I am currently looking at the physical materials for the painting part of the project. I’ll tackle the electronics part after that.

I have two main ideas, and I would like to use them together so I get a nice range of things I can vary in response to whatever data I choose to display.

The first idea is to use thermochromic pigments to do color shifts in the painting. I think this is mostly a visual and artistic puzzle, and will depend on some cleverness in composition. Most of the pigments I’ve been able to find lose their color when they’re warmed. So, for example, does that mean I can I make “stars” appear when dark paint goes colorless? or can I make a green section go yellow when the blue disappears?

The second idea is light. I’m looking at various ways of letting light shine through the painting. If the substrate is thin, like canvas, light should filter through that, although I suspect it might be fairly diffuse, depending on how thick my paint application is. The other avenue is to have holes or channels in the substrate through which the light would shine - and that will require painting on a board or panel. I’ve done a little experimentation on this, and proper diffusion is a bit tricky. What I’m aiming at is a flat painting surface, without visible holes or channels at first glance. I’d like the diffusion to be “hidden” in the composition of the painting so that when it does light up, it creates a bit of surprise.

There’s a ton of experimentation to be done, of course. More to come.