MAGNESIUM STUDIO MgS Creation Ideas, Inspiration & Processes
Magnesium Studio - MgS Magnesium ignites and burns at a relatively low temperature, 600 degrees Fahrenheit, and cannot be extinguished easily. Like magnesium, when a good idea catches fire, it too is difficult to extinguish. Ideas can rise out of nothing more than a cup of coffee, or a night time climb to the top of an ancient pyramid to lay and gaze into the cosmos. Ideas are everywhere, in conversations, books, museums, beach walks and dreams. Translating ideas into shared images enables us to understand each other better and to express ourselves as individuals to our greater community. Moments of contemplation over coffee or stars helps manifest ideas in the mind, some would say in the third eye, “a ‘meta’ organ that consists of your mind and all of your senses working together as a larger, more powerful sensory organ,” Casey Kochmer, Opening the Third Eye. Magnesium Studio is about ideas and stories told through abstract surrealism. The studio harvests ideas, transforming them into images for others to learn from, react to, or simply enjoy. The process is contemplative where works are approached as meditations, blending intentional constructs with spontaneous composition of line and color to form symbolic images of depth and substance. Creative culture goes back to the beginning of time when people sought to replicate their perceptions of the world around them in places like the caves of Lascaux in France. Magnesium Studio continues this millennia-old tradition to peak into the distant future and imagine what might lie ahead.
Like drawing on cave walls, a doodle from the margins of meeting notes is cleaned up (top to bottom), with added details then scanned into Photoshop. The scanned image is colored with gradation. The finished digital image is then overlaid onto a digitized watercolor background to produce the picture on the left.
Life Experiences Life experiences can be thought of as ways of seeing the mechanics of the world. Two ways of thinking about life experiences are cognitive and outside influences. Cognitive influences are meditations, sensations and perceptions internal to each of us - those that manifest from the third eye. The result is a figurative and literal storyline. For example, reading Alan Weisman’s book, The World Without Us, inspired me to explore a number of concepts that could arise out of an earth sans humans and the technology and culture that affects how we live and how the planet reacts to our presence. The book caused an emotional reaction to the idea of an end of humanity while the planet continued to churn and evolve with other life forms. It also provided perception about life itself previously not considered. Thinking deeply about how, what, where and when changes might occur gave pause, and as thoughts translated into images meditation became part of the process. Outside influences are life experiences such as adventures, conversations, and travel, experiencing the world and how others live their lives in urban, rural and natural environments. Unlike the familiarity of our own environments, experiencing other places and cultures provides another way of seeing. And it provides another way of understanding ourselves in a greater context. These influences open a rich mine of people, places, and cultures to drill down into and explore for ideas, symbols and meaning. Consciously or unconsciously, outside influence contributes to the storyline and the conceptualization process.
Metaphorical sketch inspired by travel in Italy and Rome
Experiences from abroad continue to provide inspiration and perspective.
Left: Old Market, Istanbul. Above: Street Market, Cuzco, Peru.
Expressionist Surrealism In the Triad of a Concept the conscious and unconscious provide the foundation for expressionist surrealism. Surrealism is fundamentally unconscious automatism or the automatic expression of thoughts through poetry, writing, and visual art. “Dictionary: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation.” “Encyclopedia: Surrealism. Philosophy. Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principal problems of life.” ~ Andre’ Breton Surrealist Manifesto, 1924 “Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists sought to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality.” ~Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Bruce Thompson, University of California, Santa Cruz, Victorino Tejera, 1966, Art and Human Intelligence Freud disputed the notion of automatism in that “the liberation of the unconscious is a highly structured ego activity, similar to the activities of dream censorship in dreams, and therefore a mistake to regard surrealist poems and other art works as direct manifestations of the unconscious.” Accepting that the Triad of a Concept, Life Experiences and Storyline are conscious activities fed by the unconscious, and that they comprise a process for expressing tangible and abstract ideas, the combination of expressionism and surrealism can define The World After Us in 5 Suites as Expressionist Surrealism. Works of The World After Us combine the juxtaposition of unexpected opposites such as clock works made of feathers and human made rings, and the production of single cell eggs or bubbles in lifeless space. Images of opposites are symbols yet recognizable objects composed as expressions of abstract ideas about the essence of life and the biological time clock that eternally ticks off the moments of evolution. Right, Husks of Humanity 1: Bleached City
Italian Pole Towns
Symbolism Symbolism is as old as mythology and story telling. Symbolism enriches an image by adding layers of information and meaning to contribute to shaping the message or storyline. In The Biological Time Clock Suite symbols are used to connect observers to abstract ideas of a future construct that does and does not exist today. For example:
Objects
Feathers Wheels Bubbles Space/Sky Clouds Mists/Steam Birds
Colors
Blue Red Green Black
The Flight of Time Remnants of Humanity, Human Made Objects The Essence of Life, A Living Single Cell Infinity, The Scale of Space Imagination, Ideas, Thoughts Life Force, Veiling, Fertility Third Eye, Intuition, Broad View Cool, Hopeful, Melancholy Hot, Love, Fire, Evil Verdant, Fertility, Healthy, Alive Evil, Darkness, Death
