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ahead of myself

Self Portrait - Dan Beck - digital painting 2007

Multiple meanings are to me as much fun as multiple solutions - and generally more obvious than all the different ways to get to a solution to a problem…

and yes I believe there is almost always more than one way to solve any problem.

In most cases, I find myself thinking through all the things that need to be done in a project and try to foresee the obstacles. Somewhere along the line, I got the idea that the most efficient way was the best way.

I am no longer certain that either that is true or that there even is such a thing as the best way. Sometimes the longer route is the better - and most of the time we can not see our way around all the obstacles anyway.

In art and music - I seem to know this. I start and work around the problems as they come up; but in life - I sometimes think I can no more teach myself than I can anyone else …

such is life.

Listen or View

• Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself - track 4 of the Red Eye Recordings | Dan Beck | 1danband - they say “you can’t see the forest through the trees” but if one is only focused on the forest one can’t see the trees either
• Listening - outhouse studios commentary on what this means and the recording process- although it does not touch on my recent assertion that listening is one of the most important things separating music from noise
• Where teaching oneself and listening coincide - this sounds like some young question and answer session - but a good answer and pertinent I think

uniqueness and acceptance

Four digital paintings for art prints - Dan Beck 1999 - 2005

Since I can, I thought I would write about a subject which has been on my mind. It has to do with following one’s creative path and the balance with being received.

When is unique too unique? Is there such a thing?

The truth is most people like what they are familiar with - people seek out bands which play all songs they know.

Art in a geographic area typically looks a lot like other art in the area - is it because that is what sells? Or is it communal influence. And after all, we expect beach paintings at the beach…

None of us lives in a vacuum - creativity is always influenced - but sometimes I wonder whether we have evolved enough to not starve Van Gogh.

See Also

• National Gallery of Art - Van Gogh’s Van Goghs: Exhibition Brochure
  Sounds definative - not the starving artist - so much for that example
• Van Gogh Art Prints
  another source saying the same - not accepted widely but not starving
• Salinas Valley 1
  gallery page of second piece above - click to enlarge - art print availability top right “buy” logo

Impression, Communicating without being too Literal

Enlarge Houses on the Hillside - Digital Painting - 2005

This is the last piece of last year.  Upon returning from the San Jose airport, I looked over to the left and saw all these white houses nestled in the hills.

To me they looked almost like stones - yet clearly man made. I didn’t look long - a glance really. I was driving on the hi-way - not a time to sight-see really.

But more and more, I think that rendering an impression is less about what I physically see and more about what I want to communicate about what I saw. And then of course, it is every bit as important that the piece itself is interesting, enjoyable, beautiful in its own right.

One of the things I have come to realize - though might seem hard to believe with my style - is that I have actually made the mistake of being too literal and missing the aesthetic opportunity.

Curiously even photographers can feel this way - note quote from book review at amazon.com:

Adams maintained that color photography had no legitimate place in the art of photography because it was too literal to be an art form and that it was not possible to practice it interpretively.

See Also

• From Snapshot to Fine Art
  Notice comments about “too literal” in cropping section - also interesting
• Photograpy Quotes, Sayings for Photographers
  Pertinant quotes to the “too literal” concept - plus fun

Inspiration, Intended Feeling, Results

Feeling of Rain - Digital Painting 2005

Inspiration can come from anywhere, from a thought, a sight, a sound, any sensation at all. Well in this case, the winter rains have started here. The "storms" here become the STORMS of anywhere East of here.

Storms here are rain and wind, but they still feel like a storm in comparison, even though I know better having lived in the Midwest and on the East Coast most of my life.

In any event, the piece above is about the feeling. It does look at the cloud and mountain scene to grab the feeling, but it is intended to be something more than a grasp at reality.

Lighter than snow, and clearer than fog - whether it works or not is up to the observer; but for me I am quite satisfied with it. The results have the feeling I was looking for and that is probably even more important.

See Also

• Reality Quotes, Sayings about subjectivity and objectivity
  Fun reading - appropriate to “grasp at reality”
• Music -Pink & Blue 1919 - Georgia O’Keeffe
  Something I was reminded of as I was posting piece and article
• Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
  More information and images of this important artist

Creating Feeling, Beauty, Appeal - Artistic License

Desert 1- Route 66 (Second stopping point, unfinished)

In the first phase of this painting, the general composition, colors, shapes, and space have been defined.

