Red In the Desert | A Mixed Media Art Project

Crimson flooded Marvin's thoughts. Crimson flooded his surroundings. Just peep into the window of his studio. And crimson flooded his loins.

In a day all would be revealed as he drove twenty-five miles. Even the slow lyrics of his favorite music genre couldn't quiet the rising tide of desire. He drove on in silence.

Parking on the outskirts of town, he canvassed the neighborhood. He rushed to the top of the grassy hill. With legs hanging over, he reached into this backpack.

Attendants clothed in skirts, that would entice any mechanic repairing vehicles underneath, darted between the cars parked in individual slots.

Marvin's watch chimed. He glanced up, salivating at the title of the flicker show.

Movements on the screen awakened his senses. The images rushed to form subjects in his fingers on which to carve.

Even after the flicker show ended, by floodlight, he worked well into the darkness. The images scorched into his soul.

In the end, he succumbed to the pressure. Pulling out his tools, he lavished his subjects with the brush of crimson.

Tomorrow, all would be revealed.

A minor inconvenience as the authorities demolished his studio.

Marvin sighed. A longing released from the burden of his consciousness. His only request...they not destroy the tools of his trade.

In the solitude of his confinement, his gnawing hunger would be assuaged.

But forever would the masterpieces be memorialized in the gallery of his passion.

The theme for my current mixed media project is crimson. I wanted to portray an individual whose passion to paint unusual subjects, fell outside the mainstream of thought. It didn't deter him.

For this project, I utilized a variety of images, including pure fractals and stable diffusion.

For my pure fractals, I required images that would represent the outdoors. I located two such fractals that resembled grass and weeds for a landscape vibe.

For my stable diffusion images, I relied upon StarryAI. From the one prompt, five images were created I felt interpreted my vision of a painter's dream.

Below are my steps.

The next diffusion image I envisioned was an object of the painter's desire. I was delighted at the resulting image. In fact, four images were created from the one prompt. They all worked well for the scene.

StarryAI Text input:
"Long ghoul black and red fingernails coming out of the ground."

Runtime: 50
Seed: 8097768743

StarryAI Result:

To capture the scene, I needed to blend my images. I use Canva as my design program. The images required removal of their backgrounds for positioning on the canvas.

I started with a blank canvas. To that I added the primary stable diffusion image with the multi fingernails on a dirt landscape. This would provide the setting.

I duplicated the image to fill in the canvas and provide the full background.

Next, I added the remaining fingernail images in various positions on the canvas. This represented numerous images the painter included in this portrait.

The painter hand and brush was next.

Finally, I added the pure fractals to complete the landscape scene. The fractal red veil added a touch of mystery to the scene.

Below is my completed mixed media art project: