3D render of an abstract flame
3D Computer Images - A late career move
Over the decades my art has gone from expressionistic to minimalistic and then back to expressionistic. I started out painting expressionist figurative/abstract works then spent several years working with photography, developing a quite technical and very minimal style (this was not intentional it was just the way the journey went). After immersing myself in very clean, borderline antiseptic, photography I went in the opposite direction, back to expressionist painting, only this time it was full on abstract expressionism - I'd moved past the need to even hint at anything from the real world in my art. After this abstract expression explosion (well over a thousand paintings) I returned to something I'd dabbled with infrequently over the years - 3D computer graphics.
3D render of organic shapes
Blender 3D - Getting Past the Technical
Blender 3D is the software that I wanted to learn, mainly because it was open source and completely free unlike its main competitor which cost $100 a month to use - far too rich for my blood or wallet. The downside with Blender is that it has a very steep learning curve and like many before me I had many failed attempts at getting to grips with it before it finally clicked.
Almost all of my art has been based on eliciting an emotional response. For example, if someone's first reaction to a photograph I'd taken was say, 'He's really mastered the exposure triangle,' or, 'He knows his post processing', then the work has failed with regard to that that viewer. If, on the other hand, the response is an emotional one then the image has resonated and has therefore worked.
Now, Blender is an extremely technical piece of software and I am just getting to the stage where I am competent enough at it to produce work that can resonate on an emotional level with some people. I have a long way to go though.
3D render of neon 'Weird' sign
Assimilating Blender
These images were all made using only Blender 3D and no other software but now I am beginning to use the software as a part of my larger process i.e. using different types of computer program to create different elements and then composite them together. I am currently using Blender to both create individual elements and as a stage for pulling elements, such as photographs, graphics, and paintings together.
I currently have a couple of thousand images on the Unsplash website, many similar to these. Around half are available for free (no registration or sign in required) while the rest are a part of a subscription program. All of the ones that I was paid for where done over a three month period back in 2023 so I tend to regard them as part of my learning how to use Blender to elicit emotion project:
Steve A Johnson Unsplash Profile
Steve A Johnson Unsplash Profile
3D render of a man in a maze
3D render of a mobius strip
Abstract 3D render
Surreal 3D render with meditating figures and a neon 'Wish you were here' sign
Abstract 3D render
3D render of a man looking at an illuminated billboard at night
3D render of the word Chill in a retrowave setting