Just as in traditional printmaking, digital graphic artists create images that are transferred to paper or other materials such as metal, fabric or PVC. In digital printmaking, inks and pigments are the words I work with. My tools are code and vectors instead of cutters, brushes or etching needles.
SQ1 – Dye sublimation print on aluminium at 80×80 cm
It should come as no surprise that I love bold colors in my prints. In these vibrant colors I almost feel photons hitting the lining of my retina. This is why I prefer fine art and dye sublimation prints. In traditional art I have a soft spot for dry pastels for that same reason.
SQ1
“SQ1” is the first print in a series of still life “Vibrations”. It’s an exploraion in color and composition, confined in an 80x80cm dye sublimation print. The image is created by writing code in an editor. If you are interested in how that works, check out this blog I wrote earlier about “Scalabe Vector Graphics“.
SQ1 on location (private collection)
The code I write generates a virtual canvas with shapes and color. Depending on the medium, the code creates images on an html pages for use on a website, but it can also be compliled into machine code that printers need to understand what they should be doing.
I love working in code, creating color by plotting in RGB values instead of using a visual colorpicker. It helps me step away from my preferences and biases. I can more easily explore alternative color spaces and bypass my preconceptions about color and composition. I am cheating though. I end up editing every piece by hand, down to the last detail.
On-site photograph of SQ1 (private collection)
You can find SQ1 in the portfolio here. It is also available for puchase in my Ko-Fi shop, here.
This is “IM – Denkmal für die inoffiziellen Mitarbeiter”. It is a scalable vector graphic printed on an 80×80 cm aluminium plate using dye sublimation printing. In this process, heat and pressure force dye into a gaseous state that chemically bonds with the coating applied to an aluminium plate. The result is a crisp and solid color image that is sealed by a high gloss coating. But it all starts with a bit of code.
IM in office hallway – Dye Sublimation print on aluminium 80 x 80 cmIM – Denkmal für die inoffiziellen Mitarbeiter
A bit of code
“IM” is a Scalable Vector Graphic or SVG. It is an image created in vector graphics format and stored in a text file using Extensible Markup Language (XML). Vector graphics use geometry in a coordinate system to describe shapes and colours.
What are vector graphics?
Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which geometric primitives such as points, lines, curves and polygons are drawn using points called vertices. In SVG, these vertices are coordinates (x,y) on a 2D plane. For example, a line can be defined by a start point and an end point. A computer can then interpolate between them to create a straight line. Using vectors we can draw a curved line between the two points.
I’ve included the code that makes up “IM”. Don’t be put off by how it looks, I just want to show you how little is needed to create the image.
That’s it! That is all it takes to describe this red, black and yellow artwork. The code defines an origin at coordinates (0,0) on a 2D plane of size 1920 by 1920, which acts as a canvas. It then describes some shapes and colours. In ‘IM’ there is a rectangle and three polygons.
What are polygons?
Polygons are geometric shapes such as squares and circles. A polygon is an irregular shape made up of several connected points or vertices. An ordered set of connected vertices is called a polyline. In “IM”, the red polygon has 13 vertices. The start and end points of the set of vertices overlap, closing this polyline into a shape. So all I have to do to create shapes like this is to create a list of coordinates and make sure the start and end point are in the same location.
These shapes are not limited to rectangles and straight lines. As I mentioned earlier, it is also possible to create curved shapes like this using vectors.
Portrait one – fine art print 30 x 30 cm
Scalability
One of the great things about vector graphics is its scalability. As you may have noticed in the code above, I use 1920 x 1920 to define the canvas, without using “mm” or “px” (pixel units). Interestingly, vector files only need values, not units. This means they can be scaled to any size without breaking. This allows me to use the designs equally well on different media.
Of course, there is a bit more to getting from this simple piece of code to a printed artwork using sophisticated machinery. I might talk about this in a future blog post.
