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Images from Another WebsiteFor a while, I stored images on another website, www.indy2101.net. I no longer update the art section of that site. But here is a copy of those images. Some of them I quite like. |
Wartime Homemaker Paints Cupboard
From a 1944 catalog of a Pennsylvania hardware company (Link1), an ink drawing of an aproned forties woman "bringing color to her home." The image was repeated and reversed, and three colors were added. It becomes almost abstract. Done at the last Plastic Club Thursday Still Life class of the Summer.
Note: I have brought Philly-Bob pdderiv page current with images from my page at www.indy2101.net. Intend to redo Philly-Bob.
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Sources: Link1
Nuclear Family
A color photo from a 1985 issue of Poznaj Swiat (Explore the World), the Polish travel magazine (Link1), showing a Sari-garbed Indian woman holding a baby. It is placed on an atmospheric background by a young Photoshop artist named Ghislaine, whose work can also be seen at this website (Link2). Above the background is a repeating image of lock washers from a 1929 trade catalog of Chicago-based Scully Steel and Iron. (Link3)
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Sources: Link1,
Link2,
Link3
Lady in a Hat
From a 1987 Polish photography magazine, Foto (Link1), a woman in a widebrimmed hat. The image is placed upon a Photoshop "Crystal" pattern by an artist named Silver (Link2).
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Sources: Link1,
Link2
Old Gas Engine
Overlaid on one of the German textile patterns from previous picture (Link1), an early gasoline engine pictured in a catalog from Sandwich, an Illinois manufacturer (Link2). Digital distortion skews the circular flywheel.
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Sources: Link1,
Link2
Fears of Syrian Policy
From a 1604 German book of textile patterns Newes Modelbuch in Kupffer gemacht (Link1), three patterns, digitally manipulated to give a sense of a path forward through incredible complexity. Expressing my doubts about recent announcements of American involvement in Syria civil war. The font is
Y2K Subterran Express, a Dutch freeware font.
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Sources: Link1
Another Abstraction
An exercise from a French textbook on mechanical drawing, L'Industriel Dessin (Link1), digitally manipulated, and finally framed in commercial border.
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Sources: Link1
Touching Soviet Medical Scene
Now, something more realistic, from an old Soviet picture magazine.
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Sources: NA
Abstract
Based on a diagram showing fiber composition, this heavily manipulated image. These are from 5/16 images, done 6/11.
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Sources: NA
Girl with Parrot
Composition shows a girl from a European photography magazine and a parrot from a 19th century naturalism book. Circles are from a book of mathematical oddities and illustrate a solution to something called (vague memory) the Apollonius Problem. All laid on a frame of marblized paper. Using the high-tech Gimp filters a lot on these, especially the GMC Filters/Counters/Offset Edges and the Enhance/Enlarge&Synthesize. Back to being lazy on sources; sorry. These are from public domain downloads of 5/13.
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Sources: NA
Janice's Birthday
A piece done while Janice and I watched the confusing science fiction movie Cloud Atlas after Thai birthday meal. Too lazy to record sources. Experimental piece. Elements include two images from a Polish fashion magazine, another image from European magazine, and a needlepoint pattern from an old German book.
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Sources: NA
Homebound Day Images 2, 3: Tublady and Double-Engraving
Another image, composed of material from basically the same sources as the previous image. But much weirder. From the same Polish photo magazine, an unsettling photo of a woman taking a bath in a large basin (Link1). The curlicues around her are a diagram from the same radio instruction booklet (Link2). The background of the whole image is composed of various patterns and filters. Second image is a test of a new method of making engraving-like pictures, using a high-contrast photo of a sullen blonde from a 1968 Polish photography magazine (Link3).
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Sources:
Link1
Link2
Link3
Homebound Day Image 1: Twirler
Hurt my knee carrying tables down three floors cleaning up after a party. So I'm staying off my feet, watching television today. Lazy. Here is an image composed of marbleized book paper, deep in the background. On top of that is a picture of a circus performer blowing a horn and twirling hoops and ribbons from a 1976 European photo magazine (link 1), finally topped off with a diagram of a radio aerial from a 1931 English handbook of "wireless telegraphy" (link2).
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Sources: (Will try to do better on providing bibliographic information):
Link1 and
Link2
Plastic Club Project VIII
From Lasca Leaves, a 1961 California horticulture magazine, a frond of Ctenitis, a "modest fern often overlooked in the garden" imported from New Zealand. It is reversed from black to white and placed upon a loose knitted pattern from an 1894 selection of needlework designs, with a rainbow gradient placed in the backgrounds. Finally, the border is a step and repeat pattern adapted from Passementeries, an 1842 collection of French textile patterns. Be sure to zoom in to full 1102x1267 pixel size to get full effect.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Sources: (Will try to do better on providing bibliographic information):
Link1
Link2 and
Link3
Treads of War
In the background, a collage of World War II tank treads, in all their clanking bone-crushing power. Behind that, a marblized paper from an old book. And finally, on top, a fragile human rib cage. I am reminded of the dystopian scenes of killer machines rolling over skeletons in the Terminator/Sarah Connor movie franchise.
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Sources: TBD
Abstract Composition
Spaced-out, playful manipulation of just a few images. A three-lens pocket magnifying glass (in black), a picture of a seashell, a page full of seashell pictures, and a marblized paper. Much digital manipulation here, including new use of symmetrization filter in GIMP and enamel filter in PaintShop Pro. Circle in center ends up looking like a loving couple of skinny Shmoos (a reference to a 1950's Al Capp comic character).
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Sources: TBD
Greek Statue Ladies
Composite of four images of ancient women from a book of photographs of statuary in German museums, each one a different color. I can't read German so I don't know what they are, but I made up names. The yellow lady at bottom I call the Cornmeal Lady, rolling out a loaf of bread. To her left, a hooded figure in green I call the Witch. Above that, in pink, a coquettish figure I call the Thinker. And to her right, pointing her finger to Olympus, a figure in blue I call the Goddess. Background is composed of patterns. All sent through a circle-izing filter.
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Sources: TBD
Plastic Club Project VII
First Thursday morning Plastic Club workshop piece done without the tutelage of instructor Alice Meyer-Wallace, out of the country until the Fall. Image background is composed of various samples of fabrics from 19th century France. Seated image in center is from an American handbook of embroidery yarn. This image shows my return to my personal style before AMW's influence: heavy use of symmetry and muted color palette. AMW always pushed for more vibrant colors and less symmetrical compositions.
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Sources: TBD
Shore Rescue
From a very poor, small image of refugees from a shipwreck being helped from crashing waves onto a rocky shore, a heavily-manipulated picture, framed with a Turkish rug pattern.
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Sources: TBD
Jimi and GI Joe
Against the backdrop of an aerial photograph of a World War II bombing run, a picture of 60's guitarist Jimi Hendrix and an unnamed Navy mechanic loading machine guns. Still experimenting with Gimp's Contours: Edge Offset filter.
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Sources: TBD
Aluminum in Interior Decoration
Another image from the aluminum trade literature of the last century, showing use of an aluminum stair railing. I like the sinuous curves of this stairway, which almost makes a question mark. Also, I like the old-fashioned telephone on the table.
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Sources: TBD
Worried Lady Seeks Excape
Combination of images from early 20th century aluminum company catalogs and consumer advertising, portraying a housewife reaching with some sort of alarmed vigor toward a door, her maid unconcerned in the backround; a gleaming new hotel kitchen (turned upside down digitally), and a selection of aluminum pots and pans.
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Sources: TBD
Plastic Club Project VI
Last Thursday morning Plastic Club workshop piece done under the tutelage of instructor Alice Meyer-Wallace. She is off to paint in Greece, will return in October. I mainly followed her suggestions in creating this image, intended to look like a playing card for a mysterious game. The background is a a combination of Japanese textile and Western weaving, the foreground is an illustration from a Polish children's book, and the rank is a letter from the Wingdings font.
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Sources: TBD
Broadway Actress of Nine Decades Ago
A tabloid illustration of one of the glamor girls of the 20's -- Della Harkins. Here, she is processed through an engraving filter, then stroked and recolored. I've always admired the Wall Street Journal's headshots, which use the same consistent engraving style.
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Sources: TBD
Bugs that Bedevil a Holiday
Illustration from a traveler's notebook (see the writer napping in his sleeping bag at the very bottom of the picture, head to the left), with some pesky bugs, both from old books. Added heavy contouring, plus a metal texture on the frame.
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Sources: TBD
Saturday Finger Exercise
A simple image of foliage from an old botany volume, sent through various transformations. Relaxing, experimenting with various filters. Trying to go for simpler images. Make sure you click on image to enlarge it to full 742 x 955 pixel size to see the delicate tracery of veins.
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Sources: TBD
Plastic Club Project V
First the cover image from a Polish photomagazine, overlaid by parts of a beautiful Japanese woodcut and the quartered face of a distinguished man wearing tortoise-shell glasses in a newspaper ad. Largely followed suggestions by instructor Alice Meyer-Wallace and classmates.
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Sources: TBD
Political Collage
Sleepless night before I am to present a controversial motion at co-op board meeting. I put together a collage from a cartoon in an old European journal of opinion. Plus a bird from a book on birds and a fancy library room from an old trade catalog on floors or lighting or something. "Expert opinion" is the theme of my introduction to the motion.
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Sources: TBD
Plastic Club Project IV
Mainly from an old catalog by a casement window maker. A painterly illustration of a Dutch -- Breton? -- girl quietly reading in her bedroom by the light of a casement window. Barely visible in the background is a white tracery of other casement window designs. Bottomed off with a goofy touch -- an advertisement from an old newspaper for a patent medicine that "brings new life to men and women -- makes you feel younger as you grow older." This was huckster John Brinkley's cure for ailments ranging from dementia to emphysema to flatulencemale and, above all, impotence (turning men into "the ram that am with every lamb"). Brinkley died penniless because of malpractice suits -- but was a local hero for his work during the 1918 flu pandemic.
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Sources: TBD
Ethnic Costume on Japanese Pattern
Getting lazy on keeping track of sources. And now, a picture of a Polish woman in folk dress, recolored according to the Obama poster algorithm, on a base of Jaapanese patterns.
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Sources: TBD
Mill Airplane Girl
Getting lazy on keeping track of sources. Here, a base picture of an American steel -- or was it aluminum -- mill, with border decorations from a Polish children's magazine showing how to make a model plane. Also in the border are some Japanese designs. Finally, at bottom, a face from a Polish magazine cover.
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Sources: TBD
Rabbit Boy
A technology disaster this weekend, as two installations of Photoshop 6.0 were destroyed by an improperly configured antivirus program. Then I couldn't find the serial number, so I had to buy a new Photoshop, $700 for a program seven releases ahead of my old faithful 6.0. Anyway, finally got it up and reading and did two images today.
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Sources: TBD
Conflict & Ruin
A red image of two boxers contending; you can see the glove, shoulder, and head of one of the boxers on the right. The other boxer, on the left, is twisted away from the blow, so his head is not visible. That image (from a Polish magazine) is superimposed on an image of a ruined Warsaw from a different Polish magazine. The combined image is then overlaid by an image of a starfish-like sea creature from a 1791 French nature encyclopedia and finally bordered by a variation on the marblized end-paper of another book, source not recorded.
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Source: Link1, Link2, and
Link3
I am considering changing my plan. The need to "drink from the firehose" of recently uploaded public domain documents -- that's at the rate of one document per minute! -- has tied me to my easy chair for 4 or 5 hours a day. This has been sedentary, and I have not gotten outside as much as I should for the sake of exercise. I'm thinking of switching over to public domain lectures and talks, loading them onto my MP3 player, and then going for long walks listening to those lectures, with the aim of writing something similar to these review notes.
Plastic Club Project III
Here are two versions of an image done during my third Thursday morning class, under the tutelage of Alice Meyer-Wallace. The first shows my ordinary graphic collage composed of a caped woman drawing from a Polish sewing pattern book, superimposed on some blued sewing patterns from that book, and then, finally, on a seed catalog illustration. Placed on a border from a stove catalog. AM-W suggested the bright yellows and blue. Then next is an idea of AM-W: selecting a detail of the image and viewing it as abstract art, with no image content. Hmmmm.
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Source: Link1, Link2, and
Link3
A Plain post-processing v. Enhanced
From a 1935 seed catalog. Which do you prefer?
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Source: Link1
A Kiss
From a 19th century travel book, a drawing of a couple in Middle Eastern garb kissing. Why is the woman holding a torch? What is in the cup that the girl brings? I don't know. It is bordered by hand pictures from a Polish magazine. I'm not sure what the hands signify: exercise? sign language?
Sorry I'm being lazy on loading links to sources, but I do these late at night and looking up the sources would disturb a sleeping spouse.
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Sources: TBD
For the Birds
Illustration of a Carolina Wren from an old government book, bordered by a frame from an illustration from an old Polish homemakers' magazine.
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Sources: TBD
Girl at the Lottery
One of the things I do is take old public-domain images and redo them digitally. Here, I take an image by Austrian court artist Peter Fendi (1796-1842) called Girl at the Lottery, digitally reimagine it, and place it against the marbleized endpapers of an 1812 travelogue.
Update:An oddity in the lovely marblized endpaper used as a background for this piece: the book it’s from, Voyages and travels in the years 1809, 1810, and 1811 : containing statistical, commercial, and miscellaneous observations on Gibralter, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Serigo, and Turkey (1812), is by an author with a name that is significant in today’s political scene: John Galt, the hero of Ayn Rand’s poisonous Atlas Shrugged. See link here. I wonder if 1950's Ayn Rand knew about the 19th-century travel writer when she named her character.
Update2:Here’s a link to a better reproduction of the Lottery Girl picture.
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Sources:
Link1 and Link2
Plastic Club Project II
Here are two versions of an image done during my second Thursday morning class. The first shows two images of women from an old book about how to sew smocks, aprons, and bonnets. They are set against a field of flowers from a Polish children's magazine, with a superimposed matrix of windows from a millwork catalog. The second shows roughly the same image, but with a spherical distortion and a bright red highlight. The second version was the result of class work, but I ended up thinking the distortion and red detracted from the overall effect.
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Sources: TBD
Eastern European Fashion & Technology
Someone in Poland continues to upload to the Internet Archive site high-quality 200 pixel-per-inch scans of old magazines. In this case, I took a camera ad from a 1971 technology mag (showing an old Instamatic camera) and combined it with shots from a 1991 fashion magazine of the then-latest knitwear and sewing fashions.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Sources:
Link1 and Link2
Plastic Club Project
My wife Janice is moderator of a weekly still life workshop at The Plastic Club on Thursday morning. I have decided to start attending -- with my laptop computer in tow -- both to help Janice with the required lugging about of furniture and to get some new insights into my digital work. There is a teacher available at the class, Alice Meyer-Wallace, an artist's artist, available to consult with attendees at a small fee. Here's my first image done with Alice's input: a picture of an old man from a Polish photography magazine combined with three different images from the covers of old Victorian-era popular novels (called "yellowbacks"). Alice is known for encouraging students to use more color -- I kid her that she's an agent of Crayola -- and here she convinced me to make the old man's hood red and to make the frame two colors.
