Andrew Pomeroy

I've seen several graffiti works based on pixel art, including some innovative work by Space Invader using small ceramic tiles to create pixel mosaics. But as far as using stencils to create pixel art, I hadn't ever seen a method that seemed solid. So I came up with my own, using a few basic materials.
As long as you don't skimp on the quality of paint, you can end up with a very clean image.


The most critical supply in this process is an industrial lighting diffuser. It's basically a giant plastic grid made up of about 1cm x 1cm squares. I used this as the basis of my pixel-grid system, and for each color of pixel that I needed, I covered up all the cells that I didn't want colored in.
The way I achieved this was by first determining which pixels I needed blocked out for each color, marking a piece of paper which I laid underneath the diffuser, and then started masking the appropriate squares: first by using duct tape to fill the larger gaps, and then silicone expanding foam to quickly fill individual gaps.

Then it was as simple as laying down the diffuser on the painting surface, and spraying a coat of each stencil's particular color.
For the green and blue coats, however, I ended up with quite a bit of peeling and unevenness to the finish, as the paint I was using was cheap Krylon as opposed to higher-quality spraypaint.

A timelapse of the process:

Timelapse - Stenciling Pixel Art from Andrew Pomeroy on Vimeo.

For this type of stenciling, I wanted to experiment with creating a larger pattern from a variety of elements on-the-fly. What I imagined was to cut some smaller stencils with which to form a larger image by reusing and layering over and in conjunction with each previous sprayed layer.

More specifically, I wanted to create a "drip pattern" down the side of my mini-fridge. I started with a bit of a rough sketch of what I had in mind in Illustrator, and then fully fleshed it out by expanding it into the pieces I would later cut and spray with.

To create a full image of a drip pattern I would need several elements in a variety of sizes: The start (top) of each individual drip, a thin stream to "extend" each drip, and the teardrop-shaped bottom of each drip. I also threw in some moustache-shaped things towards the end to use as basic curves with which to smooth out transitions between one drip and another. Here's what my Illustrator file looked like, which is what got sent to the laser cutter:

As far as application of the patterns went, it was fairly simple: I just started with one drip, sprayed each element over one another individually, and then continued on with the next one until I had a pattern that I liked, after which I smoothed out the transitions and did a little cleanup.

The hardest part was masking, I felt as though there was a lot more spillage than I would have liked, and dealing with applying and reapplying a newspaper mask was very frustrating. Overall, though, the pattern-making process was beautifully simple, and could easily be applied to any other surface, including one that spanned much more area, with infinite potential for customization.

A timelapse of the painting process:

Timelapse - Constructive Stenciling from Andrew Pomeroy on Vimeo.

Stenciling typically suffers from two distinct limitations: The images can't have any fills within gaps (islands), and the surface has to be flat. Here I used vinyl straight from the vinyl cutter as a stenciling material.

I cut a negative image out in vinyl, and applied it to my surface using transfer tape. The round surface of the pumpkin would have been impossible to stencil upon with a traditional stencil. The ability to incorporate islands in the image is evident in the eyes and mouth of the mouse character, as well as the tie and the gaps in the lettering.

A timelapse of the process:

Timelapse - Vinyl Stenciling from Andrew Pomeroy on Vimeo.

The precision of the vinyl cutter allows for a very realistic visual imitation of common images that utilize a small number of colors. For example, universally-recognized signage is often only composed of two colors and is drawn with very simple imagery and text.

The inspiration for this one came from the common "Emergency Exit" signs seen in public buildings all over the world. Here is my alteration:

The process involved a normal vinyl-cut image layered on another cut layer of equal size, a large white rectangle which served as the "backing." On the upper layer (the red vinyl), I cut the transfer tape to match the size of the bottom layer exactly, and then used a tee-square to align the two while I sandwiched one layer upon the other. Vinyl sticks to itself with much tenacity; I used a dab of water on the adhesive side of the top layer so that the two pieces of vinyl wouldn't become accidentally stuck together permanently. It came in handy, as I had to separate the two at least once.

Here's a timelapse of the process:

Timelapse - Fake Signage Production from Andrew Pomeroy on Vimeo.

Leave me a comment with your email or another means of contact. I can't remember who all had expressed interest in the app that I made for my final project, so when I get a few critical updates made to the program I'll send you guys a copy of the installer.

I've gotten quite a bit of work done on my Flash file, but there's still a good amount to go. Since my last update, I've successfully coded the following:
-ability to access one's iTunes Library through an XML file
-randomly choosing and playing back a song from the iTunes library
-loading, writing and appending to a database XML file to keep track of the artists' progressive works.

Unfortunately it's all ugly as hell, so most of my effort from here on out will go towards skinning the thing.

