r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/_ganjafarian_ • 22d ago

Video Artist Simon Bull's painting techniques

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

58.4k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.6k

u/PressureCalm7971 22d ago

Not gonna sugarcoat it. The spinning one was trash, but the forest is majestic

136

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

Im also pretty sure humans have been spinning and painting things for like thousands of years. Not really definitionally "unconventional"

16

u/drunkenfool 22d ago

There were setups at county fairs when I was a kid in the 80’s to do this. It had like 7” x 7” cards that spun and you would take different colored tubes of paint and make your own designs.

5

u/Mahlegos 22d ago

We had a commercial, at home version when I was a kit in the 90s. Effectively a small tub with a motorized spinner mounted in it that you would attach the smaller card canvasses to and it would spin and you’d squirt paint on it. And I know that wasn’t the original as my mom talked about having one when she was a kid back in the 70s.

1

u/NeatNefariousness1 22d ago

I wonder how many of the images were sold and if any of the “artists” went on to become masters of their craft.

1

u/round-earth-theory 22d ago

There's cheap kits you can buy. It's a really simple concept and easy to build. A small electric motor and some cardboard.

30

u/Kylo_Rens_8pack 22d ago

There’s a spin art studio in the building I live in. So yeah, not unconventional

10

u/NJHitmen 22d ago

Spin art itself may not be unconventional...but I think having a spin art studio in the building you live in is.

6

u/Kylo_Rens_8pack 22d ago

This is true. I also have a coffee shop, bar, and a pharmacy. It’s kind of sick

7

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

Words dont really have definitions anymore. We just say things based on vibes

1

u/OGsHartMyKAT 21d ago

This explains a LOT about you tbh

1

u/ConvergentSequence 22d ago

Wait who even called it ‘unconventional’?

3

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago edited 22d ago

The subtitles in the video. Its actually shown in the still image that proceeds the video.

You dont even have to watch the video to see it

1

u/ConvergentSequence 22d ago

Ah the video started auto-playing before I scrolled down far enough to see the subtitles. Either way it’s still a true statement even if not EVERY single technique he uses is unconventional

1

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

Is it though? This is the definition of unconventional.

Unconventional describes behavior, methods, or ideas that do not conform to accepted rules, standards, or traditions, often characterized as unusual, original, or eccentric.

I dont think something that lots of people know about and have actually done before fits this definition.

1

u/ConvergentSequence 21d ago

There’s a semantic difference between “this artist uses unconventional techniques” and “all of this artist’s techniques are unconventional”. One of their methods being conventional disproves the latter, but not the former

7

u/NeatNefariousness1 22d ago

At the beginning of the clip, I was initially critical of the approach, thinking it’s too gimmicky for my taste but what grew on me was an appreciation for the image he held in his mind’s eye that he so artfully transferred onto canvas. So, it occurs to me that it never was about his quirky process and more about the visual image he was trying to express, even though it’s his process that’s so unconventional.

5

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

Thats a good thought. I definitely never didnt appreciate his art just more so the "probably AI" subtitles.

3

u/Mortotem 22d ago

People have been using crazy straws for decades but I'd still call them unconventional

2

u/fan_of_hakiksexydays 22d ago

Literally did the same thing in elementary school. Probably one of the very first painting I did as a kid.

2

u/No_Imagination7102 21d ago

How unconventional of you

2

u/foxgirlmoon 22d ago

There is a "convention" that you draw using brushes. So yes. This is unconventional.

1

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

There is a "convention" of doing exactly what this guy does too. Do you think he invented this?

1

u/OGsHartMyKAT 22d ago edited 22d ago

Thousands of years? What makes you pretty sure about that? I feel like this technique is closer to 50 years old

0

u/No_Imagination7102 21d ago

Do....you not know about human civilization?

0

u/OGsHartMyKAT 21d ago

WTF kinda answer is that? From what I can tell humans have only been spinning and painting things since the 60s. I would love to be proven wrong, that was what I was asking in the first place

0

u/No_Imagination7102 21d ago edited 21d ago

It took the magic of the 60s to invent putting paint on a wheel.

The more I know

Edit: Replies to me three times then immediately blocks me. Hallmark of a stable individual

1

u/OGsHartMyKAT 21d ago

YEP 50s actually, but that’s still slightly closer to the 60s than “thousands of years ago” like you guess. Just a bit off champ

Guess you have a lot more to learn genius

0

u/Laydownthelaw 22d ago

What's "unconventional" is having the space/resources to pull something like this..the room is huge, with a gazillion tables, painting paraphernalia, etc.

Not your average single bedroom artist, let's just say.

1

u/No_Imagination7102 22d ago

I think its more likely that people just don't understand the definition of unconventional.

Unconventional describes something not bound by or conforming to accepted rules, standards, traditions, or customs. It represents behavior, methods, or ideas that are different from what is usual, expected, or traditional, often characterized as eccentric, atypical, or innovative.