Callivember24, Week 4

oh no, computer!

More digital manipulation this week. More subtle than last week, but still not "raw on page".

Of course, I prefer to get things right on the paper, but 99.999999% of viewers will only ever see it on their screens. So I don’t feel obligated to physical reality after it’s been translated into 1's and 0's.

Even so, I generally avoid pushing digital limits, unless the piece demands to go hard in the computer. Always listen to the work.

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11/19

kiss
the
soft
divine
pulse

Given the constraints, the circles weren’t perfectly centered on the page. With a white background, it’s easily fixed in the computer. Then, digital space insisted on a funky paper space. I obliged.

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11/20

space
turns
letters
into
song

I'm not sure that letting the "p" descend below the white page was a good idea. Experiments can fall flat if the payoff isn’t worth breaking convention.

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11/21

art
becomes
our
delicate
sledgehammer

I merged the handle from my second attempt with the hammerhead from the first attempt. Interesting that I started the week with three digitally manipulated 5WP's. Last week, my wife convinced me to stop using the back of old printouts for these pieces. Default white backgrounds simplifying digital play might be an unforeseen consequence this change.

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11/22

ain't gonna find wisdom online

Sometimes you think the flashier version might work but ultimately upload the simpler one. The good thing with simpler pieces is that it's easy to try a lot of variations on paper, especially if an early shot is "good enough". After that you're playing with house money.

In the moment, it's hard to tell which version is "better", but time sorts things out. Often, the winner is an early attempt (maybe even that first "good enough" shot). If I was a professional with billable hours, this dynamic would be a problem, but amateurs can afford such luxurious whimsies.

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11/23

don't be your worst boss

I still need to learn control over a ruling pen for deliberate scripts, but I'm now comfortable with being primitive using this tool. Being unpredictable is the point using a ruling pen, but it can’t be totally out of control.

And yes, the last two versions were from the same scan, I upsized the inner circle to see how it would feel. But my wife is right, it's cuter with the donut.

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11/24

when
in
doubt
add
textures

My personal mantra has been "when in doubt add noise" but the prompt "textures" was close enough. With this much texture/noise in the background, there was no need to get cute with the composition so I went back to my standard five line format.

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These compilation posts have become a journal on my social media meanderings, so hello Bluesky!

I'm really happy with how I've trained the Substack algorithm—a wide variety of interesting art, photography, essays, and poetry, and no politics. It’s a vast garden of delights.

But FOMO is the demon of our age, so I've joined the crowd checking out Bluesky. A couple of the folks I met on Post had migrated there, so it is nice to catch up with them.

But I’m weary of establishing beachheads on yet another platform. At the moment I’m just cross posting the images I upload to on Instagram. Maybe Bluesky will grow into something interesting. Or maybe I'll stop and my profile will just be a snapshot in time.

If I had to bet, I'll most likely keep Substack as my social media home, visit Instagram as a gallery of gorgeous calligraphy and participate in occasionally group challenges, and go dormant on Bluesky.

But that's tomorrow's problem. Time to wrap up November and get going on the holiday postcards.

Cya next week!

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PS—One last studio photo of our washroom across the hallway. I suspect that this tract home had an upgrade option for a second lavatory in this counter. Thankfully, the original buyers declined, leaving a big workbench for spreading out out my tools. This sink is also integral to the surface, so no seams. It's a perfectly clean setup!

Of course clean is a relative term. My wife generally puts up with my hobbies, maybe because she knows they are always a passing phase. At least this one doesn’t take up a ton of storage space (unlike board games).

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PPS—The boy said this in October, but I just scanned it yesterday.

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