Ever since I came up with the idea for my project I knew it was going to be an exercise in patience and willingness to immerse myself in unfamiliar aspects of Flash programming. I suppose this was part of the plan all along, so as to satisfy the "breaking the comfort zone" aspect, but as of the past week or so I got a real taste of the depths to which the sheer madness of this coding project is going to entail.

So to begin with, John helped me quite a bit in terms of setting me on my way to achieving one particular goal of the project-- integrating images pulled from Google Image Search into the Flash interface. He supplied me with some code that he had strung together with the Google API, where text that the user inputs will result in a matching image from GIS embedded in the flash file. To further build on the functionality of this with relevance to my project, I need to be able to take these images and then save them to the hard drive for reference later.

The purpose of saving these images is so that one can look back at my old work, and be able to see the image that was grabbed from the internet to inspire it (among all the other parameters). Since I'm using AIR to establish an application on the user's computer rather than through a web-based service, we need to be able to keep a copy on the HD to accomplish this.

Unfortunately, the ability of Flash to easily load/save files from the hard drive's filesystem is limited. As a result, I spent the better part of two days wading through the technical difficulties required to achieve such a seemingly simple thing. Here's a basic rundown of the process I went through with trying to code a simple script to add "save image" functionality to the GIS scripting that Park had laid down:
-Find tutorial code for saving images
-Adapt code to project
-Find out save functionality is not supported
-Install updates to Flash CS3
-Find out I need Adobe AIR 1.5 to use Save functionality
-Search for updates to bring AIR 1.5 to Flash CS3
-Find out I actually have to update to CS4
-Install Flash CS4 overnight
-Save functionality still doesn't work
-Install small update to Flash CS4

ALL so that I could go from this:

To this:












-Saving GIS images under the daily design's "profile"
-Loading the daily designs as they are completed, for display within the application
-Saving "calendar" output images of all the month's designs allocated by day (hopefully)

What I realized that I'm falling behind on is having actual designs to back up this process, so what I need to do at this moment is code the randomization of design parameters and start using it as it's meant to, drawing up stuff day by day; the coding for the fully finished product can wait.

In the past day or two, I've jettisoned whatever project ideas I had been building for a new one entirely: A flash application intended to manage and promote my daily design process.

I first got my inspiration from an article on what some are calling the Seinfeld Calendar.

Jerry Seinfeld used one of these while he was an aspiring comedian, using it to manage how often he would spend writing comedy, of which he knew he must be a disciplined practitioner in order to become successful. His system was to mark a giant red X on each day during which he spent some time writing. His goal was to accomplish this every single day, so that once he got some momentum and the X's started piling up, the motivation not to break the chain was enough to keep him diligent about continuing the process day after day.

So at first my idea was to utilize this idea pretty much unchanged, except instead of writing, it would be to help me draw up one graphic each day to practice my graphic design skills. After Tuesday's class, though, my ideas evolved a bit.

Having watched the part of The Five Obstructions in class, I got to thinking about what kind of 'obstructions' my design process could use. In an instant I had an epiphany; I realized that with respect to my personal design process, the one that I had been trying to improve all throughout this class so far, the need for practice as well as the need for obstructional inspiration sources could be fulfilled with a a single innovation.

So here's what I've got so far:
A Flash application (compiled in Adobe AIR so it can run as a cross-platform desktop application) whose purpose is to both provide a daily design impetus along the same lines as the Seinfeld calendar, but also to provide inspiration along the lines of providing 'obstructions.' The design is as follows:

The application is meant to guide my daily design processes, and as such, it alerts me every day at a specified time. I am then prompted to run the main process of the program, which is to select a number of various parameters to have bearing on the graphic design piece I am to produce that day. These parameters are all chosen at complete random, and I am bound to using them in the piece I create as avenues for inspiration, as per the 'obstruction' method. These parameters include the following:
Restrictions:
-Type (from portrait, vector icon, desktop art, signage, logo design, web design, reprise or 'remix' of previous work, etc)
-Size (if applicable)
Inspiration elements:
-Primary color OR Adobe Kuler swatch
-Random word from a sizeable dictionary
-Random Google Image Search or Flickr image result
-Random song picked from user's music library

The user will able to select any of these parameters to include or exclude for any given day.
I'm debating on whether to include a timer in the program as well to keep the time spent on each design minimal. Also, the method by which the previous work will be shown and tracked as progress, well, that's completely up in the air still as well. A good deal of this project will rest on figuring out how to interface Flash with other software.

If I'm able to pull this off well, I'll have a finished application as well as a body of work to evidence the effectiveness of the process. The application is designed with customization and versatility in mind, so that any user seeking a solution to 'designer's block' should be able to install this program and achieve similar results.

My day would just not be complete without 7 or so emails from Heidi Howes. Thanks, Heidi.

