What's New

Finishing?

Abstract 2 - digital art painting with time limit - Dan Beck 2008

Recently I wrote a song about there not being enough hours in the day, the night, or a lifetime to do it all - and certainly not enough hours to do it all right.

So basically we have time limits on everything we do - whether we realize it or not.

So I guess my conclusion is to be a little less of a perfectionist and not take the adage about doing things right the first time to heart - because there is no such thing - no artwork is every done - no fix is permanent …

All of our efforts are more like “treatments” if you will - we make an adjustment and it improves things and then needs another adjustment.

I’ve been trying to limit the time for various tasks in my life - even works of art - when the rule strikes my fancy -

For after all - even the rules are like a treatment - needing readjustments as we go along.

See Also

• Digital Painting - insight into the art form and process of creating by Dan Beck at Outhouse Studios
• Managing Perfectionism - there is good insight here - my focus is a bit different because the process for me has always been about gaining a certain level of expertise - enough vocabulary or technique to express myself or determine it isn’t my thing - but focus can be very focused to very broad- we can be extremely specialized experts to dabblers in everything

the timing of finishing - art and reality

Further Along Tree 1 - Dan Beck - digital art painting 2008

This digital painting was finished over a month ago. The previous article showing the version of this painting which felt finished, balanced, and worth saving, - based upon the piece itself and not the original vision; was written over two weeks ago.

I guess it is rather apparent that my writing is not keeping up with my creating. Actually I find everything takes longer than expected - my head is generally way ahead of my physical world - but then that makes sense. How could matter move as fast as thought?

And why do we expect things to take the time we think things will take - even if we have done something before - it might take more or less time - circumstances are always different.

But most of us, including myself, have expectations about how long even things we have never done will take.

The finished painting above matched my concept and vision more closely as well as my expected timeline for doing a painting - there is more texture, more depth, more visual confusion - and more what I had in mind to begin with -

What is wonderful about art and life - is that sometimes the head gets to follow the body - follow the physical world - and sometimes the timetable of the physical world is smarter than the head.

See Also

• Timing Innovative Music - previous article about time and timing and sharing my own creativity
• Time Expectations - though I do not completely share the capitalistic sentiments, I whole-heartedly concur that our expectations affect the timeline of completing a project
• Digital Art Prints - about art prints, digital painting, and what it means for outhouse studios to produce original prints

evolving landscape

Further Along Tree - Dan Beck - unsigned - unfinished? - digital art painting 2008

On April fool’s day one should hope for a joke - if I have one for the day - it is unfinished like the piece above - stopped at this point and saved because it looked balanced, finished, and pleasing - but I knew I was not done because I had not portrayed the essential aspects of the tree and background from the impression on that day.

This is also based on the same tree and the same tree - but further along in the season - as well as the pun of further down the road.

As with the other jokes - one might not get that the three trees are one and the same - but then they are not anyway - each day different - changing like us -

if we trusted our senses and not our minds - much if not all, would be unrecognizable when we view what with our minds we consider to be the same thing -

That came out so convoluted sounding - I think the joke may be on me.

See Also

• Digital Art - wide range of definitions and meanings for the term
• Digital Painting - more info on the process of creating at Outhouse Studios
• The opposite conclusion - search result and examples of the slipperiness of perception

out of time

Learning a newly written song, getting lost inside the world of a new painting, reading an excellent book are all a bit like falling in love…

I suppose anything which demands the attention such that the world stands still - that time doesn’t feel like it exists, that puts us completely in the moment and doesn’t want to let us go - has that quality.

River Spring Fauna - digital art painting - Dan Beck 2008

The art above is about the view from above - looking out on the valley - seeing the Salinas river - seeing the incredible texture and color of Spring below - that tapestry of color that pulls and mesmerizes - yes nature can pull off the effect of timelessness as well.

In the nature of out of time - and not in the fashion of deadlines - it seemed somehow appropriate on this first day (it was when I wrote this) of Spring to share a song of joy, love, and being lost or perhaps found in the world of timelessness.

Not part of the Red Eye Recordings - it is a track from 2005 CD: 1danband | dansingnew

Listen or View

• Out of Time - as described above - living in the timeless moment - in love, in life - music, words, performance, production - dan beck | outhouse studios | 1danband |dansingnew - 2005
• Keats, “Bright Star”, timelessness addressed - a very nicely done poem analysis - addressing the same kind of issues - and looking at multiple meanings rather than just one
• Digital Painting - a look at the special nature of art at outhouse studios and discussion of terms

All Play

Play Print 1 with Dog - digital art painting - Dan Beck 2008

This is a very recent piece of digital art - playing around with a new template - hoping to introduce a new option for sharing art - more interested in the template size and corresponding original prints than the actual painting.

As a result, I have approached this work as the title suggests - from the point of play. Despite the play - and the landscape painted with abandon - it wreaked of a particular area I had been taking my dog, Bogart, to get some exercise.

Though he probably should have been scampering around the hillside - I ended up putting him in the corner pushing my brand or symbol around - kind of indicative of our relationship I guess - teaching him that I am in charge yet him pushing and resisting most of the way.

some sort of weird karma - reminds me of myself when I was adolescent… and sometimes still am

See Also

• Digital Art - ambiguities, distinctions, and open ended meaning of digital art
• Sharing Art - search result finds blog - nice image - traced from a photo - not at all like my work - but creativity needs to be encouraged
• Tour of Youth Arts Collective - art fosters problem solving and thinking outside the box - I have seen the yaksters work and I it points more towards the kind of world we need …

new format brings on different vision

digital art (painting) - 2 Much 2 Control - Dan Beck 2008

I have started work on a new project - which has lead to a new sized template and as a result a more fluid and playful way of creating. Not totally sure where the idea came from - but that is the nature of ideas - if one lets the mind wander and don’t rule things out before you even think about them - you find something even better as you progress.

On the path, one is always trying to take things to the next level - always striving for a new twist. My desire for a new template was one thing - but the resulting play and at least the look of this piece is a bit different and a nice side benefit.

The tree concept is just about as old as I am - one of the first things I ever committed successfully to paper - I find myself painting often when I am playing - and taking walks to give my dog the running exercise he needs has made me notice some incredible trees.

The solidness of the foreground tree - is about how we focus our attention - but also something that worked most successfully in a recently shown piece. The title is both about attitude towards world these days and the nature of trying to paint on an old computer with a template that is a bit too big for its memory. I used two different computers to create this piece because the old one - just couldn’t compute.

See Also

• Digital Art - just proving that the multiple meanings of language are also a bit too much to control
• Frozen PB&J - not particularly related - but part of that creating solutions to problems which don’t really exist - and a fun result for “just couldn’t compute”

art and project remain remote

Remote Tree - digital art painting - Dan Beck 2008

I am working on a new project which I am not quite ready to reveal - but should be coming along rather quickly. Until I get the pieces in place, I am keeping a bit of a lid on it.

Like a lot of the art I do - I like that moment of unveiling - that moment when the image becomes printed - that tad bit of out of control and luck which can be better or worse, but is mostly better than one anticipates.

This is one of the first images from a new template which I am most excited about - size wise. This image was about a specific tree - a place - a feeling - more than an actual - but also about fitting the new project. I believe I have improved upon the template since and it will prove to be an invaluable size - opening up many new doors for a larger range in the size of art prints.

In any event, this digital painting was fun enough to warrant sharing - and so I am.

See Also

• Treework - first tree image with digital medium - still strong - but certainly not as developed with the medium. Innocence is worth noting
• Moment of Unveiling - a strange link to be sure - but google keeps getting more interesting in its results - part of a book by Nietzsche - one of my favorite (though unfortunately misunderstood) philosophers
• Opening New Doors - not so related but an interesting read and another link between art and life

previous view of strawberry harvesting captures today

Harvest Depth - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

It is most difficult to keep writing while in the throws of moving - even more difficult to keep painting. It is fogged in today and the day is kind of monotone. There are plenty of workers out this morning picking berries in a day that I assume was very similar to the scene above - painted last year.

When I created this digital painting - it was a combination of commentary on the orange flags - indicating spraying had been done - and the likeness of the workers and the fields and how in sync it all seemed - beautiful and a little painful - all at the same time.

The work is peaceful, a tad monotonous, and a little uncomfortable. This digital art is successful I think at capturing the feeling of the Salinas valley - and the labor which makes our food supply available.

See Also

• What’s in an apple? Buying organic, healthful produce becomes increasingly complicated - thoughtful Commentary on our Food Supply, labor supply, hidden facts, etc.
• Harvest Depth - availability of original prints for above digital art painting

observing the flow

Kitties - digital art - painting - Dan Beck 2003

Over the weekend, we held a giant yard sale in which I sold a few experimentally framed and matted pieces along with every other odd and ends thing under the sun. This particular piece was one I sold.

I have been too busy trying to move to be able to blog, but thought I could take a few minutes today - to share this piece. This digital painting was and is about pushing the limits.

I didn’t even know I could paint cats on the computer when I tackled this piece. Perspective was not as much of a concern as making the cats look cat like.

Even to this day, one of the things I actually like is that the medium is still not completely under my control. There are both happy accidents as well as a rather loose control over much of the ways I impart color and form. I can do things I couldn’t do with conventional paint and brush, but my control is not nearly as developed.

The skill is more about learning how to observe and duplicate playing with the medium. The freedom to let go and make mistakes is also the freedom to control the uncontrollable.

See Also

• Kitties - availability of original prints for the above digital art painting
  
• Slow Leadership: Getting comfortable with control - related by the notion of controlling the uncontrollable - seemed like sound advice though not so much about what I was referring - learning through observation

enjoying art is not a category

Shape of Something New - digital art - painting - original prints - Dan Beck 2005

What is new and what is original art have been subjects of discussion on my site for quite some time.

If something were completely new, it would be unrecognizable - so new enough or original enough are really what it is about.

Curiously, the term digital art is one which is new in conjunction with any of the work on this site. Because the term is so broad and the associated art is generally so different from the work found here, it seemed like the wrong association.

But the images seen at Outhouse Studios were painted using a mouse, a computer, and the available views of a monitor. Each print is original - it is the intended final form of the art - but what really matters as with all art is whether the work speaks to you.

See Also

• Shape of Something New - current purchasing options for original prints of the above digital painting
• modern artifacts: If Art speaks to you, talk back - not certain about the degree our taste overlaps, but certainly agree with the sentiments of art appreciation and whether a work speaks to you - also whether it is something you want to live with