Another in the sequence of digital pen tracings, exploring the mark-making potential of the new instrument, on this occasion using Jasper Johns & one of his ‘Flag’ drawings as a guide, as inevitable a circumstance as it might be possible to imagine around these parts, given my abiding attachment to the artist.
Jasper Johns 'Flag' 1958
Pencil and graphite wash on paper/30x22cm
The example chosen from which to work is drawn more loosely & displays much less dense mark-making than others of Johns’ flags, consequently being lighter in tone & feel, seeming more appropriate to the purposes of the particular exercise (although, for future reference, it might also be worth considering one of the more densely-processed drawings as a template). The image displays a suitable range of mark-making to explore the versatility of the digital pen, although of course, again, the biro lacks the subtlety of the pencil(s) used by Johns, in conjunction with washes of graphite, an additional ‘textural’ feature I felt it might be possible to replicate with recourse to certain functions of the software program accompanying the pen & its digital receiver, in the interests of developing the drawing at the computer stage in this particular instance, given that such possibility exists.
The initial biro drawing, then, is a tracing of a reproduction (in the essential ‘Gray’ volume) of Johns’ drawing, this copy’s exactitude being compromised by the less-than-complete-transparency of the tracing paper & then the further obscurity created by the accumulation of marks made upon its surface in the transcription process – all things taken into account, significant loss & difference occurs in translation, which process is then extended & intensified in the uploading to the computer & digitizing of the pen drawing, as can be observed.
copy after Jasper Johns 'Flag'
biro on tracing paper/30x20cm
The brush feature of the software program, although extending the range of mark-making, offer little in the way of subtlety, of transparency of application, in addition to its tendency to regularize the difference of the marks (that might be) made by the biro, & bears all the appearance of a drawing made with a fibre-tipped pen without necessarily replicating even the flow of such an instrument: it all adds up to a pretty crude approximation, although not without its own distinctive qualities, & it’s interesting to observe the manner in which the receiver reads the handmade marks of the pen, which is an impressive enough concept in itself.
digital translation of biro drawing after Jasper Johns 'Flag'
Bringing proceedings to a close in the now usual manner, as the final stage of the process, the digital image is then converted to a text document, the software program making its own sense of the marks made & recorded. Although beginning with the now familiar flurry of uppercase Es amongst other stock characters, on this occasion more recognizable words occur than has previously been the case, perhaps because the marks made more closely approximate the flow & rhythms of handwriting. Whatever, it’s possible to isolate the random selection of words ‘pains’, ‘thistledown’, ’trespass’, ‘annatto’, ‘Wheaten’ & ‘Eastward’, in addition to the rather grand name 'Rathfarnham' & what appear to be the formats of URLs & email addresses: one wonders if, in particular, ‘trespass’ is some form of comment upon & coded warning against the appropriation of the work of artists for one’s own exploratory ends, as has been the nature of this project thus far..!
MEEFIEIHHFFPFIEFHEHEMEEEFM@EE.ME H*05*E*a
hhnhynnatiaaatdntesefwsawaaddfaodomaaae@hffemate.hm pains
trespass'nIi*t¥ginn→*aiohagh thistledown Rathfarnham. paawehasaataefkfohytegaefaiitmoeggdddaadha@tmmb.ad
annatto
fagytmhafetamaetetkiaaawtor.h@ammttdaataabrwesattatathahftaitayaahawa.nl
Ahtr*estn*fefFEfaeEmhp•*EAetwTATT*nEp# Wheaten. t*d*e*a m*E*a*t=A*a*a-805777ttmz@Hotmail.org ataman t*#dthAErn*kxMfhtMMAtahEEhAE Eastward ftagfthaxan-aaaantnaaaananttt@tak.th
ihhaahhhfkehkuadtoseaatadwma@apptottmfhd.ax and
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