Radical Impressionist: A Mathematician Paints

The Wise Photo App is available on the iPhone or iPad to apply overlays of 'rules' to your photographs or painting images on the device. Some examples applied to a well-known painting image are provided below. But there's a caveat that took me a while to figure out completely. The app changes the proportion of the photo to fit the grid as explained below.  (I even communicated with the main technician about this; he said that he didn't expect someone to apply two types of grids to the same photo. I was interested in comparing a dynamic symmetry grid with a PHI grid to see the difference. But more than this though is the changes made to the image provided unless it fits exactly a certain proportion). I've experimented with the Wise Photo App at length and it's great fun!! Here's a link to order it:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wise-photos/id1406085029  (the first two rules are free from apple; otherwise it costs a few dollars) for the iphone or the ipad. An...

Santa Fe River Turbulence, with Dynamic Symmetry Armature, 10x16.  (golden ratio) Notes: (in progress: return again from time to time to see additions or modifications) 5/15/23:    Added "Golden Rectangle" to the title to emphasize that this post is about the golden PHI proportion. Added an image with the Rule of Thirds superimposed over a PHI grid for the viewer to see the difference visually. Removed comment about other proportions since they are not represented in this post. Removed the Wise Photo App version of the Dynamic Symmetry grid applied to this golden proportioned painting since it distorted the size in its downloaded version.  It's best to use the PHI/Golden Triangle/Spiral 'grids' for golden rectangle proportions and the Dynamic Symmetry Grid for other formats. Note that formats other than 3:4 crop the images somewhat (or sometimes a lot) with the Dynamic Grid in this App. Moreover, the only additional aspect ratios handled by the Dynamic Grid need t...

  Chromatic Lands I Chromatic Lands I is a favorite painting due to its range of colors and its textures.  I will probably try to reproduce this painting in different formats or larger. In this case, I feel that the top hill is too centered. I do like the way that the darker ‘path’ is an s-shape leading to this cliff in the distance. So, I intend to move the cliff to the right.  I used photoshop to do this and to experiment with a 'golden rectangle'.   First, I opened this image in photoshop and layered a PHI grid on top, moving it around until the top cliff fell at the golden 'point': I then cropped the jpeg image with and without the armature: Does this format look better with the cliff more toward the right?  It's different and worth a try. In this case though, I think I should keep more of the colorful foreground. And have the 'path' start at the lower left as is does in the 5:4 version.   But starting again with the 5:4 version, I decided to ...

  List of References used in these "A Mathematician Paints" posts 7/23/23: Tavis Leaf Glover has a post on 4 books he recommends for learning Dynamic Symmetry with pro's and con's of each:  https://ipoxstudios.com/dynamic-symmetry-grids-for-photographers-and-painters/#gridtopbooks 11/14/2022: Continuously updated as new references become available or are used in these posts.  Major Books on Mathematics within Art: Amazon links.  Most have Kindle options. Also google them for possibly free pdf downloads.  Painters-Secret-Geometry-Study-Composition  by Charles Bouleau. A study of composition in art. The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry  by Jay Hambridge The Geometry of Art and Life  by Matila Ghyka The Art of Composition. A simple Application of Dynamic Symmetry  by Michel Jacobs Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times  by Morris Kline,  1972. Creative Illustration  by Andrew Loomis. Informal Subdivision, pg 36-39. Geometry...