Archive for the ‘Original Art’ Category
Saturday, July 14th, 2007
more to communicate
Foothills Anywhere – digital painting – Dan Beck 2007
Some pieces of original art feel more serious than others – more in a tradition of fine art than colorful poster art or illustration, cartoon, or folk art.
Just as my music has influences of jazz, rock, folk, blues, and classical – my visual art tends to have more than one influence.
Even though the above digital painting is intensely colorful and painted in a quick bold fashion, it is more serious. There is an intentionality of communicating a feeling and mood which is not always there with an abstract piece or a more fantastical piece.
I have been working on other types of art and creativity and this still feels like my most recent work – original prints are not yet available.
See Also
- More Warm Hills – a piece I am reminded of – translating the hug-able quality of the hills and a similar type of 3 dimensionality
- Fine art – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – for lack of a better place to refer – this offers many a category of distinction – though the point is all categories overlap
Tags: Art, color, creativity, digital painting, hills, mountains, music, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Friday, July 13th, 2007
blurring lines of distinction
Fishies – digital painting – poster art prints – Dan Beck 2000
Is there a distinction between fine art and poster art? – between serious representation and caricature?
I can see a difference between my earliest digital paintings and my more recent ones. The first ones were bright playful colors with no pretence of trying to capture the feeling of someplace real – rather they were a place of their own though inspired by something seen.
There is a brilliance which fish have which can’t be captured – the above rendition is not from vision not from reality so much as from imagination and colors of the medium.
I imagine it more of a poster than a work of framed original art – but I never want to lose that sense of play – I want the lines blurred – I want my work to be low brow – high brow – no brow.
We need categories to make sense of our world – but after doing so we need to be able to not categorize in order to see.
See Also
- Original Art-chives – earliest digital paintings at Outhouse Studios and some as recent as 2005
- Under Water Photo Gallery – don’t know this photographer or his work until today – but Gary McCarthy has done a nice job at showcasing some of the incredible colors under water
Tags: Art, color, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
the art of a thankless job
Thankless Job 1 – digital painting – Dan Beck 2007
I am not sure why I left this piece finished where I did – but I think I on some level I wanted the art to be as thankless as the subject itself.
Weeding the mound of dirt between the fields and the road is a thankless job. It is kind of like sweeping the dirt – but it is a job I have witnessed. That it reads like the field worker is spanking his or her own butt – was accidental at first, but left intentionally.
The flying weed – which looks more like a strange anatomical growth – must be my subconscious at work here as well -
I painted the digital painting and thought the style a bit cartoonish – and it wasn’t what I wanted – so I probably won’t ever offer original prints, but it was something I had to do.
There are many thankless jobs in this world – creating original art often fits into that category too.
See Also
Tags: Art, digital painting, fields, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
how movement defines artwork
My Series 6 – digital painting / art prints – Dan Beck 2005
We are unique in many ways – but one of the things which clearly makes us different is the movement which each of us finds comfortable. As I look at this piece which is original art – yet number six in a series; I am struck by the distinct shapes which fill the space.
They are my movements using a mouse – they are flowing, comfortable strokes which yield this cross colored digital painting which hints at mountains and clouds, but never quite gets there.
It was meant to be on the cusp – that place that totters in between abstract and representational. It was meant to be done fast and with some abandon. It attempted to have the spontaneity of the first in the series. Everything follows something else and everything is followed – but intention is important – and at least with the original prints from any of these – they maintain the integrity of being original art.
See Also
- Abstract Art Gallery – the best works from this series are found here – examples of other more free form explorations as well
- Types of Sculpture in Stone – Though the main jist of this page is about Stone Reliefs Sculptures & Sculpture in the Round – there is a wonderful paragraph at the bottom pointing out – how it truly is best to not think about these rules or differences as an artist
- Art & Perception – a more scientific look at the evolution of abstract art coming from perception itself
Tags: Art, color, mountains, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Monday, July 9th, 2007
changing views
Nestling Grape Rows – digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck – 2005
As with many paintings, my feeling about this piece originally is not the same as it has come to be. Often one is either more ecstatic about the results or even more humdrum about the results.
It is a very clear to me the importance of audience and artistic climate. When one of my original prints is well received by other artists, other viewers – it is not difficult to change my view on the work.
When a piece is not well received; what was successful may remain – but it is more difficult to hang on to. In the digital painting above, I liked the 3 dimensionality in particular, the texture, and the way the composition itself tends to push the grapes and mountains together.
The subject matter has been tackled by me and will be again – but the strength in this particular interpretation has the uniqueness we tend to look for in original art.
See Also
- Impressionist Art Gallery – gallery the above digital painting is found in and a good glimpse of works from a glimpse
- Andorra & France – someone’s trip to France – had a really nice photo of grapes (as much in the mountains or more) than my rendition – and the rest is just a recording – I assume for friends and family – which I am neither – but what a wonderful trip they seemed to have had
- Photos – same kind of thing – snapshots of a trip from someone I don’t know – but the photo of grapes in the mountains near Exeter, CA and the two countryside photos of Lindsay are worth looking at – and maybe more just to get a sense of the area
Tags: Art, composition, mountains, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints, texture
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Friday, July 6th, 2007
continuity more than a thought
Valley Work – digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2005
I don’t know if anyone but me plays “gallery chance” or “image roulette” found on main pages of Outhouse Studios and in some galleries on the site. I seem to like random – I both like the leave it up to chance thing and don’t believe in chance – all at the same time.
