I am the ERASER.

The color that we see on a painted surface is reflected light. The paint reflects the light that we see and call it's color, but it is actually sucking up all the colors we don't see. For instance red paint is actually yellow and blue. "Red" paint absorbs and gathers blue and yellow light and REJECTS the red light, it is reflected back at us to perceive as "red".
Get it? I didn't think so.

White light is all the colors of the spectrum mixed together, but a white canvas is actually black because it has no color of it's own. It reflects all colors back to us and we only perceive it as white. When I begin to paint on a white panel or canvas I am merely stripping away or erasing the layers of light and revealing the art that was unseen. I am taking colors away from the white, so that only some colors are reflected back and no longer perceived as white.

Tattoo Machines

Here's a few simple designs for some tattoo machines I did a few years ago. The tattoo machine has stayed basically the same since 1876. These were an attempt to make a new type of machine.

There are no stars in the sky and that is why

I was looking at the sky noticing how few stars you can see. Even on a clear night in the city, only a few of the brightest stars will make it through the multitudes of artificial lights. A thought came to me.
My theory is that at least in part, some of the problems of the inner city (drop out rates, schools, crime, bigotry, poverty, the lack respect for themselves, others, and nature) is due to the city lights. At night you cannot see any stars. People have lost there sense of wonder. They can't look up in the sky in awe and realize the magnificence of the universe, and wonder at their place it. --just a thought.

Ancient Water Mixible Oil Paint

I'm just going to use this blog as for general ideas and notes. Later I will design and improve the overall Blog. I'm not a great writer an don't intend this to be anything but a notepad.

I was reading an interesting article on ancient Indian cave paintings here: http://www.shumla.org/discover/paintmaking.htm . The archaeologists were attempting to manufacture the paint they used, but they would need to use the ingredients that would be available to the Indians at that time. Ruffly 2000 years BC.
They know through tests on samples what pigments were used, but they didn't know for sure what the binder was. It would have to be something that lasts 4000 years and be easily available in the area. Animal fat is a common binder is often used by native tribes. After trying other possibilities they decided that animal fat was the most likely binder.
But what did they use as a thinner? They hypothesised that a thinner must have been used to make some of the cave paintings. There was no petroleum solvents or turpentine available. Water can't thin paint with animal fat (oil) as it's binder. They eventually tried adding an extract of Yucca root (a natural soap) to the water and it worked beautifully as a thinner for the fat based paint. It apparently even added some very nice handling properties to the paint.
I'm would think that this should work just as well with linseed, or other oil based paints too.
This predates the invention of water mixable oil paints by nearly 4000 years.

I'm going to try adding a little concentrated Yucca extract to linseed oil and see if I can use it to make a water soluble oil based paint. If this is indeed what the Indians used then it should be a very tough and permanent paint, as it lasted 4000 years on the cave walls!