Drawing Primarily: Creighton Michael
 a brief and annotated history of my relationship with drawing

Part 4 B
exploring the digital landscape 

My practice has a long history of ideas being shared between different disciplines. With the inclusion of digital techniques, I was able to greatly expand that process.  

My process of layering various marking episodes from different disciplines and time frames continues with the addition of new materials and techniques.

In an attempt at creating the spatial effect of a light box without having one, the same image is printed on two separate sheets of plexiglass using complementary color profiles, then framed and layered together, resulting in an image more anaglyphic than holographic.

The Blindsight Project, which began at the suggestion of Dr. Jeffrey G. Odel, explores some of my reactions to vision loss. Divided into five parts, The Blindsight Project, is an attempt at sharing my vision. Part 1 is Panorama, which tries to simulate my vision. Riffing on that simulation is Part 2, Metaphor. 

Parts 3 & 4, Lens and Filter focus on optical experiences like peripheral glimmer and floaters either monochromatically or with muted color. Viewed together, The Blindsight Project hopefully conveys some of the emotions and mystery associated with my vision loss.

Three variations from the initial content created using a motion capture process of drawing with sculpture debris. To enhance the sense of space, twin images in complementary colors are printed on separate plexiglass sheets and layered together as seen in Mangrove 423v3. 

Another example of dual-image layering, which in this case gives Phantasm111v2 the illusion of greater dimensionality and texture.  

Cicada began with an idea of replicating as well as mapping the process of drawing. In Cicada 3420v2 using a dual image process, I was able to continue my decades long exploration of the relationship between drawing and sculpture.

rgbDrawing was a collaboration with Ben Diep that resulted in two exhibitions. The eight related series of digital prints were created using a motion capture process that compressed the extended activity of a drawing episode into a single image. The unusual drawing tools used were patterns produced from former dimensional drawing installations through a computer anomaly that occurred while opening a raw image file. These works complete a cycle of image to pattern, pattern to image.

In 2019, I began playing with cut shapes of paper and various lighting techniques attempting to simulate the wonderful experiences of looking into an aquarium, something I have enjoyed since my childhood.

My underwater fascination that began with the Tank series continues in such series as Stir, Shallows, Drift, Reef, and Swoosh.

In 2022 I began having digital images printed on thin plexiglass sheets, first with a sealed backing not requiring a frame, then clear coating that was framed to allow light to bounce off the backing board creating more dimensionality in the image. One of the first series to be printed on plexiglass was Persistent Memory, an homage to Salvador Dali’s 1931, The Persistence of Memory.  

The Squid series evolves from ideas and experiments that began while developing Persistent Memory.

My first attempt at converting a digital print to sculptural relief through 3D printing.

These three series were created from a common source of digital static and developed using electronic erasure as a drawing tool. 

In late 2025, I developed a method for adding color to the “digital noise” I had been using as drawing material.

With the addition of color, I began a renewed interest in exploring relationships between deferred marking and resulting patterns.