Factory
2008-10-20

Linework

If you follow the top of the structure from the left to the right and then round the bottom, you will notice that it continues to travel away from you, back into the void.

A few odd things to do when you lack feeling in the fingers used are to:

• Cut your nails, you can’t tell if it’s the nail or the finger itself you’re cutting.
• Move a wet finger over a surface which is usually not slippery, it’s odd with less friction as you can’t feel that the finger is wet.
• Scratch your eye, as you can’t really feel if you would go into your eye… except when you do.
• Press any hard button, you can’t feel on the skin how hard you are pushing it.
• Gripping something heavy between the thumb and that finger, it feels like you only have a good grip with the thumb as you can’t feel the friction on the finger.
• Putting a CD on the finger is an odd sensation. It feels like it should fall off, because you can only feel it resting on one side of the finger, even though you know that it is not physically possible!

Below is a video which includes footage of my poor fingers from shortly after I slipped with the knife to just a few days ago. Beware though, if you did not like the images in the previous post linked in the beginning, you wont like the video. It contains blood and open wounds, so if that does not suit you, don’t click play!

While I was there I couldn’t help but spamming photographs with my camera, as well as videos, which I guess is my normal behavior. I tried out my underwater camera housing in the ocean, but the sub surface visibility was incredibly bad, and it was my first prolonged experience of swimming around with flippers and a diving mask, both very cheaply bought.

Instead of writing a ton of text to insert the images into I’ve added titles to the images themselves. My choice of picture viewer for WordPress is Shutter Reloaded, sadly it does not yet support using the title of the IMG tag as a caption, it takes the title from the A tag, but the default behavior of WordPress is to post the title in the IMG tag… I’ve requested it twice, but nothing yet. I relly like Shutter Reloaded except for this small issue.

Anyway, here comes the pictures! In chronologial order, even.

I was going to post just a few pictures, but apparently it turned into quite a lot… oh well. Beneath is the camera running while I soak it in fresh water to dissolve the sea salt which would otherwise store up in the underwater house making the buttons wonky.

Just a little late, but I still have more summer pictures! Not sure when the next batch will be posted, but that will most likely be the last for this years summer :)

Belt3
2008-09-22

Linework

The belt goes back and forth between the different axels, but as it does that it also travels forward- and backwards while only bending around one axis.

As this is a fairly complex figure to draw, to say the least, I decided to try a new way of depicting the process. Below is a video of each save state. Before removing all reference lines after finishing an element I save a new file, in the video I fade between them forward in time. I think it ended up easier to follow than the actual time-lapse videos, but I do wonder if there is a way to save all AutoCAD steps as they are logged, and then replay the drawing in some way… will need to research this.Anyway, the video is best watched in its native HD resolution available by going to Vimeo!

With this posting I’ve caught up with myself so from now on postings of impossible figures will be further apart. I create at least one per month, as I’ve set that as a rule for myself, to keep at it. I tend to get several ideas at once though, so I think I will be able to manage two per month, if time and brains permits. We will see.

In 2006 Stuntmutt, the writer and artist of One One Se7en (now only updating sporadically), was getting married and as I’ve had lots of good times using his versions of the Halo characters and cooperating with him in person, I decided to dedicate this to him, his art and his new family.

While the happy couple enjoyed their honeymoon a few of the (Halo) community people had made guest strips which got posted during the absence of the original author; and this illusion was created to complement my guest strip (left).

Originally you had to figure out that there was more to it if you clicked the blinking crystal (2552 Sep 7 and the next)… I’m not sure how many who actually found it, or even understood the comic. Today I present the larger art directly for easy access.

As I usually do not create pieces with this amount of details, I was a bit indecisive of how to present it online. I ended up creating my own flash viewer; which you can launch by clicking the image below or this link. Hover the question mark in the top left corner for controls.

The entire figure was drawn and colored in Flash. As there was a lot of work to do I used the application I felt the most comfortable with, and Flash has really intuitive drawing utilities, I think, it only lacks in accuracy and resolution as it’s not really made to create print art. The work in 2006 spanned from late March to mid May, and as I only did contract work around that time I could spend a big chunk of my time on this.

Back then I also created this file to see the creation process over time. Only step #1 and #2 are from 2004, the rest are from 2006. This file has not been displayed publically before and was planned to never be, so please feel a bit privileged when viewing it now!

And as nobody will probably figure out the secrets or interesting details, I will list what I can recall. I think there was something with the number of weapon spawns and MCs as well, but I can’t seem to make any sense out of that now.

• You can see the original comic strip in the upper left corner of the artwork.
• There are weapons present from Halo 1, 2 and 3, referenced from the comic.
• There are flags from CTF, skulls from Oddball, a hill from KoTH and a bomb from Assault.
• The grenade cache to the right is a reference to Sgt. Johnson’s immunity to the Flood.
• Hidden text(s), but I won’t tell you where!

Lastly are a few screenshots from the levels I used as inspiration for the art direction. I grabbed the images from my own collection of Halo panoramas.

• Hang ‘em High, a favorite, also the initial project name was Dang ‘im Possible.
  
• Prisoner, you might recognize the color on the floor and gangways.
  
• Boarding Action, notice the level numbers.
  

Phew! This was way more information than I initially planned to write about this piece of art.

When I arrived at work in the morning I noticed how the bushes had many white speckles of wet webs, spider webs. Of course I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures.

A bit interesting to see something like this when I (quite naturally) hadn’t seen the webs on the bushes before! The entire world is probably covered in webs; they are just normally hard to see.

Arcs
2008-09-18

Linework

Five arcs between the wall and the floor, but only the center one has the right proportions. The other four arcs ar either too deep or too high!

Even though I lost a fair amount of blood when cutting my fingers three weeks ago I went to donate blood today again. My second time. This time around it went so smooth that I feel like I could do it every day! Except that I would be dried out pretty soon, eh.

I live right next to the central bus station in our town, so I just went down there, took the bus who went straight to the hospital. Arriving there I had to sit around a bit, as I was early, but then they let me in earlier than my original booking.

I’m still not very used to the puncturing of skin it requires to lose blood. I think I’m actually a bit worse at handling it since I cut my fingers. I guess that means my head is trying to tell me it does not to be cut or stabbed again!

They give you a gift as well as a drink and a sandwich every time you donate blood. This time I picked a black shirt with “Generous” on the chest. A nice thing is that they compensate you for your travelling expenses!

Both when walking to the bus station, first picture in this post, and while waiting for the bus to get back home I found the sun coming through the clouds and the wet ground to look very nice. So naturally I snapped a few pictures.

Tracing this symmetrical figure you will notice that you will keep travelling upwards or downwards depending on your direction.

I found it very heartwarming and tingling to see someone recreate one of my figures, especially on a wall! Very inspiring too as I’ve been fascinated by anamorphosis art for quite some time, and this sparks my imagination!

He recorded and published the process at Vimeo, and the video is available in HD if you click over to the site! I have also embedded it below :) Awesome!

Thank you very much for sharing this, Loniek! :D