My first instinct after the completion of the first project was to align myself towards the "pushing my first project further" group, though I find myself more and more appealed by the "mastering a tool" group as time goes on. Regardless, I've done some brainstorming in the same vein as the first project:

The World at Night:

I've had a particularly positive response to my previous project's world map laser-cut on acrylic. I, too, was very fond of that part of the project, and since its completion in my conversation with several people I've identified a possible followup project to it. Based on the above image, which is comprised of satellite imagery showing the light sources present on the Earth at nighttime, I would compose a new backlit black-acrylic piece. The laser-cutting would be engineered so that holes would be cut in the acrylic corresponding to the lights that are seen in the image, creating a striking physical counterpart to the image that many of us are already familiar with. The only concern I have with the idea at the moment is that I'd like it to be quite a bit larger than the previous piece, and the size limitation for material to be used in the laser cutter does not exceed the previous project by much. Thus, I would have to consider alternate methods of composing the physical product.

Expanding methodology:
(this could also be considered a viable candidate for "moving beyond comfort zone" material)
Part of the motivation I had for my previous project was based on designing for my surroundings; I created vector art that I envisioned being able to be adapted to my environment, and then researched and experimented with methods to bring it into reality. In this same vein I'd like to further the this incentive-based innovation by moving towards a medium even more geared towards my design sense: apparel. Knowing that vector art and screen-printing are already close in relation to one another, I'd like to move forth into the territory of DIY clothing design based on my own vector art. Operating from the original desire to reshape my aesthetic environment, I see the opportunity to put before myself a completely blank wardrobe that I can work on from the ground up, digging up new methods to help me apply new designs all along the way.

Large-scale pixel art:
The method I came up as part of the previous project for stenciling pixel-art with a light-fixture diffusion grid was not only one of my favorite parts, but showed the most potential for expansion, given its efficiency and quality of final result. I'd like to move this beyond simple character reproduction, and greatly increase the scale of the project to potentially create mural-sized artwork.

Finally got what I had been working on uploaded.. Video rendering sucks.

As part of my focus on vector art, here's a video tutorial on how to prepare your Illustrator file for use with a vinyl cutter.


Preparing Vector Art for a Vinyl Cutter from Andrew Pomeroy on Vimeo.

At present, my habits and lifestyle are not necessarily conducive to the habits of a good designer. So in order to recreate a system of living that works more in the favor of the act of design itself, I decided to lay out a number of areas in which my design abilities could benefit from small lifestyle changes, as well as the ways I could be expanding my pre-existing design habits/abilities by focusing them towards improvement of daily life.

In theory, the separate efforts reciprocate beneficially, and in turn accomplish that which I set out to do, which is to bring the two elements of my being closer into synchronization. These practices begin to be more harmonious with one another, and the self-identity is forged into that of a true designer.

I started with the purely physical.

In order to truly open up a space for one's design abilities to flourish, one needs a blank canvas. So, in my quest to create an optimal habitation of a designer, I had to take a few big first-steps: A complete takedown of all furniture and decór in my surroundings.

(photos not available quite yet-- but trust me, it was drastic)

Having eliminated all but what I feel truly works for me at the most basic level, I'm left with a whole lot of open space. Having this vast emptiness benefits my work in two respects: firstly, by getting rid of the things that have never really worked for me all that well, I now have a massive amount of space in which I can design for my own personal taste. Secondly, the blankness of the end result is not necessarily pleasing in and of itself-- I am in effect forced to come up with solutions in order to avoid suffering through bleak surroundings.
The space which I have left in which to design my own aesthetic and functional surroundings is somewhat intimidating in its hugeness; however, herein lies an opportunity to expand my designs to an unprecedented scale.


Next: True basics; Fixing and enhancing my furniture.

I'm up too late. Shit happens.

It only took but a gander to see the breadth of my frustration regarding my surroundings. First of all, I look immediately to my floor in my room and I see that familiar array of clothing and other items scattered throughout the floorspace-- a good portion of the various things I pretend not to notice every day. Let's just leave those out of the equation for now-- at some level they just don't count in this situation-- nothing that I'll ever physically construct will ever keep me from throwing my shit on the ground in moments of convenience.
However, there was plenty to find elsewhere that qualified:

As part of the Back to Basics group, I begun last week to consider the ways in which problems occur in my life relating to the more basic and concrete elements of my surroundings. Narrowing it down, it became very clear to me that the main problem I faced was that my surroundings simply did not work for me in one way or another-- The functional arrangement of my living space always leaves something to be desired, and I rarely have much of a passion for the objects which adorn my clothes and my walls, though I constantly strive to bring liveliness and cohesion to all of these things.

Great, problem identified.
Next step is to take a look around at my surroundings to pick out some symptoms.

OMG. Andrew Pomeroy designs. ON THE INTERNETS