Color Color harmony and interaction evoke emotions, invite engagement and enable communication. As the dialogue of Expressionist Surrealism progresses, color, the symbols and emotions invited by colors and color harmony underpin the execution of translating ideas and mental constructs into living, breathing images. In other words, color brings life to flat two dimensional paintings and drawings. This is not to say that black and white work lacks life, color just adds another dimension to the storyline, message and images. Color is infinite. In his book, The Elements of Color, Johannes Itten discusses Dyads, Triads, Tetrads and Hexads of color harmony. This systematic theory of juxtaposed color relationships and harmony shines a light on a starting point for deeper exploration of color harmony. The greater the number of juxtapositions on the color wheel the more complex and fine grained the color combinations. Itten concludes his chapter on color harmony with the following reassurance. “These suggestions are intended to show that a theory of harmony does not tend to fetter the imagination, but on the contrary provides a guide to discovery or new and different means of color expression.� A color wheel with gradations and colored pencils along with pens and watercolors are useful tools for experimenting with color combinations and color compatibility. Again, sketchbooks come in handy for recording experiments of color and composition. In short, color is also a fundamental element of composition, spacial effects, and expressions.
Upper and lower right, sketchbook drawings of ideas for a Remnants of Industry painting. Above, watercolor brush tests made into an imaginary landscape painting.
Triad of a Concept Conscious and unconscious life experiences are the fuel for the creative fire. And the more fuel, the brighter and more exciting the bonfire of ideas. How do life experiences become ideas and concepts? There is a symbiotic triad that enables processing to yield tangible ideas and ultimately concepts and images. Three elements comprise the triad of a concept. The first is a mental construct including a pile of ideas, abstractions and symbols. Since the human brain is continuously blazing, it is necessary to store brilliance when it occurs. A sketchbook is the woodshed for creative fuel, a place to store thoughts and ideas whenever they arise. Second, freely expressing emotions through spontaneity, play and unrestrained exploration. Someone once said that we spend the first 20 years of our lives striving for adulthood and the rest of our lives trying to get back to the free thinking innocence of childhood. Let emotions drive the process. There are no bad ideas, there are some that are better than others and it is the adventure of sorting through the pile to find the best fuel that will produce the brightest fire. The third point in the triad is the physical exercise of scribbling, sketching and applying color, light and shadow to produce an image that communicates a concept and compelling story that others can engage. This is the point where the other two elements of the triad merge forming a tangible two dimensional image.
Sketchbook and tracing paper conept sketches and doodles
Storyline: The World After Us in 5 Suites Most people know Walt Disney for animation and the great mouse Mickey. But Disney was a storyteller first, surrounding himself with great storytellers. Sometimes, before putting pencil to paper, Disney and his “imagineers� would venture out of the studio and into the street where they would act out stories and gags. Telling and acting out or acting up enabled them to test the story as they looked forward to translating the stories to images and image sequences. The World After Us in 5 Suites evolved from a narrative about the world we know, only without us. The storyline and resultant five suites of paintings were inspired by a book titled The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Weisman imagined a world of technology and science where suddenly humans disappear, and the result of unmanaged and unmaintained subways, power plants, dams and cities. Imagining the Essence of Life, Biological Time Clock, Remnants of Industry, Husks of Humanity, and a point in time when the planet might reach Equilibrium, a narrative emerged that guided illustrating and painting five suites of paintings of the same titles. 1
Top, Essence of Life 4: Plospathogen. Bottom, Biological Time Clock 3: Dark Skies
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The World After Us in 5 Suites
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The idea of the five suites was to enable people to experience abstractions Left to right: Husks of Humanity, Remnants of Industry and beginning with microscopic images of a single cell (Essence of Life Suite). Equilibrium The second suite interpreted the concept of evolution and longevity that is often referred to as a Biological Time Clock, forever ticking off the seconds and minutes of life. The storyline goes on to illustrate empty cities, rusty dilapidated industrial remains and finally earth in balance. The moral of the story is that the earth does not require saving by humans. It is elements such as oxygen, water, and atmosphere that support human life that must be protected. Another bit of subtext is that the planet is resilient. It will continue to orbit the sun for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years with or without us but the band width of environmental conditions that support human life is extremely narrow and fragile. One way to look at it is through the colorful lens of gasoline. When its burned, its gone, forever.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Enhanced electron microscope images by Alexey Kashpersky, NYC, kashpersky.com
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Enhanced electron microscope images by Alexey Kashpersky, NYC, kashpersky.com
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Above, ink on tracing paper concept sketch with Prismacolor color study. Lower right, Oil on canvas background.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Above, ink on tracing paper concept sketch. Lower right, Detail ink on tracing paper sketch with Prismacolor and Titanium White highlights.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Above, ink on tracing paper concept sketch with Prismacolor color study without shadows. Lower right, detail of above color study.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Above, ink on tracing paper concept sketch with Prismacolor color study complete with shadows on background Lower right, oil color studies.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Blocking areas and objects in oil paint color glazes.
