflected the opposing surfaces to create extra texture and detail.

Then I switched out the triangle pattern with a two others, and found this one-eyed waif, a smiling devil, and a spiritual yogi looking back at me through my cameras.

Because I rounded off the tetrahedrons edges, the patterns I applied seemed to blend and flow better. When I applied the pattern called “Strata,” below, I got these wonderful irregular-edged layered shapes. Sometimes they look like clouds, trees, and water, as in the image below called “My Secret Place.” I think it’s one of my best pieces so far.

Many digital artists try to hide the fact that their art is made digitally. I developed a texture that looks natural and scratched in the distance, but breaks apart in closer places to reveal that it is a digital block of pixels creating the pattern. These next three have that texture and look so surreal to me!

When I render a scene in my 3D program, I usually do three or four different types, which I layer together in Photoshop. One of those types is called Surface Normal. The program assigns a pure color to the smooth inner surface depending on its angle relative to the camera’s eye. The result is such a vibrant and soft arrangement of rainbow colors. I recently decided to let these images stand on their own, because their color transitions and soft curves are so beautiful.

Finally, I want to thank the modern art historian and blogger, Maria Stark for believing in me. I met her on Twitter when she commented on my artwork. She regularly re-tweets my art on her Twitter feed. When I’m feeling disillusioned or insecure about my art, I visit her Twitter page, and there, between giants of modern art like O’Keeffe, Monet, Picasso or Van Gogh, I will find my artwork! It’s like walking into an art museum and seeing your own work hung with the Masters. I can’t say I deserve it, but that does not diminish my delight! I am thankful that she holds my art in such esteem. Please visit her art blog, starkandart.com.  It’s published in both German and English. Below is a sample of her Twitter feed.

Enjoy the Spring, if you have it! Look for beauty where you can find it. I’ll be back at the end of April with more art!
-Paul

You can follow me on Twitter, here, and on Instagram, here.
If you would like an art print, send me an email!