Archive for the ‘Digital Art’ Category
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Mock Hats Make Great Fun
First Night Sketch – digital sketch – laptop finger painting
12/31/2007 – First Night Monterey – Dan Beck
Last night,
Last Year,
- a small group from Salinas made a showing of some of our art and culture at First Night Monterey – the giant hats you see – were made from foam rubber by some Everett Alvarez High School Students.
From what I understand they dove right in to recreate the Claes Oldenburg sculpture found in Salinas – Hats in Three Stages of Landing. Its current state is loaded with under-rim graffiti – not pictured here – but the kids put the authentic finishing touches on.
The views and interactions with the foam hats were sketched on a laptop with finger painting in- precision – quick and childlike – like the interactions – the scene with young man’s torso covered, kids underneath, photo ops for everyone – dogs – Santa hat – flashing bunny ears – different hats and hair – and a later seen person on stilts added to the scene quickly with this almost cartoon-like feeling.
See Also
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, painting
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Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
Creating Changes Rules
Self Portrait – digital art – finger painting – Dan Beck November 2007
I have not been writing much – rather formulating some next moves – next art – next music projects. Too much of the blogging time, we write just to write – to bring attention to our work or simply share into cyberspace.
Whether I am able or not – my hope from here is to write when it is right – when I have something new to share.
My previous self-portrait done earlier this year was done the way I do most of my work – from my head with some tweaking from visual inspection (when available).
This self portrait – also an exercise – of how well can I paint with my fingers? utilized the camera of my new laptop.
I don’t really like the idea of painting from a photo – seems a step removed to me – but I couldn’t resist the technology. And although it is a perfectly acceptable practice in digital art to paint and alter a photograph – that is not the tact I took here – just used it as a model.
See Also
- Art Not to be Sold – recent artwork, work for other purposes, and work I am undecided on how I want to sell or am simply saving for local purchase only – a guide to blog articles
- Creating Changes Rules – whether the verb is “Changes” or “Rules” – I am not the only one who has noticed
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, music, painting
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Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
continuation of sketch requires deliberation
On Site 1 Plus – digital art – digital painting – Dan Beck 2007
I believe this is the last finished painting – it is a continuation from an on site work which I did a couple of weeks ago. I had seen so much more than I had had time to put into the original 40 minute sketch.
Having said that, I am not sure if this is a method I want to continue or not. There is something quite pure about the original painting – the continuation – with developed texture and depth is certainly more thorough; but I am not sure it adds anything essential to the original fresh sketch.
I handled the paint in a way reminiscent of Bold Glimpse because I have been looking at the piece a great deal and feeling like I had something special there.
Though I do like the finished work above – perhaps it is because I was taking too many directions here – following an on site feeling, developing, and perhaps mimicking while trying to remain fresh and bold at same time.
See Also
- Bold Glimpse – availability of original prints for piece the bold painting style was inspired by
- Digital Art – discussion of the varied possibilities this art form takes
- Wu Guanzhong 吴冠中 (b. 1919) – found this gentleman’s work through an image search – its original simplicity appeals to me plus born the year of my mother
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, prints, texture
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Thursday, December 6th, 2007
View of Salinas – part of Steinbeck Exhibit
Compressed View – pigment print from Digital Painting – Dan Beck 2006
In conjunction with the National Steinbeck Center and Artistas Unidos – Artist United, I am showing this work at a pretty optimum sized art print (30 x 20 inch image).
This blog announcement comes the day of the opening; but the work will stay up until February. I chose this pigment print because of the intimate size of the gallery and for what I thought would blend well with the other artists in the exhibit – Faces and Places: Salinas.
This is also a good work for being representative of Steinbeck Country – it captures the feeling of the land but by utilizing the language of digital painting and enough of the traditions of art to have been selected by the Monterey County Arts Commission for the 2007 calendar.
People in the area have seen this piece – but many, if not most, have not seen it at its proper size – and the Steinbeck setting certainly can’t hurt.
In some ways, I would have preferred to show a work which shows more of the human condition, that Steinbeck so beautifully wrote about – but there will be another time I hope.
See Also
- Compressed View – original print options for above digital art – exhibit piece is framed slightly different – special orders are possible
- Harvest Depth – original print options for work with more of a people aspect of Steinbeck country
- Artistas Unidos – Artist United – grass roots organization partnering artists with local businesses with a goal of bringing all cultures together through the arts
Tags: Art, Art Prints, digital painting, painting, prints
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Monday, November 26th, 2007
exercising the movable medium
On Site 1 – digital art – laptop finger painting – Dan Beck 2007
This is a sketch – on site – still working out the bugs for plein air – where to sit – place the computer – have enough shade? etc.
In some ways embarrassingly, this was done from the passenger’s seat of my car – it was dark enough to see the screen and the wheel wasn’t in the way – so sketching what I saw in 30 to 40 minutes prior to an appointment.
Like a lot of my recent work, this was an exercise – not a bad thing – just trying to get a feel for painting with a laptop and using my fingers instead of a mouse. I subsequently took this piece and worked on it in my normal fashion – sketched turned to fully textured and more developed digital painting- but what a challenge to actually make the digital art better.
This captured what I saw – in a way that couldn’t be done at a later time. I am trying to understand the differences and possibilities here.
