10th February 2022. Off the back of some partially imagined seascapes, and after seeing someone using brown paper as a support, I tore up an Amazon bag and stuck it with transparent primer to a sheet of white cartridge. No plan in mind except to use a mixture of dilute and thick paint, plus some charcoal and/or soft pastel.

Using a limited palette, which I can see is becoming my go-to combination and which might need to be addressed, I made some very loose, broad marks on the paper. It holds the paint well, this stuff is more robust than the average paper bag.

11th February. Quite a lot of activity today; one large brush, a palette knife, a scraping pebble, and some pastels gave me an interesting set of shapes and textures which led to a rearrangement of the coastline down on the left.

I’ve deliberately leaked the painting off the brown paper and onto the cartridge but kept this dilute. I’m not sure yet where this is going though.

The crease to the right of centre is interesting. It’s functioning as a rift, as if the ground beneath – the whole tectonic plate – has shifted slightly, and so recently that the sea hasn’t yet realised so it’s hovering there on the cusp of tumbling into the gap. Like the turning tide earlier, this point of stasis must happen in reality. It should probably have words to go with it.

Here we go:

On another world the sky rains diamonds

On another world you could drown in a sea of dust

On another world the air is thick as treacle and heavier than lead

On another world a sea hangs poised over a rift waiting for gravity to wrench it from the light and into the dark

On this world the future of everything hangs on men who make dust of forests, load air with solids, and make rifts so deep people buy weapons from the men who cherish diamonds

SCH 2022.

12th February. The usual weird colour shifts yesterday evening which makes me think a deliberate one might be an idea; it’s very ordinary otherwise, isn’t it?

An opportunistic upgrade to Paintshop Pro today brought with it PhotoMirage which, at first glance, animates much like MotionLeap but with much more directional variety and control.

While I’m getting to grips with this new software, I’m thinking ahead to importing the MP4s into Filmora for further processing. I may also do some work on the images in Rebelle and Paintshop Pro.

I’m going to have to ask where digital embellishments of physical work fit in the OCA painting scheme of things. There are so many possibilities, all of them predicated on an initial physical piece that can be completely transformed by manipulation in specialist but readily available software. To my mind, I’m doing this with an artist’s eye while also discovering the capabilities of the various apps. I have experience of all of the software I’m using so I feel I’m being selective and sensitive both to the original work but also to its onward possibilities. This version will lead to a very different video from the earlier one, and selective audio will enhance both.

Repainted ‘Rift’ with text collaged in place.

Recorded today 17th March 2022, activation of the video on a printed card via the Artivive app: