Suggestions Sought for Paint Project

[Vision River]

A poem wants to be illustrated and asked me, a visionary not a graphic artist, to do it.

The poem is Winding Path and talks about rings of awareness, looking into the building blocks of life -- through cells, molecules, atoms, to the theorized pulsing, colored energy string loops.

I have a pen-mouse (not tabletized) but my partner says my string loops look like potatoes. In general, at the rate my artistic skills are developing, the project won't go public for another light-year.

There are eight illustrations to be done, starting with the strings. These are translucent, vibrating energy string loops.

Any thoughts on where to begin?

[Mike Ryan]

You wouldn't happen to have a screenshot for an example, would you? From the way you make it sound, I have visions of the Xbox 360 logo :?

[Vision River]

Mike,

Thanks for asking!

Here's an illustration from an article at http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast123/lectures/lec07.html and a quote:

"The basic premise to string theory is that subatomic entities, such as quarks and forces, are actually tiny loops, strings and membranes that behave as particles at high energies."

As the string loops have not been seen, artistic license is wide open.

And here's the poem from http://actsofpeace.net/

Winding Path

A passage winds between the rings

and calls to me, it sweetly sings,

“Come, walk inside and rest your soul,

awareness makes you free and whole.

“Each ring will frame the way you see

and create reality.”

The first ring’s caught in time and space,

it has a name, it has a face.

The second ring, a living cell,

has stories egg and sperm can tell.

The third ring is of molecule,

emotion, air, a swimming pool.

The fourth ring is atomic land,

a cosmos in a grain of sand.

The fifth ring is a nucleus,

the cluster says, “not I but us.”

The sixth ring swells in endless sea

of quantum particles to be.

The seventh ring in pulses sings,

made of cosmic colored strings.

The center ring's creative source,

initial cause and primal force.

And on the path distinctions fall,

as rings merge to the one and all.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Awesome! String theory is something that has intrigued me for some time, and I've always wanted to try my hand at the effect.

So, this is what I came up with (click for full size):

As I once heard it some time ago, for string theory to even be plausible there would have to be a minimum of seven dimensions as we understand them for the strings to be able to vibrate with enough diversity to fulfill their purpose. I'm not sure if it's true, but I like the concept, so I incorporated the thought when I made the image - instead of the diagram at the bottom of your post where they look like blobs squiggling on a flat plane, I tried to make it look like it was writhing in all directions, using varying line width and glow intensity in an attempt to convey depth. I also added a distorted string echo behind it, fading away, to show movement within the still frame.

I also added some floating particulate matter around the string. Yes, I realize that at the size we'd have to be to see a string, there wouldn't be smaller particulates around (or at least, it would be difficult to fathom anything smaller), but I felt they added to the ethereal ambiance, and since we're going more for evocation than replication, I figured it'd be alright to take a little license.

So, that's what I think of when I think strings. If you like it, I can explain how I accomplished the effect so you can try it yourself. I know there are many other talented users on here as well, and I'm sure a few of them wouldn't mind taking a stab at it if they have the time, so perhaps you'll get a few visions from which to choose - hopefully it'll happen in this quantum reality.

Best of luck, friend.

[Vision River]

To see the vision in art is ah, not to put in words. Wunderbar!

May I put the image on the Acts of Peace site, with a credit to you and link to your site/blog?

Yes, if you have time to tell me the steps I would appreciate it. I will play with colors.

[Crazy Man Dan]

You're more than welcome to use the image on your site. As for crediting, I don't require it, but if you'd like to do so, you could link to either my Paint.NET-centric website at http://cmdsketchpad.com/, or my professional portfolio, which is presently under construction at http://technolografik.com/. (My name is "Dan Larson", so if that'll look more presentable than "Crazy Man Dan", you could use that too. )

I will put together a set of steps for you as soon as possible. I'll also include the PDN of the work I posted above so you can see the general layer composition and blend mode structure.

Cheers!

[Vision River]

Hey, Dan -

You can see the String image on the home page of http://actsofpeace.net

It looks great!

As you mentioned, other artistic visions are welcomed.

Also, any suggestions or attempts from readers for the evocation of atoms, molecules and cells will be appreciated.

This is for the Acts of Peace site, eventually to go into flash and Power Point for online and live presentations.

Cheers!

[Vision River]

Hi Dan,

I understand you are busy and it may take some time to write out the steps for creating the string image.

Ummmm, could you just send the layered file so I can start playing with it?

For example, I would like to create a field of strings as a background.

For this I would remove the text and copy / paste your image.

I envision having some open and some closed strings, in various shapes, colors and densities across the background.

I will copy this to the forum, that others have an opportunity to contribute their visioned strings.

Thanks, man.

Gary

[Crazy Man Dan]

Hey Gary. Sorry about the delay - I became quite busy with a few website commissions I've had planned for a while.

You can get the PDN here:

http://cmdsketchpad.com/pdn/strings-slim_pdn.zip

It's in a ZIP archive. Just extract and go. All the layers are named descriptively, so you should be able to tell what's what.

[Vision River]

Danke!

[Vision River]

Hey Dan,

The String sans text looks super on the site. Dark and elegant.

Not understanding how layers work, I removed the text by reducing the opacity.

I am experimenting with a collage for a Field of Strings.

As can be seen below, it would be helpful if the background was transparent. I want the strings to overlap in places, too.

Then there will be strings in other colors and open strings. Can you imagine it?

How can I make the background transparent, please?

[Crazy Man Dan]

To get just the string with a transparent background, un-tick the checkbox on the right side of the top two layers (the Glass border layers), as well as every layer from the Dots - Close level layer and below. This will hide all the other layers save those for the string.

Then, select Image > Flatten to merge them all into one. This will create a flattened version of the string on one layer, but keep the transparent background. Select All, copy, then paste as many times as you need in the final composition image.

[Uneyed]

Speaking of subatomic particles:SNO Observatory. Everyone forgets about the tiny nuetrino.

Sounds like a fun project. I'm in.

[Vision River]

I have a collage of images as examples for the building blocks of life project.

Being new here and to forums in general, I don't know how to insert it inline so that the image can be enlarged when clicked.

Can anyone tell me how?