Biological Time Clock 6: The Infinite Passage of Time
Tools and Materials Over time, tools and materials become familiar and a comfort level evolves that enables control, desirable expressions and quality. Discovering what works best is an adventure and exploration of what might seem like an infinite universe of brushes, pens, pigments and papers.
Medium to high quality oil paint is essential for longevity, translucency and color. Some that have produced great results are Gamblin, and Winsor & Newton. Dryer, reducers by Gamblin or Winsor & Newton are also helpful for glazing and fine detail work.
Watercolor, Gouache, Ink on Paper
Pre-gessoed, and prestretched canvases or gessoed plywood provide a good platform.
For starters, tracing paper and a sketchbook are essentials for capturing and refining ideas. Starting small with a block of 130 to 140 lb. white watercolor paper is economical and provides the support for ink and color application. When you are ready to move up in size and confidence, 180 to 210 lb Arches, Strathmore or Stonehenge rag papers have consistently delivered reflectance and good color rendition. Drawing instruments that provide a wide range of line weight and texture are Flare M and Micron or Staedtler Pigment Liner #1 and .005 pens and a Pentel Sign Pen for bold lines and dark shadows. And a Pentel mechanical pencil with F lead is always handy for underdrawing and sketching. And to accompany the graphite tools, its nice to have a kneadable eraser and a Pentel Clic Eraser. There are as many brushes as there are stars in the sky. For backgrounds, skies and textures in large areas, inexpensive 100% pure bristle made in Indonesia can be used straight out of the wrapper or it can be easily shaped with scissors or matte knife. Sable brushes are typically the best for washes and detail work. A liner is essential for highlights and fine detail. A spotting brush is also a handy tool for very fine detail and clean up. Pigment brands are extensive and its important to always use AA Permanance and I Lightfastness. Some good brands to experiment with are Aquarell by Schmincke, Winsor & Newton and M. Graham & Co.
Oil Paint on Canvas or Plywood A glass with white background or white stone palette works best for mixing and storing oil colors with a plastic wrap covering. For backgrounds and large areas its essential to use a good quality brush that will not leave hairs behind. Again there are hundreds of brushes in all shapes and sizes. Use good to high quality. Some synthetic brushes are as good if not better than sable. Its all about the spread, texture and effect that is sought. Also, as with watercolor brushes, its good to have small blenders, fans, and liners for details and blending areas and colors on canvas or board. Small, medium and large palette knives are important to have handy for spreading colors over large areas for brushing or applying highlights and textures.
Biological Time Clock 5: Reciprocal Enlightenment, watercolor on 180 lb. Arches paper.
Biological Time Clock 4: Rewinding oil on canvas, 10x10 inches
Left from top to bottom: Work in progress with ink sketch on trace, and watercolor paper color mixing test panel at top, stone palette with colors, tools and paint to the left, 10x10 inch canvas with prepainted and dry sky background, penciled in design and three layers of glazing.
Techniques - Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
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Inspiration and Ideation
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
2 The Sketch on Tracing Paper
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
3 Painted Background
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
4 Redraw on Tracing Paper Over the Background
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
5 Redraw Directly on the Background in Ink, add Detail
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
6 Begin Adding Paint to Build a Color Framework
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
7 Add Contrasting Colors From Color Palette and Color Studies, Begin Adding Shadows
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
8 Add Color Gradients, Highlights and Shadows
Biological Time Clock 3: Recalibration
9 Final Painting
Biological Time Clock 3: Dark Skies
Digital Techniques Enable Color Manipulation, Enhancements, and Emotional Changes