See Also
- Three-Finger Exercise – TIME – a review of a 1998 play called “Art” – the language of the reviewer and the content of the play are remarkably in tune with my own
- Another Sunset Sketch – though not done on site – the same kind of quick rendition of a scene – done within moments of viewing
- The subjective truth – article title (My Camera World: What I Saw, My Camera Captured and What My Mind Thought it Saw) – but all art including photography requires interpretation
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, texture
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Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
Painting Possibility
Integration – digital art / digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2007
As much as I think this is a sweet scene, I find it to be as much of a commentary of the way things could be.
The sunset was real – the image can’t do life justice. But then again it does enunciate what was so cool. The birds came out to enjoy the sunset – watching along with us – different colors (different ethnicity’s?) side by side in harmony with the ocean the beach and the sky – a rocking evening.
For us observing – we were integrated into the scene as well – something about natural beauty that can do that. If you feel a little like you are out there with us – I have done my job. If not, I have a least done my part at digital beauty duty.
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Tags: Art, color, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, prints
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Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
sharing concept – overlap of world views
Love, Death, and in Between – Dan Beck 2007 – digital art
This is not a particularly representative work for me, but then I see my work as being in transition – which is indeed what this is about.
The digital painting above was done for the Day of the Dead and accompanying celebration here in Salinas – though I didn’t exactly include a Steinbeck Theme – just wasn’t thinking about that aspect at the time.
What I was thinking about what the different world spheres we all live in – how they seemingly overlap, sometimes don’t, and sometimes aren’t even seen. Without the confines of time and space, I am not sure how in flux the world would seem – but imagine a world where we saw every change and everything in flux – not just a swirling world, but the separation between life and death being blurred.
Add to that the newness of painting mostly by finger movements and finished by mouse – a blending of new and known – and at the very least(or most) “brilliant in color”.
See Also
- Dreampt Away – a brilliant colored piece from another time – not related – but for the colors of dreaming and the obvious flux of that overlapping world
- Escher’s Reflective Sphere – school project shows how we can learn from what exists and take it somewhere else – this is exactly the kind of reflection I would like to see from my own art – as would any artist – learning how to see is an ongoing process
Tags: Art, color, digital painting, painting
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Monday, October 22nd, 2007
closeness to finished art – spin of abstract
finger paint 1 – Dan Beck – digital painting / digital art – 2007
Things happen sometimes all at the same time. Discussion of the distance between artist and finished product – how digital feels different than the closeness of paint. I don’t know if this is true – but it is something an artist friend and I have been discussing in relation to different work I have done.
Suddenly – a good wrench is thrown in – a laptop gift – a trade-show prize that was generously given to me by the woman of my dreams. Damn – I sound like I am blogging.
So with the laptop comes art – no mouse – just fingers – finger painting – how fun is that? Plein air to come. So my first adventure as an original print looks better sideways.
At least it seems that way at the time. I am a firm believer in the emotion of the process of creating art coming through in to the finished painting.
Digital art is not nearly as physical as sculpture for instance, but it is not without emotion. Brushes come in different lengths – an artist steps in and steps back – just like a viewer might.
And paintings should work from all directions – so they say.
See Also
- Abstract Art Gallery – examples of other abstract work at Outhouse Studios
- Can Computers Be Creative?- sometimes a related search leads to the crux of the digital doubt – not how close to the finished product – but who is really doing it
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, prints
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Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
communicating the art itself
Field Hand – digital painting – art prints – Dan Beck 2006
Over the weekend – someone asked about Marc Chagall and I thought of this piece, but could not remember what it really looked like.
It is always interesting how memory and current perception vary. I think I like this more than I did originally. The pun is fun – but the way it is painted including the rather primitive face works today. I feel like the field might blow away – there is this dreamlike quality and world of its own which is the essence of art in many ways.
I love doing abstract work – love not having to follow any sort of guidelines but the piece itself. But I also like to engage people in a subject or a vision which I feel is worth sharing.
The field worker looking at the dirt is both what we imagine and what really happens – in my case, I got to see it – and felt like it was worth sharing – but in this way unique to me – not so deep really.
See Also
- Chagall – hadn’t seen the spelling “Shagal”, but there is something which reminds me of the pictured work which I see in the above – synopsis is also pretty good.
- Digital Art – multiple meanings – and art’s larger significance
- Field Hand – current options for original prints of above digital painting
Tags: Art, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, prints
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Saturday, October 6th, 2007
the climate of change
Two Pick 2 – digital painting / art prints – Dan Beck 2006
Yesterday was California Arts Day and also being the First Friday of every month an arts celebration here in what is a small community of Salinas.
There is nothing new about this – the two of coincided now for the third time; but this time the local newspaper – which like most – is more concerned with publishing the bad – published the good – right on. They also included an image of the above piece of digital art – which of course was a nice surprise for me.
For what it is worth – colors in print look a lot better than their website version. I have not written much about my current show in Salinas – but it has been really well received. More important to me is being a part of a changing landscape.
I believe we are in the process of becoming someplace special – our climate, landscape, and culture are coming together here – people are believing – just as I believe: in being at the right place at the right time by being where one is – and therefore supposed to be.
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Tags: Art, color, Digital Art, digital_art, painting, prints
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