NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Sister Existence Revels in the Deep Shade"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been playing around with a new set of plug-ins while working in an old way of digital cut and pasting before running everything through the Secret Visual Laboratory. Can't stay to chat, lot's of work to do.

A collaboration with Cima -

"Two Cats, One Chair - The Standoff"
digitally manipulated drawing by Mick Mather
- original drawing by Daniel Cimadevilla -

This past summer, mid-July to be precise, my favorite Argentine artist - Daniel Cimadevilla, posted a drawing called "PARA MAMA". One of the things I liked most about it was the loose and carefree approach that immediately evoked memories of Lyonel Feininger, but I digress. Included with Daniel's drawing is a small thumbnail that nagged at me for months. Finally, I ran it through the usual array of plug-in filters here at the Secret Visual Laboratory, sent a copy of the finished piece to Cima requesting his permission to use it and, well, here it is. Thanks so much for your part in this, Daniel, and for agreeing to let me collaborate with you.

Olé -

"Picasso's Bull"
manipulated fractal flame by Mick Mather

As I am wont to do, I was just frittering away a bit of time and playing about in one of my digital drawing programs. The results of that playtime were minimal as regards posting here so I grabbed an old fractal flame and layered it into the drawing. Still not much to see so I passed that fractal through one of my plug-in filters and, hello! What have we here. A tweak here and a stretch there and what we have is a bit of the Spanish spectacle of bullfighting as well as an interesting bit of symbolism of the sort that informed the sub-conscious thinking of Picasso - Jackson Pollock as well now that I think of it. Whichever way you like it, here 'tis!

Fast and loose -

"Sunday best"
digital collage by Mick Mather

A little something before I rush off to do some other important work that I've left until, almost, the last minute. Here's a bit of my old style digital collage run through the usual array of plug-in filters, manipulators and tools here at the Secret Visual Laboratory ... and, I'm off!

Paying attention -

"Reflections"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

I took the original photograph from a moving vehicle and was rather surprised by the reflections discovered in the windows when I looked through the photo-set weeks later. As I began working my magic with the plug-in filters and manipulating software programs, those same reflections became secondary to the figure who also seemed to be reflecting on something. In both cases, the windows and the girl, there's little evidence left of either circumstance.

Two steps back -

"The Classics"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I continue reviewing old work, pressing a few into service again. I've also been throwing together a piece here and there using an old working method with new filters. I suppose this is akin to taking a tried and true idea, turning it slightly one way, then another and finding a new twist. Tonight's post was particularly satisfying in light of the half dozen pieces that failed. Onward!

Out of the blue -

"Take Me to the River"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I was just hanging around the studio, playing and minding my own business when up jumps the devil! Well, not exactly, more at, what jumped up is this particular piece. As I was saying, I was playing around, deconstructing things, doing a bit of addition and subtraction before tossing everything into the super secret array. The plug-in filters and manipulators made quick work of it all and, hang onto your hat, gave me two very different images from the same base layers! I'll show the other soon enough ... a few meetings and long days at the office are right 'round the corner. Anyway, work that just falls together, as if appearing out of nothing, is the breaking news of the day. :)

A lot of new work, a lot!

"Cheerful Reassembly of Her Broken Pieces"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been occupied with a series of collage pieces for the past 48-hours and they've come fast and furious, one right after the other. The common thread for all of them is an old group of work known as The Making Faces Series and a quick search will likely take you to one or more of those works where I describe my working method. A few new filters have been added to the array at the Secret Visual Laboratory as well and I've been getting a bit bolder with another new filter that I've been zooming 'round in for a few months. Anyway, a bit of stretching, a generous bump in work output and more than a few successes that I'll be posting over the next few weeks.