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Sources: TBD
That 1902 Romantic Sensibility
An image of a young woman playing a bowed instrument by Belgian artist Edmond van Offel. The image is framed by another image by van Offel.
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Sources:
Link1
Feminine Fashion, Pirates, and Flowers
A lady stands before her mirror in a 1920's ad for a London company that specializes in "Lingerie, Handkerchiefs, Trousseaux, House Linen, Children's Dresses", superimposed on a fanciful children's msgazine illustration of a pirate ship, and a display of California flowers. Click to full resolution (1770 x 2549 pixels) to get full effect.
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Sources:
Link1, Link2, and Link3
Another 70's Polish Actress surrounded by Fable
Real mid-century eye glamour -- on an actress in a babushka. Frame is composed of pictures of a children's book illustration for the "Emperor Has No Clothes" and some sort of death's head from a poster for a high school production of Dr. Faustus. There's also some furnace parts superimposed on her face. Image is actually too big (2040 x 2394) for the web.
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Sources:
Link1, Link2, Link3, Link4
1970's Popular Polish Magazine Fare
A composition of elements from a 1978 Polish travel magazine (an ornate altar) and a 1973 Polish radio and television magazine (a photo of actress Miroslawa Dubroska in character before a washing tub).
(Click on image to enlarge)
Sources:
Link1 and Link2.
Drill Bits, Feathers, & Makeup Techniques
Drafting-style drawing of drill bits from a trade catalog, repeated. On top of that: a chicken feather, repeated, from that German poultry handbook. Decorated with a couple illustrations from a 1902 book on women's fashions, showing top right, a Venetian woman in mask and muff and bottom left, a high-born woman of the Louis XIII era at her toilette. Be sure and Click on image to enlarge to get the full effect. You may have to click more than once to come to the full 1066 x 1686 pixel image; the reduced image is muddy,
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Sources:
Link1, Link2, and Link3.
Composition in Refrigeration Units
A couple 1930's trade catalogs of large-building cooling units used bright red ink to highlight the Frick Co. units. Placed on a background of the Frick factory, collaged, and then distorted.
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Sources:
Link1 and Link2.
Cooling Drink in a Poultry Pen
An advertising image from an early magazine -- a weird manchild extolling the cooling virtues of a root beer on a summer day -- framed by an image of a fan and placed in a chicken coop from a German poultry book as background.
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Sources:
Link1 and Link2.
Chicken Faces on Boiler
From a 1000-page 19th century German book on poultry, some of the various headshapes of chickens. Superimposed on a frame from a picture of an old steam boiler.
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Sources:
Link1 and Link2.
Farmer Snatching Goose
From an 1891 travel book, a sketch of a knife-wielding German farmer tending to her geese. Background is combination of cover and end-paper of same book, and an application of the Isfahan textile patterns.
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Sources:
Link1
Woman Rowed on Nile by Lion
Because of a recent upload to Internet Archives of popular books in Arabic, there are a lot of puzzling images. Here is the cover of one such book. Note in upper center, a little girl in a polka-dot dress falling upside-down from the sky, holding some sort of plate -- adding even more weirdness to the young woman being rowed by a lion. I don't read Arabic so I have no clue what is going on. The whole image is framed on a textile pattern from the Isfahan region of Iran.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Sources:
Link1
Link2
Metal Grating and Rubber Tile
From Irving Iron Works, Fireproof ventilating flooring, c. 1923 and Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Goodyear rubber tile: It's the floor that you see and feel, c. 1928.
(Click on image to enlarge) Link1 and Link2 to originals
To the left, the large image is a picture from Irving Iron Work's trade catalog showing metal grating around a stairway as installed in a factory. To the bottom right (in red) is an engineering drawing of a metal grating. At top right, squeezed oil paint tubes are used as a logo to illustrate the company's line of rubber tiles. Around the border of the picture are a few specimens of the tile.
