Promoting the Creative World « Outhouse Studios Weblog

Archive for the ‘Promoting the Creative World’ Category

Solving Problem Does Not Always Mean Success

Monday, October 16th, 2006

Impression of scene accurate – piece falls a little short

Shades of East Boronda – digital painting – Dan Beck

Creating art is a lot of times about solving a problem. What I saw was a crazy incline of dirt and as a result – nothing behind it except the Gabilan mountains.

I saw it as a glance – quickly while driving but it was a rather profound image at the time.

Having said that – I don’t think this is one my better pieces. It achieved exactly what I set out to do – but turns out in my eye to not have been enough.

Despite that I like the feeling of the mountains and the feeling of the dirt – even the composition is ok – balanced but not too symmetrical. And of course, the art prints are also better than the digital painting.

I see art as a metaphor for life – I am not alone in this – I did what I set out to do – perhaps this is akin to "being careful what you wish for".

Pen Pad Painting: Awkward as a Mouse

Thursday, October 12th, 2006

First attempt reminiscent – openness part of creativity

Pen 1 – digital painting 1st try with pen pad

This is more like a fabric than a painting – process than finished piece. I was offered a graphics tablet at about a third of its normal cost and as much as I’ve been proud of using a mouse for my art all this time, I thought I should try it.

What is fascinating to me, is that I am every bit as uncoordinated with the pen pad as I was when I first started painting with a mouse – laughing – thinking – no one could paint with one of these.

I continued because I liked the results.

Whether the graphics tablet becomes my friend or not isn’t the issue – but it is noteworthy that part of being creative is not to close oneself off to things which are new.

Rethinking When Art Is Finished

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

three different endings reveal a quandary and open an opportunity

Fennel Field & Sky – 1 digital painting, 3 endings, Triptych

Having already written on these three pieces, this is in some ways redundant – but not really.

This is very exciting to me – every artist always struggles with when to call a piece finished. When I reached the first stage, I knew I liked the piece as is.

But I wanted to continue working on it. I knew there was more to my vision. more to my impression, and more to be said. But it was also done.

The second piece has depth and texture and detail that is also exciting to look at – but it has necessarily lost the strong contrast of color.

The third piece goes on from there – capturing more of the original scene – truer to the experience – truer to the original intent – but not necessarily a better finished painting than the other two.

Perhaps their art prints should be displayed in sequence as some sort of triptych – and commentary on when to call it done.

Another Digital Advantage

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006

same and different painting – both can be shared

Fennel Field & Sky 1 – digital painting / art prints – DB 2006

This is both the same and a different painting from what can be found below.

This piece is more developed – the mountains have a distinct shape and some depth – the fennel field has more of its distinct texture – and the sky is more the way it looked that morning – with a crazy shimmering and shifting quality.

I am quite intrigued with this multiple pieces along the way approach – I don’t think it will work in a lot of cases – but here I have distinctly different finished stages which I can share independently or together.

For availability of art prints for this digital painting, please email: specialorders@outhousestudios.net.

Demonstrating Raw Possibility

Friday, October 6th, 2006

sharing the excitement of digital painting

Scribble 7 – transparent pattern Scribble 8 – gradient fill/overlap

This is a demo of how colors can overlap using this program (appleworks) and this freehand tool.

The whole idea is to give insight into the process and share some of my enthusiasm.

In actuality, when I paint I use two monitors – one holds all my tools and the other allows me to view my work more fully and without distraction. I learned the idea from my friends at Vectorpoint, who do a lot of photoshop work.

So as I look at the last example – enlarged on the right – abstract, probably as finished as it ever will be – I am thinking and seeing -

POSSIBILITY…

Looking through the blog image guide or just through the website, you can see some of the places I have taken this already. But this is raw and was one of my first big excitements with digital painting.

Sharing Enthusiasm

Thursday, October 5th, 2006

excitement of overlapping transparent color gradients – and keeping work stimulating

Scribble 5 – transparent pattern Scribble 6 – gradient fill/overlap

I took the time to do these screen shots – they show the tools and palette as well as the basics with this freehand tool and gradients I use in digital painting.