A playful evening in the Lab -

"Miracle Seekers"
digitally manipulated mixed media & collage by Mick Mather

I tend to pay attention to things like splatters, brush cleaning papers, paint mixing swipes on scraps and other throw-a-way materials. Here, for example, I've fallen into the habit of loading a brush with more than one color of paint. I like to test a few strokes on the newspaper photo's that happen to be adjacent to the print areas where I'm doing my tempera-on-paper paintings for The Toys Series. There was absolutely nothing special or intriguing about these until I started sending them into the secret array of plug-in filters and manipulators. I'll be showing a few more of these as time passes and I highly recommend little diversionary tactics like this to keep the mind fresh during those times when the more important work seems stale, dry, forced or impossible to move along.

NEW from The Birdhouse Series -

"Birdhouse III"
digitally manipulated tempera-on-paper painting by Mick Mather

No one would be more shocked than I at the way this piece came about, considering that the tempera-on-paper painting was nothing more than a throw-away. I was, quite simply, using up the extra paint on my brush as I switched between colors while working on another piece from The Toys Series. As you may or may not know, these simple, quickly made paintings of children's toys are done on newsprint, scanned and manipulated. Here, with today's image, there was little attempt to obscure headlines or text as paint was cleared from the bristles followed by simple washes to get back to clean ... anyway, the various plug-in filters and super secret manipulation tools made this one a fun surprise all around!

(A day later, I've added the alternate version of this image at No Matter What Shape - The Archive. You can see it here.)

Paying attention -

"She Was A Dark Haired Beauty"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I can't remember how often, if at all, I've discussed my working method. All of my digital images are comprised of many layers, the initial handful being straight cut & paste in, of all places, MS Paint as a bitmap file. Once these early layers are satisfactory, the final image is then sent to a variety of photo editors, filters and manipulating software plug-ins. The first task is to blend and soften edges, or define a few if necessary, preparing things for the final round of manipulation. At this point it all becomes playtime as I add and layer one effect after another. The editors and plug-ins that I use are way beyond the push-button type and every single one of them has a long list of graphic, pattern and stylistic choices - although, from time to time, one of the old single click, preset filters is just what I might need or want. In addition to the array of effects, every editor also has anywhere from a dozen to scores of other settings - brightness, saturation, direction, line thickness and too many more to mention - each one with a gradation of choices in themselves. So, creating digitally is really no different than drawing or painting, one just needs to use and master a different set of tools. Did I just say master? Well, I'm working on that!

More playtime -

"Hive Activity I"
digitally manipulated fractal flame by Mick Mather

I took an old fractal that wasn't really going anywhere, tossed it into my digital drawing software and started to play around. After adding a half dozen drawn elements, carefully layered over the top to obscure the parts I didn't care for, it went into another editor for some well deserved, heavy filtering. The first few rounds of that are almost always experimental but, rather early in the game, out comes this image that reminds me of nothing quite so much as a hive of bees. So, here you have it, enjoy!

More earth tones -

"Astonished By A Fall"
digital collage by Mick Mather

As today's post suggests, this seems to be the second day in a row that I've used these earthy hues. That aside, I've been using some old filters along with the new...just playing around and experimenting for the most part. This image was really a throw away, but as so often happens, it turned out fine. I'm off to hang an exhibition this afternoon and evening so, must dash.

Thursday Challenge: Blue -

"Break Time at the Blueprint Shop"
montage by Mick Mather

The weekly Thursday Challenge theme this time around is "blue". As I was working on various layers of tonight's post, the blue versions quickly became the most dramatic in my mind's eye. I should warn those of you who haven't already recognized the fact, I've been exploring a few dark alleys recently. I also have to admit that no one is likely to be quite as surprised as I happen to be myself. From time to time I wander off in fits of experimentalist overreach where I find myself taking reckless chances, pressing my luck and coloring way outside the lines. I was just talking about this not so many weeks back and some of the work recently posted is the fruit of that labor. Is this a permanent direction? That remains to be seen. In the meantime I continue with my efforts to better control a new software program and some rather difficult plug-in filters.