In my mind, there is nothing particularly random about this piece coming up today. It is a work, I have wanted to print large, but haven’t had a good reason. I most recently have put up an exhibit in a local coffee roastery with very big walls – and was planning on including this work in the show – but didn’t.
Intellectually, the work fit – both about the workers and the abstract look of the valley – but stylistically – it didn’t fit with the rest of the work. Fortunately, my art keeps evolving – it doesn’t make an older work like this one not work – but it does date this one as being from a different time.
See Also
- Original Prints – discussion about what makes an original print and the use of the term at Outhouse Studios
- Yahoo Answers – What things do you deliberately leave up to chance? my search, my selection – just shows to go you – how many levels of meaning really exist
Tags: Art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007
we have to ask which is better
Quick Study 0 Quick Study 2
The second painting contains all of the first but is built upon – in essence, these are the same digital painting – but I saved one and stopped and continued working on the other.
I like them both – although as in most cases I tend to lean towards one version over another. Being from the same place makes them more in competition than even otherwise.
It has been drilled into to us – that there is one right answer to most problems – one best way – one best work etc. – it is built into our grading system in schools – we rank and compare. I think this is also why we tend to think of original art as being one of a kind.
Truth is there are many solutions to problems – many different ways of getting to the same place – many different ways of doing – and they all have advantages and disadvantages.
If we didn’t know these were the same digital painting to start with – would we compare so hard?
If we truly saw each other as individuals …
See Also
- Foothills Terrain – a different take on the same general place; however, I have made original art prints available for sale for this digital painting
- Psychologist studies what stimulates creativity (11-03-94) – I found this interesting and also to the point – rewarding for doing little leads to doing little
- Outstanding Doctoral Mentors: John Holloway – I skimmed this article – but thought it pertinent – because it points out how important creativity is in science. The creativity has to be nurtured in graduate school because it is drilled out of us – this doctoral mentor realizes how important and necessary it is
Tags: Art, creativity, digital painting, hills, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
figures at once – one stroke initial creation
Fielding – digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2005
This is the first time I looked at the landscape and was struck that I had to start including figures. I saw the field workers picking strawberries and the unnatural curvatures of their backs and knew I had to paint them.
I created a backdrop – colorful, abstract, and hot.
At the time, I had not done much with drawing or painting figures using a mouse and the computer and wasn’t even sure I could pull it off. The skill involved in painting on the computer – though related to drawing with pen or pencil is different.
Each of these figures was done with basically one big stroke of the mouse – the colors imparted fall on the inside of the curve. I am certain I took a few stabs at it – I typically can erase one such stroke.
I still create figures mostly this way – the first outline of a figure needs to capture the essence of the individual I am creating. I don’t know exactly how I see the figure or even how I have made the process rather unconscious. Understanding is useful, but much of the time with art and life it is a tool to make things more intuitive.
See Also
Tags: Art, color, field workers, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints, strawberry
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Friday, June 29th, 2007
remaining original – referencing original
Mountain Sails Again – digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2004
Pulled this piece up today – again following the concept of even how all original art comes from somewhere else. Way prior to this piece, I did a very fluid mostly abstract painting which conjured up this lake, sea, mountain, and sail look – entitled Mountain Sails.
That original digital painting seemed quite unique to me and was the first painting I ever printed on a larger scale. Like life, we move on to new challenges and develop new ways of doing things – sometimes we long for the innocence of yesterday.
There is nothing original about trying to capture the feeling of a previous work – and yet it is original – the approach is different because it has the advantage of having seen what has come before.
Experience is built upon – the above piece though a bit stylized still works but doesn’t have that quality of having found a new place.
See Also
Tags: Art, digital painting, mountains, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
pushing the limits of matting and printing
Irrigation Man – digital painting / original prints – Dan Beck 2006
In the spirit of original – I have printed a version of this which framed is going to be 4ft by 5ft. At that size, it looks even more like pointillism than this detail .
Crazy me – I found a frame that size and knew I needed something that would look even enough in such dimensions and exciting that big. Despite knowing that the largest oversized matboard I could get measures 40 x 60in – 8 inches too small – I suspended my knowledge and had the image printed anyway.
Well – truth is I was pretty annoyed with myself because the best patch job would still look like a patch job. The enormity of the original print overshadows the seemliness of the pieced together matting but the challenge has also overshadowed any blogging this week.
In any event, this giant print is not just an original art print, but probably a one of a kind – it is more than I want to wrestle with ever again – too big for my workspace and just barely fitting in my wagon.
See Also
Tags: Art, Original Art, original_art, painting, prints
Posted in Original Art | No Comments »
RSS Feed