If one compares, one can see that there is now a lot more definition in the mountains, the desert floor, and the mesa. Texture, color, suggestions of vegetation now make this a much richer production.

There are always two things I try to balance when I am creating this type of artwork. Since it is intended to capture a specific time, place and feeling - the feeling is paramount - meaning, as I am painting, I am trying to assess whether my additions add to the feeling I am trying to communicate or are taking the piece further away.

The second thing to balance is that  I want a piece to be aesthetically pleasing and interesting to the eye. This might mean adjusting colors, tweaking the composition for a better eye flow, and even adding colors or objects not there to make a piece more enjoyable.

The rules are one’s own making here and just about everyone has heard of artistic license. My rule is about furthering feeling and making a piece be more appealing and beautiful.

See Also

• Tom Browning fine art workshops portrait galleries and licensing helpful hints
  Demo of painting development - Eye Flow part of last check
• Painting Critique Checklist
  How to approach a piece - not nessarily my taste - but some truth in approach - including eye flow
• What is artistic license?
  More detailed discussion about artstic license

Adding color, texture, adjusting composition for balance

At this point in the piece there is more color added to all the fields in the foreground, giving them more solidity and believability.  The sky has been filled in using a gradient blue and some texture has been added to the strip of land behind.

This next phase of the piece has more color and texture added to the foreground hills and the shape of the green mountain in the rear has been altered slightly to make a nicer flow.

The main additional ingredient here is the additional shrubs and trees.  It felt sparse as compared with the original scene and also seemed necessary for the aesthetic balance of the painting.

See Also

• Compositon and Design Principles
  Touches on a number of things which can be important in whether art works
• Creating Rich and Beautiful Texture Art
  Discussion of ways of creating texture
• Composition and Design: Understanding it - Using it
  Discussion of composition theory and practice
• eDigitalPhoto: Creating Digital Works of Art
  Tangentally related - adding texture to digital photographs

Communication, Improvisation, Uncharted Territory

View Flipped Out Jazz - Digital Painting - 2005 

Like my first attempt at portraying jazz (Jazz 1)in a visual medium, I used the obvious references to jazz instruments, sun glass coolness, and fingers and strings.

What I did in this piece which is actually a bit more jazz-like is that I went somewhere with the piece I had never explored before. I landed upon some uncharted territory which is the ultimate in improvisation.

Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner is quoted in the Telegraph Arts  "I can’t predict the directions my music will go. For me, all music is a journey of the soul into new, uncharted territory." Whether that comes through in the above piece without having said so is probably no more clear than whether a listener will recognize new musical space.

Part of my hope in portraying jazz was to touch on the type of communication used by musicians. The instrument clues provide a starting point for conversation, but there is an energy of play found clearly as well.  The final thing which was new to me and the uncharted territory in this case, was to let the computer flip over and/or reverse certain sections of the piece - thus the name Flipped Out Jazz.

See Also

• CSMonitor.com - In jazz as in life - err on side of adventure
  Lesson in communication of musicians and people
• PBS - Jazz Exchange - Recording Ban
  A bit of Jazz history - recording ban and “uncharted” bebop
• Telegraph: Young Turks and old revolutionaries stir up London’s jazz festival
  Preview of London Jazz Festival - quotes McCoy Tyner
• PBS - Profile of McCoy Tyner
  History and some music

Music & Art Similarities - Jazz, Abstract, Color & Sculpture

(larger View) Jazz1 - Digital Painting 2005

Within the last couple of months I produced a few pieces of specifically jazz related work. They are a bit of a departure from most of my artwork, but were fun to create. There was a competition in conjunction with the Monterey Jazz Festival - at least held at the same time and proximity and I was urged to participate.

My tact was rather obvious - referencing instruments and their being played and placing them in an abstract, multi-leveled, multi-colored sculptural kind of way.  As a result, these are the areas of connection I am going to touch on today.

There is such an obvious connection when art references the playing of music that the only thing worth pointing out - is that it is intended to make such an obvious connection - garnering support by the connection itself.

Music and abstract art seem very connected to me. Neither has to be about anything other than what it is. Being multi-leveled, multi-colored, and sculptural are also shared by music and art.

Sound gets layered upon sound upon sound and changed with each addition as the layers of color or paint would change a painting.  And the building of music requires not only beat and sound but space - just like a sculpture’s empty space is every bit as important as the solid.

To be continued…

See Also

• Jazz Art
  Links to Jazz Art on the Web
• Abstract Expressions: Musical Portraits of American Masters
  Connection between Music and Abstract Expressionism
• Connection.org: Sonic Sculpture
  when music and sculpture might be one and the same
• 48th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival
  Official Site for Monterey Jazz Festival

Taking a New Path Can Lead to Something New

Shape of Something New - Digital Painting 2005

I haven’t shared a lot of my abstract art in the last year or so. I have done some, and actually have a series just entitled "My Series". I found something I really liked - this mix of color and textured background and shapes slightly suggesting other things.

However, my focus has been more on producing a series on the world around me - agriculture landscapes and Central Coast beauty - still using some of the abstract techniques, but more representational and probably more accessible.

The above piece is a departure perhaps somewhere new to go and perhaps not - I am undecided. I took the below piece which I had decided was finished and looked at the suggested figures and decided I would pull them out.

Enlarge - My Series 14 - start of what’s above - Digital Painting 2005

I outlined the figures I saw and copied and pasted them - creating something very reminiscent of Duchamp’s "Nude Descending a Staircase". But too many figures made the multiples even more confusing to the eye and I opted for a little black line work to enhance what I was trying to bring out.

Though this may or may not be a new direction for my art - there is nothing totally new - notice this work "Violin and Palette" by Georges Braque who along with Picasso is credited for inventing cubism.

There are plenty of departures, but we all perceive using human eyes and processing.

See Also

• Eyecon Art - Cubisim
  Excellent examples of cubist movement
• Braque
  Works and some of life of Georges Braque
• Marcel Duchamp - Biography and Links
  Includes selected works
• Philadephia Museum of Art
  Modern and Contemporary Art - Houses large selection of Duchamp’s work

New Approaches, Relaxed State, Recognition

Field Play - Digital Painting - April 2005

I am going back in time a bit to a piece I created last Spring.  It has just come down from being on display and I am reminded of the feeling when it was finished.

It is said that an artist never knows what work of his is good. I think sometimes artists do get too caught up with circumstances and sentimentalism to recognize their strongest work.  Part of the creative process therefore, is to show one’s work to other people and other artists in particular.

The piece above was created because the previous piece (see below) did not work as I had hoped. Although I like the piece and it has been particularly well received, it did not achieve exactly what I was hoping for - one of the techniques I used, creating the figures in a different painting and pasting them in, I have not wanted to repeat.  Actually, the piece below is a wonderful example of how an artist does not always know his own work. I was disappointed enough with a certain aspect of the piece to be ready to dismiss it.

Click Field of Hoes for large version - Digital Painting 2005

The top work, Field Play was created in a more playful manner. I was having fun with the medium creating this swirling multi-colored manipulated space - the field backdrop. I was relaxed, unconcerned about mistakes, and after I quickly put the figure in - I knew I had created something strong and unique. Sometimes we just know we have hit it right.  

What I was struck with today, and what made me write on this subject  - was that I noticed a similar relaxed state today while playing guitar - though something I do regularly experience - today it was incredibly clear - and for some reason the same old licks sounded fresh and wonderful - and that attitude allowed me to create new improvisations in places not before seen. 

This relaxed non-judgemental attitude is in my opinion where the best works come from.

These works like the others on the blog - will be available for purchase at Outhouse Studios in the not too distant future. I am still considering options for updating the site and how to add new art more easily.

See Also

• Wired News: It’s Digital but is it art?
  Discussion of the new medium
• OCRegister.com- Art for the digital era
  Computer technology now and in the future of art
• Muskegon Chronicle - Salon Thursday event mixes poetry with art
  Important program shows importance of sharing and viewing others’ art