Original Piece |
My
recreation of the piece began where most of anything I can muster up the pride
to call “art” begins, Autodesk AutoCAD software (which, to any of you reading
this that is a student, instructor, or has qualifying unemployment, can be
downloaded for free.) The design, on the most basic level, is taken from the “DurgaYantra.” The traditional design consists of eight petals surrounding concentric
circles within which is a geometric pattern comprised of overlapping triangles.
I much enjoy the aesthetics of straight lines and sharp corners, and, as such, I
converted the petals into the “sides” of an irregular octagon. The original “triangle
pattern” is not present but was the inspiration for the four sets of three
triangles that can be seen pointing inward, in reference to the inner self, in
the final design. In a similar disregard for tradition, I took the concentric
circles normally around the geometry in the yantra and instead moved them
within it. It is in these circles I made a quasi-mandala. Between the two rings
are sixteen triangles as a representation of and to honor Vishuddha, which is
represented with a sixteen petalled lotus flower and is the seat of creativity
in humans. In the original design, the interior geometry had no real
significance. It existed to occupy the center area and reference the
representations of chakras containing simple symbolic shapes within the larger “lotus”
representation of the chakra. I wanted to give the new design some
significance, and the final geometry I settled on was a symmetrical set of
polygons seeming to point upwards and downwards in reference to hermetic
philosophy (“As is Above, So is Below.”)
AutoCAD 2013 outline of the design |
With
the geometry done, it is time to add color. I begin by exporting the file from
AutoCAD into Paint.net (a free photoshop like program for windows users) and contemplating
what palette I’m going to use and to what effect. As an individual I much enjoy
the process of creating the geometry of these pieces, coloring a piece
attractively, however, often takes me quite a bit of time and effort as I can
rarely discover a pattern or series of patterns I believe looks good. I try to
take a systematic approach, usually, and for both the original and redone
design I again took inspiration from the chakras. Specifically their representative
colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. To determine the
placement of these colors, however, I was both intentional and arbitrary. The
intentional placement is indigo and violet (representative of the highest
chakras) being in the very center and “at the top of the steps” in the outer
parts of the design. Red, similarly, was purposely placed on the outer edge of
the design due to its representation of the lowest chakra. Vishuddha
is referenced a second time in the palette. Specifically in the palette itself
being heavily biased towards blue, Vishuddha’s color. On the arbitrary side of
my choices, orange and yellow were placed between the center rings because I
thought it broke up the predominantly blue palette attractively. Then, as an
extension, green was made the dominant color between the rings and central
geometry since I figured it was the most logical placement, being that the center was very blue biased and the rings were very yellow biased. For most of my
pieces I use gradients as I find them aesthetically preferable to solid colors
or hatches.
With the coloration done, the piece is mostly finished. With
pieces I’ve created in AutoCAD I often add just a little bit of Gaussian blur at
the end to remove any jaggedness that’s present in the outline as well as to “flatten
out” the gradients and give it, what I think is, a sleek, sharp, more modern
feel that I like and that I think separates what I create from a lot of art in
this style that is, often times, more focused on recreating antiquity. And now
that I am preparing these pieces for public consumption, I usually add the name
of either myself or the title of this blog somewhere on the piece. Below is the
final coloring. I call it the "Rangoli of Enoch."
finally abstract art with a theory to its creation. make me a tattoo of my chakras lol.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, you know how to get a hold of me if you're ever looking to create a personally significant spiritual symbol. Hell, that'd make a pretty good story for this blog come to think of it... so don't be afraid to ask.
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