I think what I wanted to convey is some of the excitement I feel by creating with this medium. If you look at the large version of the scribble on right – you see the different shades of color in the overlap.

When I figured out I could paint with transparencies and gradient transparencies to boot – I went wild.

It is a great thing to be excited by one’s own work – whatever the work. Something which is stimulating and provokes one to learn – there is no substitute for.

Painting without Color

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006

an element of chance and a new way of doing

Scribble Demo Part 2 Color Gradient Filled Part 2

I am not sure exactly why I took as many screenshots as I did. These shots were mostly to give an idea of how the lines fill in with color. But I guess I was hoping also to show some of the way the colors overlap.

Frequently, once I have worked a piece to where I want it – the overlapping is only noticeable if you are looking for it. With just two gradient colors overlapping it is extremely clear.

It is also should be clear that digital painting using this tool is not anything like using a paint brush. Note I can’t even see the color as I am creating the lines. That is one of the things that I found so fun initially and still do – an element of chance and a new way of doing.

Painting in this fashion is not really like anything else I had done. There are similarities to conventional painting and drawing – but for me it is a new learned skill and language.

How Lines Fill In

Monday, October 2nd, 2006

free hand tool and color gradients demonstrate controlling the uncontrollable

First Scribble – enlarged Gradient Color filled – enlarged

In my most recent digital painting – which I will be sharing later – I became frustrated over some uncoordinated mousing. As experienced as I am I can’t always trace a line that well to select or tint an area or just do something very precise.

After my third attempt at trying to follow the line – I just scribbled like crazy – apparently I was using the freehand tool like above and got this great wholly pattern – which I decided to utilize within the painting.

In the end, most of that look gets lost but the concept of taking something unique and uncontrolled and learning how to utilize it – that is a wonderful thing.

The above images demonstrate how the gradient color I typically paint with – ends up underneath any curve and only there. This is a very fluid process – the results of each movement are frequently, though not always, a bit of a surprise.

Sharing a Stage of the Creative Process

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

screen shot shows texture, detail, and working title

Mound 2 Mountain – screen shot digital painting in progress -

This is a detail of digital painting Mound 2 Mountain before it was finished, but not by much. In fact, I ended up changing the title after I was finished – the working title is above.

I hear they do that with movies sometimes – though it isn’t my normal practice – more bother than it is worth.

I do think this gives a bit more insight into how the piece looks close up and particularly when I am painting a section.

There is no great insight here – just sharing how this stage of the creative process looks.

Development of a Digital Painting

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006

progress of piece reflects development of technique

Next stage in making of digital painting: Mound 2 Mountain

I am not sure what inspired me to take some screen shots as this was in development – but I think it was because it had an interesting look from the beginning.

Without even looking back, I can see this has changed by the addition of a great deal of texture. Some of which looks like it was painted on and other parts look like they were more gently added using a paintbrush with a tint setting.

I had worked with the program a couple of years before I figured out how to do that. I just recently figured out something new and keep thinking there may well be a lot more I haven’t discovered – even though I am not bashful about experimenting.

The sky with the texture in it is most unusual for me.

Outhouse Studios Weblog

Archive for the ‘Promoting the Creative World’ Category

Solving Problem Does Not Always Mean Success

Impression of scene accurate – piece falls a little short

See Also

Pen Pad Painting: Awkward as a Mouse

First attempt reminiscent – openness part of creativity

See Also

Rethinking When Art Is Finished

three different endings reveal a quandary and open an opportunity

See Also

Another Digital Advantage

same and different painting – both can be shared

See Also

Demonstrating Raw Possibility

sharing the excitement of digital painting

See Also

Sharing Enthusiasm

excitement of overlapping transparent color gradients – and keeping work stimulating

See Also

Painting without Color

an element of chance and a new way of doing

See Also

How Lines Fill In

free hand tool and color gradients demonstrate controlling the uncontrollable

See Also

Sharing a Stage of the Creative Process

screen shot shows texture, detail, and working title

See Also

Development of a Digital Painting

progress of piece reflects development of technique

See Also

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