Debra Keirce

 

Zooming in to look at specific details that do or do not work is the next step for me. When optimizing a process in chemical engineering, the devil is in the details. For example, If a pipe is feeding pieces of equipment toluene, a highly toxic and dangerous liquid, are all the safety systems in place? Is the piping grounded so no sparks will occur? Is the area around it in the facility designated a space where people must wear shoes with static guards in them? Are shut off valves (note plural!) easily accessible? For just this short piece of pipe, hours of deliberation will take place in the design to make sure there are at least three layers of safety contingencies. Then there will be meetings about how to make sure the process is safe. We'll make sure there is no water getting into the toluene, no places where water could gather and freeze (like a heat exchanger upstream or downstream) and block flow, etc. Further discussions will make sure the environment is safe. How is the toluene handled after it has served its purpose? How are pipes and equipment safely cleaned? 

 

You get the idea. The zoom starts with looking at each of several important parts from different perspectives. 

 

In the creation of art, I do the same thing. I literally zoom in, using a 10x magnifier. I am looking for subtle transitions. By that, I mean the change from one value to another, or the change from one color to another, are smooth and seamless looking. I look for realism. If an object is round, are the edges soft? They won't look real if they are hard. Are the contrasts strong where they need to be and minimal where I do not want to draw attention? Often, I will saturate or desaturate areas of the work, depending on where I want to direct the viewers' eyes. I will reinstate the shadow shapes, to be sure I have captured an accurate likeness. 

 

These are the important parts of my artwork that I look at from different perspectives when I zoom in:

 

- transitions between colors

- edges

- contrasts

- chroma

- notan

 

If you notice, it's a lot of what I do in a zoomed out context, only here I am doing it one square inch at a time. I tend to lose track of the entirety of the project at this time. I'm not thinking about all the steps or even the subject. If it's a painting of an apple, this is where I don't care that it's an apple. It could be anything. I only care that the one square inch I am working on goes from green to red hue in a way that values and chroma and everything come together in the most realistic way possible. If I make my green brighter than my reference, I better keep the values the same, or my apple will look like it has a bulge or a dent. These are the sorts of decisions I make while zoomed in.

 

Another thing I am looking for while zoomed in is surface texture. I love to use impasto to accentuate specular highlights, areas with a lot of rhythm like splashing waves, fur, lace. I do not want any texture whatsoever in my shadows or in the depth of my field. These will detract from the realism I am trying to achieve.

 

Finally, this is the step where I assess if I need more or less detail in each part of the work. Sometimes, I can lose edges or leave details blurred, and it actually enhances the realism in my renderings. Other times, parts will look woefully underdeveloped under magnification. This is the place where I sort those decisions out.

 

Stay tuned for next month's issue of this blog, where I talk about finding the what, why, where, who, when, how. These are the questions I asked for every engineering project I was involved in, and I ask them today for every artwork I attempt.