1. Sleet
A beginner’s play in alcohol inks,
water color,
(non) synthetic papers,
and digital image editing…
Shalin Hai-Jew
April 2021

2. 2
Natural Toxin

3. 3
Incubation

4. Sleet
• This is the latest in the slideshow series of alcohol ink “common art” as a
way to cope with the SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pandemic.
• At the time of the prior slideshow, I received the second of the Moderna
vaccines. I had a light fever for a day but was totally able to function and
carry out all duties. The arm was sore at the injection site for days after,
but it was minimal pain.
• It felt like a metamorphosis of sorts after a year and a third of caution and semi-
lockdown and social distancing and masking.
• I know to be grateful.
• For the next while I plan to still engage in all the above to keep those
around me safe.
• Also, I don’t care to be a “breakthrough” case.
4

5. Sleet (cont.)
• It strikes me that coming out of an enforced “fast,” it is not wise to
gorge (although that is the prediction of some experts about how
humanity might respond). At least one is predicting a “roaring 1920s”
partying outpouring and release.
• As people, we have such a hard time recognizing risk and danger.
• We have such a hard time extricating ourselves from our own obsessions.
• In game theory, a “dominated” play is a losing hand, an unjustifiable
position, a play that paces a person into a place without recourse.
Let’s not.
• People can be talked out of extraordinary advantage.
• They can act out of non-self-interest and irrationality as has been shown in a
large body of economics research.
5

6. Sleet (cont.)
• “Sleet” is a play on the idea of water and inhospitable weather. So
much of the present moment still feels inhospitable.
• Then, in late April, we actually got a snowstorm and snow / icy surfaces.
• Where I live, it is not only weather that can be unpredictable. Alcohol
ink is a mercurial form full of surprises, even over time.
• The pigments in alcohol ink do mute from the wet state, but after the drying,
they seem to be “light fast” over time.
• The inks contain an internal forcing function because of their fast drying.
6

7. Sleet (cont.)
• My current struggles with “alcohol inks” and “drip playing” are still
many of the same ones.
• I am still striving for sparsity and not going overboard. I am still struggling
with applying too much rubbing alcohol to the inks and flooding the space
and ending with erased details.
• I am still struggling with impatience and fast results when I should learn the
brushstroke techniques with alcohol inks.
• It is very hard to start with an idea and build to that concept. It is
easier to play with the inks and see if an idea emerges. Someone
with more control could start with a concept and build to that
concept.
7

8. Sleet (cont.)
• As long as I am learning, I am okay with “misfires” that I end up
recycling. (The synth paper is a #5 plastic.) My intention for each
work is for something interesting…but still also somewhat aesthetic.
My purpose is not for purely decorative work, ever.
• In future rounds (each slideshow “epoch”), I will use brushes and
other tools to move the ink before it dries and freezes in place.
8

9. Sleet (cont.)
• The digital salvaging of the alcohol ink “common arts” pieces benefit
with each new learning in the digital image editing software.
• Of late, the ability to use pre-defined shapes as “paths” for visual
cutouts means various flower and other shapes. Overlapping these
can result in cool visual effects, as may be seen in this slideshow.
• This new approach has breathed new life into former “common art” scans,
too.
• The technical power in digital image editing often goes unappreciated
because the interface is so straightforward, and the computer does the heavy
lifting.
• So here’s to “re-use.” Most of the visuals here are based on former scans of
former alcohol ink works.
9

10. Sleet (cont.)
• Many of my best works in the alcohol ink space come from accidents
and experimentation. Many of my best works in the digital image
space come from iterating until some interesting result occurs.
• For digital imagery, it is possible to go for “endless recursion” and keep
working one visual to another for different cool ideas along the way.
• I finally learned about vector masks, so here are a few here. (These give a
sense of “finish” or “refinement” on top of the alcohol ink “common art.”)
• This experimentation is about staying mentally limber.
• It helps to keep with a series of experimentations by numbering these
and seeing which ones work best. In most cases, though, one work is
all there is behind the concept and the effort. There is no more road
after #1 (at least for that moment).
10

11. Sleet (cont.)
• Every visual “inspiration” feels like a little spark of excitement, but
some do not bear out to something workable.
• And then for works that seem to have value, that value may or may
hold over time.
• What charms me right now might not charm anyone else (or the future me
looking at the work with a more critical eye).
11

12. Sleet (cont.)
• When drawing something visually, one is “selling an idea,” and there
has to be enough of the original object or phenomenon and the
cultural story to evoke the thing.
• When depicting, there is always something of fiction, fancy, pretend, and
illusion.
• Conversely, one has to control for accidental (non-intentional) forms
that occur; otherwise, viewers will assume that the form is purposeful
and will interpret that as such.
12

13. On translucent synth paper
13

14. 14
Pebbles

15. On digital variants
15

16. 16
Palm Tree

17. 17
Entwined

18. 18
Woven Cradle

19. 19
Clouds

20. 20
Afire

21. 21
Sleet

22. 22
Dazzle

23. 23
Restful

24. 24
Jigsaw

25. 25
Tool

26. 26
Under Weather

27. 27
Rock Formations

28. 28
Ulterior

29. 29
Bare Saplings

30. 30
Scaffolding

31. 31
Trophy

32. 32
Digital Daisies

33. 33
Broken Heart

34. 34
Looking Glass World

35. 35
Night Thirst

36. 36
Warming Fire

37. 37
Sled

38. 38
Hot Breezes

39. 39
Canopy

40. 40
Bouquet

41. 41
Night Sailing

42. 42
Color Halftone Spin

43. 43
Bristle Brush Trees Pattern

44. 44
Wind Energy

45. 45
Artifice

46. 46
Ice Storm

47. 47
Mammal

48. 48
Tree Network

49. 49
Straw Flowers

50. 50
Elsewhere

51. 51
Droplet

52. 52
Garden Gate

53. 53
Seed