Thought some of you might find this article interesting. I had read the article in Physics Today they are referring to, which has been publicized in the news over the last few weeks. This blog article is probably a better introduction to the topic for peopl einterested in it.

 

There have been articles on Pollock's paintings before that talked about fractal analysis of the paint splatter patterns. This new work looks at the fluid dynamic physics of a phenomenon called 'coiling instability'.

 

The patterns falling liquids can form when they fall depend on 2 factors, the thickness of the liquid (viscosity) and the speed at which the falling liquid is moving. In reading all of this, one idea that falls out pretty quickly is that you could look at what is going on in coiling instability, and try to come up with a simulation of it in Studio Artist's paint synthesizer using the Path Application control panel parameters.

 

So in addition to being a fascinating read on Pollack painting styles (from a physicists viewpoint), there are some interesting ideas here that might be applied to coming up with new paint synthesizer paint presets to simulate drip effects.

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  • Here's a link to another short article on this topic.

     

    I found the following quote posted below in it interesting. And was wondering if it suggests some new paint synth effect we should consider adding? Feel free to comment.

     

    "The authors wonder whether a quantitative understanding of fluid dynamics could inspire a new style of art that takes Pollock's medium a step further. Using a can of paint with a thin slit in one end, they suggest, an artist could paint with a film of pigment rather than a jet, creating new aesthetic effects."

  • John,

    There's a lot more about Pollock's work than merely spilling paint out of a dangling can or dripping it from the end of a stick!

    There is something far too often overlooked in the digital world, the specific qualities of the support and the way it absorbs or repels paint for example.

    And there are also all sorts of different paints, and all sorts of different ways to mix the paint and its "medium."

    But above all, Pollock's work was about finding ways to generate "images" that would avoid the domination of intentional composition, "good taste" and the dictatorship of societal models and styles.

    "Indeterminacy" was at the heart of it all...

    So, even if one could today mimic Pollock's technique(s), one would hardly be opening new ways given that one would already know what has been done by him, and is therefore possible.

    He did not, he had to do it to see it appear, to help make it visible.

    That being said, and Pollock being one of my favorite artists, I did try several ways to generate drip-paint-like strokes (years and years ago), you had a hand in that as well.

    Some examples are visible here.

    Since then, Wacom has introduced the "hover" function in the tablets (at least the Intuos 4, don't know about other models) and that can help one get closer to the almost self-generating marks so ever present in Pollock's work.

     

     

    • If by hover you mean 'proximity sensing' of the pen hovering above the tablet surface, you've been able to do that with all of the Intuos tablet models, not just Intuos 4.

       

      I'm certainly open to suggestions about what we could do or add to Studio Artist to better emulate what you are referring to as the 'specific qualities of the support'.

      • Support: super absorbant, paint is sucked in as soon as it leaves the brush/can/stick/whatever.

        Like a plaster of Paris support.

        The mark as applied is modified by the reaction with the support.

        I remember my fresco making days, one could sometimes almost hear the pigment being sucked in by the mortar.

        Super repellent: paint cannot penetrate, runs, won't stay still and stick unless it has a chance to dry.

        Like painting on glass with watercolour.

        Again, what one "writes" down is not what the support allows, at least not until one has become thoroughly familiar with the dialog between the applying of the stroke and the way the support greets it.

        At which time one often tries something else if exploration is more important than control.

        Those are two extremes of the ways supports can behave, much variation between them.

        Could even add what happens when dropping dye in a liquid, and the way that creates a (often gorgeous) visual effect.

        But there's more, and that is something we did talk about a long time ago: when one makes a swift change of direction while making a mark, the "paint" tends to spill to the outside of the stroke.

        I have yet to see a preset/brush in SA or others that can make that happen satisfactorily (Painter has some of those things in the Calligraphy brushes, can't remember which ones).

        However, there is a huge gap between "effects," and the manifestation of a genuine vision.

         

        • Regarding the paint changing with a swift change of direction:

           

          There is a modulation feature available in the paint synthesizer for some parameters called "Path Angle Differential". So it modulates based on the local difference in the path angle. Which means that a swift change in the path angle causes the modulation to increase. Here's a real simple example.

          2472640054?profile=originalI painted moving left to right, then abruptly change the paint direction from right to left. Note that path randomization (i'm using a Uniform Random 2D displacement modulation) that takes place where the path abruptly changes direction.

          Note that when i mean abrupt, i mean the change in path angle, not anything having to do with velocity of drawing. There are other modulators in the paint synthesizer that modulate based on velocity.

           

          Here's the Path Application control panel settings for the behavior going on in the example above.

          2472640318?profile=originalYou could set this up to make the randomization spill to the outside of the paint path (as opposed to what i'm doing here that is 2D random). I'll try to get a daily effects blog post put together on working with this for those interested.

           

          I'm always open to expanding these kinds of features to make paint effects more realistic, or just more responsive (which doesn't necessarily have to be tied to the reality of traditional natural media). So feel free to point out what is missing with this kind of approach to the physical paint mechanics you would like to see better emulated.

          • Am not all that keen about natural media emulation, I started in the digital realm with Painter (in 1997), and even if that application has made some progress in its focus on natural media emulation, it sure leaves a lot to be desired, and more precisely, there seems to be something really "wrong" with emulating natural media with digital tools.

            Akin to going to Las Vegas in order to visit the Eifel tower...

            One of the few times a digital tool has, through its dynamics, made me experience something similar to what I knew so well when still using natural media is with Apple's "Magic Mouse:" when one scrolls moving one's finger on the top of the mouse, there is some inertia/momentum at work that gives a motion something similar to the experience of freely using natural media.

            So in this sense, if a setting could grant stroke properties based on that inertia/momentum and this, in any direction, I think we would bring to digital tools something that would really add to the possibilities.

            Re-reading what I wrote earlier, I think that creating presets that would work as if in a liquid environment (the dye in the water) would also add something that could not be done in the natural media  environment.

             

  • So in addition to being a fascinating read on Pollack painting styles (from a physicists viewpoint), there are some interesting ideas here that might be applied to coming up with new paint synthesizer paint presets to simulate drip effects.

     

     

    yes please!  and color mixing too..

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