Friday, 31 May 2024

MAY SUMMARY -- 2024

May was very active with Figure Drawing, Printmaking -- and making "low effort nothings" with AI Art:


DRAWINGS














PRINTMAKING

EXQUISITE TESSELLATION PRINT

We started this collaborative "Exquisite Tessellation Print" project:

One of the first proofs

They discovered this "hat" shape last year, which will tile infinitely without making a regular pattern.  Therefore I laser cut these shapes (7 inches at the widest) and handed them out to artists to carve.  Then we will ink them together and make a variety of collaborative tessellation prints.



I used the laser cutter at Quelab to cut the "hat" shaped linocuts:
  • Speed 25
  • Power 100
  • 7 times
7inch_hat_square.lbrn2 (10.51 KB) --
The LIGHTBURN file I use to laser cut these linoleums


PRINTERS PLANET ABQ

I printed live at the PRINTERS PLANET market in Albuquerque on May 25, 2024:



I made four posts about The PRINTERS PLANET ABQ on the BUCKET EXHIBITIONS blog:


COLLABORATION PRINT

At Sir Henry Morales' studio five of us -- Henry Morales, Ellie Weadock, me, Casandra Encinias and Virgil Velasco -- made linocuts of the the same long pose that we drew there on April 23, 2024.  Then we printed all those linocuts on a large sheet of Japanese paper -- Sekishu (24" x 39") -- on May 30, 2024:




PRNT PNTG
El Paso

While in El Paso I went to the student printmaking opening -- PRNT PNTG -- at the Alameda Art + Salvage gallery:





REMARQUE PRINT RESIDENTS
Albuquerque

I went to the talk by the five residents -- Eliza Frensley, Bruce Fieldman, Sarah Smelser, Erin Leon, Sariah Park --at Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque, on May 28, 2024:



JULIA CURRAN
Santa Fe



ABQ Art Walk






"LOW EFFORT NOTHINGS"
AI ART



I posted a few YouTube videos of my AI ART, and someone objected that I was filling the Internet with "low effort nothings":

I concur, that there is this kind of "AI patina" that makes all the AI Art look kinda similar.




The particular offensive AI ART was of my AI Skeletons:



KREA Videos

KREA.AI added a new video feature, which is free at the moment.  Plus Udio allows us to make AI music for free, at the moment.  So I made a few AI videos with AI music:







***

PERPLEXITY AI
(and Chat 4o)

😢"Krrrl's embrace of AI generation methods to create "fake" drawings in their style (3 4 5) could potentially be criticized by traditionalists as undermining human artistic expression and creativity." 

😭 "Some may see Krrrl's openness to having others "finish" or alter their drawings (3) as diminishing the artistic vision or not fully realizing the potential of the original works."






OPEN AI announced free access to their new CHAT 4o program on May 13th:

However it was unclear whether I had access to the new and more powerful program after the announcement.  Moreover, when I asked a similar question to ChatGPT --  "What style are KRRRL drawings" -- it gave me a more wrong answer than it had ever given me before.  KRRRL is NOT Karl Kwansy:

"Krrrl, also known as Karl Kwasny, is recognized for his distinctive illustrative style that combines elements of hand-drawn intricacy with a modern, whimsical touch. His work often features:

    1. Detailed Line Work: Krrrl’s illustrations are rich in fine lines and meticulous detailing, giving his art a textured and layered appearance.
    2. Organic Forms: His drawings frequently include natural and flowing shapes, often inspired by nature and organic patterns.
    3. Playful and Surreal Elements: Krrrl incorporates playful characters and surreal elements into his illustrations, blending reality with fantastical aspects.
    4. Muted Color Palette: While he sometimes uses vibrant colors, Krrrl often opts for a more subdued and harmonious color palette that complements the intricate line work.
    5. Narrative Quality: His illustrations often tell a story or convey a sense of movement and progression, making them engaging and thought-provoking.

Overall, Krrrl’s style is a unique blend of detailed craftsmanship, whimsical themes, and a touch of surrealism, creating visually captivating and imaginative works."

    • This month Google also announced new AI features too, but their AI often failed miserably. (after the AI announcement, a few other Google features were broken, such as the linking function for blogger/blogspot pages)



OTHER HIGHLIGHTS



I was playing down and out in El Paso
from May 15th to 20th, 2024

Roadrunner courting its reflection
in El Paso


SOFTWARE


Previous 2024 SUMMARIES:

May 31, 2024 -- Portrait

The portrait session on Friday nights is free -- FRIDAY NIGHT FACES -- but the artists had to give their drawings to the sitter. This session was at Art Buddies in Albuquerque:





Collaborative Printmaking Night

We made a collaborative print in Henry Morales' studio on May 30, 2024:

The final collaborative print

Henry Morales, Ellie Weadock, Krrrl, Casandra Encinias, and Virgil Velasco all carved 12 x 6 inch linocuts from drawings that we all made from the same long pose during the drawing session on April 23, 2024 at Henry Morales' studio.


Henry Morales, Virgil Velasco, and Ellie Weadock
pulling the print

The first idea is to submit the collaborative print to the New Mexico Art League in Albuquerque for their Body Language exhibition, July 18 to August 17, 2024 (reception on August 3rd, 2024). The  dimensions, including the frame, has to be no larger than 36 x 36 inches:



Layout


Drawing a template


The template




Covering the template
with a sheet of plastic


Double sided tape on the plastic,
so that the plates don't migrate under pressure
when rolling through the press


Ellie tearing down the paper to size --
we used an Asian paper, Sekishu (24" x 39")


Laying out the linocuts




Shining a light on the linocut
to find the un-inked parts




Laying down the paper




Covering the linocuts and paper
with a printmaking blanket






The moment of truth!






















The collaborative print


Touching up the print


Cleaning the linocut plates
 with baby wipes




We made some proofs (of just four of the plates) during the drawing session on May 28, 2024, at Henry's studio.

  • Next we will cut all these plates into thirds, and recombine them, to make "Exquisite Corpse" prints.