cinquantadue
These 52 works are the “cinquantadue” digital painting experiment. Each one utilizes a limited range of colors applied as interwoven notes and opacities.
![A nonobjective digital painting made with Adobe Fresco.](/content/images/size/w2000/2023/08/20211219_52_December-800x1000-copy.webp)
Could I make paintings without paint?
Until 2020 I thought the answer was no. I used pixel-pushing applications to make vector compositions and photographs, but no digital tool seemed to generate visual ideas like those I developed with oil paint.
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210107_2_January_WEB-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210113_3_January-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210121_4_January-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210128_5_January-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210204_6_February-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210211_7_february-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210225_8_February-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210225_9_February-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210307_10_March-copy-1.webp)
I paint a picture with a limited range of oil colors and count on “happy accidents” that occur while making marks to expand the picture’s range of hues and values. I also start with thin layers and build up to heavy impasto brushstrokes, interweaving notes and opacities to create a complex surface. That not-quite-in-control process never happened fluidly with pixels.
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210314_11_March-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210321_12_March-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210401_13_April-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210405_14_April-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210411_15_April-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210418_16_April-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210423_17_April-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210501_18_May-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210516_20_May-800x1000-copy.webp)
Then I used Adobe Fresco to complete Inktober, making one “ink and wash” drawing for each day of October 2020. The results were promising, so I designed a similar challenge for 2021: make one “oil painting” a week.
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210519_19_May-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210523_21_May-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210530_22_May-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210605_23_June-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210613_24_June-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210620_25_June-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210627_26_June-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210703_27_July-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210709_28_July-800x1000-copy.webp)
These fifty-two works are the cinquantadue experiment. Each one also utilizes a limited range of colors applied in multiple layers of interwoven notes and opacities.
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210718_29_July-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210725_30_July-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210801_31_August-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210808_32_August-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210814_33_August-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210823_34_August-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210829_35_August-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210905_36_September-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210912_37_September-800x1000-copy.webp)
Like oil paint, Adobe Fresco has some eccentricities: close inspection reveals a regular “sawtooth” pattern simulating impasto, and a fun bug in the “watercolor” bleed effect sometimes spews magenta. But the app delivers most of the visual ideas I improvise on canvas with no need to watch paint dry. And an appealing bonus: no brushes to wash.
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210919_38_September-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210921_39_September-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211003_40_October-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211010_41_October-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211015_42_October-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211022_43_October-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211031_44_October-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211107_45_November-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211115_46_November-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211121_47_November-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211126_48_November-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211205_49_December-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211212_50_December-800x1000-copy.webp)
![](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20211217_51_December-800x1000-copy.webp)
![A nonobjective digital painting made with Adobe Fresco.](https://www.marktaggart.com/content/images/2023/08/20210101_1_January_WEB-copy.webp)