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Work Samples

"H'arp" light-painting.

"H'arp"  light-painting.
"H'arp" light-painting.

"Relevator" - light painting.

"Relevator" is a light painting.
"Relevator" is a light painting made with RGB LED strips behind a translucent screen. Color evolution is driven by a programmable digital micro-controller.

"TheWindow"

"The Window" is a color-changing light painting.
"The Window" is a color-changing light painting. 18" x 24" x 5"

Spatter-Pen Study 5

Spatter-Pen Study 5
Spatter-Pen Study 5. 2017. Watercolor on paper. 15" x 22".

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About Daniel

Baltimore City

Daniel Conrad's picture
My interest in color and color perception became focused when I studied Albers' "Interaction of Colors" in college. I started to work on methods to change colors on a screen using dimmable colored light sources. My continuing goal has been to use color interactions and afterimages as an active component of visual art. My current work, which I call "color-changing light-painting,"  uses a translucent plastic screen on the front of a box about 3.5" deep. RGB LED strips are arranged inside on the... more

"Relevator" - light painting.

The design of “Relevator” references traditional color comparison diagrams. Layering the square-and-surround patterns lends a sense of depth to the composition. Every new light painting evokes new ideas for color-change programming. This piece may call for future development. Construction completed in October 2022. Dimensions: 18”w X 24”h X 5”d.

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"H'arp", a light painting.

"H'arp", a light painting.   Completed in September, 2022, this light painting has a more whimsical design. It is a move away from the orthogonal formality of other designs.   Dimensions 18" x 26" x 5" .  "H'arp" uses a digital microcontroller to program color-changes.

"Urban Breeze" - a light painting.

“Urban Breeze” introduces a sense of atmosphere into a light painting. The design is abstract, but sky and ground are implied, with color areas broken up or blended to lend lightness and air to the vista. 
Date: May 2022.       Size: 18”w x 24”h x 5”d.

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"Reddish Glance" light-painting.

"Reddish Glance" was made in 2021. It uses RGB LED strips with a programmable digital micro-controller.  Size:  18"W x 24"H x 5"D.

"The Window" - light-painting

Color-change programming for  The Window  includes random color selections that are constrained by prescribed relationships of color-difference between areas in the composition.
Size:      18”w x 24”h x 5”d 
Materials: RGB LED strips, acrylic screen, wood cabinet. Partitioning of plastic, and wood.
                           Digital micro-processor with electronics.
User Controls: On/Off , Brightness, Color change-rate. 
Date:      2020-2021

  • The Window

    "The Window" in three color states.
    "The Window" in three color states.
  • The Window

    "The Window" in five color-states.
    "The Window" in five color-states.
  • "The Window"

    "The Window" in five color-states.
    "The Window" in five color-states.
  • The Window

    "The Window" in five color-states.
    "The Window" in five color-states.
  • The Window

    "The Window" in five color-states.
    "The Window" in five color-states.
  • The Window

    "The Window" in 80 consecutive color-states.
    "The Window" in 80 consecutive color-states. This image can be read like a comic book, showing how colors change in this piece. Patterns of change never repeat.

"Test Flight" - light-painting

"Test Flight"    - This light-painting is programmed to include desaturated color-states, which appear as pastels and shades of gray.
Materials:  RGB LED strips, programmable micro-controller,  wooden cabinet, acrylic diffusing screen.
Size:  24"h x 18"w x 5"d.
Date: 2021

"Monolith", a light-painting... and... "Entrance II", a light painting.

The light-painting "Monolith" is designed to give a sense of depth, light, and reflection, even as the entire composition changes color.  Date:  2021.   Dimensions:  18”w x 24”h x 5”d       Materials:  RGB LED strips, acrylic screen, wood cabinet. Digital micro-processor with electronics.   User Controls:  On/Off , Brightness, Color change-rate.

"Entrance II", made in 2020, uses the symmetry of a gateway to juxtapose colors, and create hard and soft boundaries between color areas.    18”W x 24”H x 5”D  
Materials:     RGB led strips, acrylic screen, wood cabinet, partitioning of metal, wood, and plastic.

"Edge" - light painting... and... "Chief" - light painting.

"Edge" is a composition designed to explore the effects of color changes on perception of geometric spatial ambiguities. Date: 2017.  Size:  22"W x 30"H x 5"D.   Materials: Colored LEDs, analog electronic circuit, power supply, plastic screen, wooden case.

"The Chief" is an exploration of dividing colored light areas using ‘broken’ barriers so light can stream from one region into the next. When it was almost finished I saw a New Orleans Mardi Gras “Indian” costume in a café in Baltimore. I named the light painting “The Chief” because of its colorful feathery symmetry.      Date: 2014.           Size:  18"W x 24"H x 5"D.  Materials: Colored LEDs, analog electronic circuit, power supply, plastic screen, wooden case.
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"Nova" - light painting... and... "Tang" - painting with light.

"Nova" is a light painting made in 2003 that uses complementary hues of blue and amber. The hues mix to white when both colors of LEDs are fully on. There are no white LEDs in this piece. Nova's four-way symmetry reflects the logic structure of the electronic circuit that drives LED fade patterns.    Size - 2' x 2' on the diagonal.  Materials: Colored LEDs, analog electronic circuit, plastic screen, wooden case.

"Tang"  is a painting on a panel with fabric shapes applied. Slots in the panel open to an interior chamber that is illuminated with LED lights that fade to change the color visible through the slots. Made in 2014

Paintings

I turn to painting for spontaneous contact with work that evolves even as it is made, in contrast to light-paintings, which require distinct stages of design and construction.