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a new approach to creating size

Irrigation Man - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

It is probably wrong to write about art prints without having actually printed a piece, but it is actually printing as I write… well half of the piece is printing while I write.

By design, this is a two part print - two sheets of Japanese watercolor paper 13 x 19 inches - together yielding an image 19 x 26 inches - with a subtle seam - that at least on my first attempt at this - looked pretty cool.

I am realizing that this is much larger than one can see on the screen and I should at the least create a detail so there is a better sense of size… when I get the printing under control.

What I anticipate is lush, textural - large enough to practically feel the spray and imagine oneself in this world.

See Also

• Blog Guide by Images
  scan recent pieces or longer established works and find links to articles on Blogsite
• Lucidity - Awake in Sleep
  Imagining oneself in different world - a different dimension of same
• NOVA Online | Ice Mummies of the Inca | Lost Empire
  quick read about Incas - same concept of imagining oneself in a different world

experimentation leads to more textured options and broader palette

Screenshot of painting tools and palette in development

The above screenshot is a snapshot into some of the incredible possibilities which exist for me painting digitally.

There are many programs out there and I can’t say that one is by far the best.  My understanding is that most graphic artists use Illustrator but since I started with Appleworks and haven’t exactly run out of new things to try - I continue with it.

The textured square in the wall paper is a new texture/color that I developed for a digital painting. I just recently figured out that I could copy an existing texture/color square as a starting point to build colors upon. 

I knew I could take a 1 inch square from a painting and turn that into my paint - or take a stock texture/color and make color adjustments, but I did not know I could copy an existing texture/color square from my palettes and make adjustments to that.

I figured out how to do all of these by using copy and paste shortcut keys and playing - there are no options for this on the edit menu. I don’t even know if the creators know one can do this.

If there is a point to this - whatever your medium of creativity - experiment! 

See Also

• Abstract Art Gallery
  home to most experimentation at Outhouse Studios
• NODE.London - Networked, Open, Distributed, Events. London - March 2006
  I like the language of the first description - “experiment, play, and get involved” - these are my sentiments as well

not letting a powerful piece stop the creative flow

Mntn Sails Again         Mountains Sails

One of the things I have noticed about myself when it comes to creating is that I tend to not want to try to do something again if I feel like I hooked it the first time.

After I have recorded music, I find that I no longer want to play the songs I have recorded - particularly if the recording came out really well.

With art it is the same thing - the first digital painting above I have always really loved. It has a visual uncertainty - between sails and mountains - water and sky - that was not intended but rather landed upon.

The second piece was years later - trying to create the same visual ambiguity - it is a good piece and a fine art print but I don’t find it nearly as strong.

Whether it is something new or something old, not all pieces will be as good. It is not worth getting intimidated over previous work ( I tell myself) - creativity works best without too much competition - including one’s own.

See Also

• Something different - competition standards tend to discourage creativity - P-Essay - Column PSA Journal - Find Articles
  how competition stifles creativity in photography - kind of like grading can in school
• Mountain Sails
  availability of art prints from digital painting “Mountain Sails”
• Mntn Sails Again
  availability of art prints from digital painting “Mntn Sails Again”

art prints from digital painting - quality and feeling

Sunlit Under Mountain - digital painting / art prints - DB 2005

There is a phenomena here when the sky is completely overcast. In the distance, the mountains frequently show signs of isolated sunlight. It almost looks like it is coming out of the mountainside itself rather than a break in the clouds.

Like many of these pieces, I question my ability to portray what is really going on. Despite this - the digital painting seen here has a quality and feeling to it that does capture this type of weather and time of day.

To me, art would not be art if it were literally trying to duplicate nature. Putting three dimensions into two or rendering a 3-D sculpture which is relatively unchanging - cannot do justice to being in the scene.

On the other hand, an artist can portray more by revealing his eyes, understanding, feeling, and interpretation.

See Also

• Sunlit Under Mountains
  availabiltiy of art prints for digital painting Sunlit Under Mountains
• Art Essays
  Printmakering synopsizes essays by Tolstoy, Hegel, Wittgenstein, and Maritain
• Esthetics - Art
  Continuing the philosophy day theme - more espousing of why

Just finished digital painting brings up what is also true - attention to little details

Out Field - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

Sometimes creating is painstaking or picky-une. I found myself trying to complete the above piece today - and making ever so slight changes but nevertheless seemingly critical ones.

Little things seem all important when one is in the midst of a creation. A digital painting is no exception - one can make mistakes and fix them just like with oil or acrylic paint - one can add or take away to make a form right.

But it never ceases to amaze me that I can frit sometimes as much as I do.  Ironically when I set out to do this piece, I was thinking flowing - not too concerned with any sort of accuracy - and as soon as I started creating this valley of work scene what was loose became a work of detail and "just so".

For art prints of above digital painting please email: specialorders@outhousestudios.net.

See Also

• Figures Art Gallery
  besides blog site - gallery with most related work
• Mistakes Art Quotations from The Painter’s Keys Resource of Art Quotations
  always fun to hear what others have said
• Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
  This is the most common search result for “just so”, but it is pertanent with wonderful illustrations

appreciating the place of inspiration along with results

2 the Beach - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2003

I said recently that I find myself balancing between creating new works and appreciating others - being creative means also being an audience and particularly an observer.

The piece above was painted after going to the Salinas River State Beach.  It is the closest beach to where I live, but it also it quite a nice stretch of beach with people on horseback.  At the time of this painting, it was also a great place to take one’s dog.

I can’t locate any photos online of the entrance to the beach - but the fun thing for me - was that this abstract take on the landscape around the wooden walkway - somehow captured the location.  Two people I know, who were familiar with the beach - recognized it immediately from a 4 by 6 inch art print.

When you walk to this point - and spy the ocean - your whole being goes "aaahh"…

See Also

• 2 the Beach
  availablilty of art print options for 2theBeach
• Salinas River National Refuge Map
  good photos and overview of the Salinas River State Beach

creating what can’t be recreated … but with feeling

Foothills Terrain - digital painting - Dan Beck 2006

The thing about this art print which strikes me the most - is how it pulls me in. I find the hills and mountains to have both the depth and warmth that they have in person.

I can’t say that the image or its prints is impeccable - that is not for me to say - but I know if makes me feel like I want to reach out and hug those hills and mountains - and that is what I feel when I am in the Santa Lucia Foothills.

This is a place which always blows my mind - I am always stunned by its beauty - I cannot copy or recreate such beauty - and I don’t believe any artist can - what I can do in a digital painting or at least try to do - is paint what it feels like for me to be in the scene.

I feel successful in this venture, but this is not a particularly trafficked area - and I suspect does not look like it even exists.

For art prints from the above digital painting, please email specialorders@outhousestudios.net.

See Also

• River Run 1
  digital painting from same area - different time - different direction
• Big Sur Xtreme - Guided Hiking Tours of the Santa Lucia Mountains
  Photo gallery of same mountains - from the West side instead of the East

capturing energy - creating something else

Orange Sky Purple Clouds - digital painting - Dan Beck 2005

The sky was on fire the night this impression came from. I had never seen a sky quite like it. The horizon was orange - glowing and fireworks for clouds hovering over the dimming sky.

And I didn’t even come close to capturing it. But I did succeed at capturing the energy I felt from such an incredible post-sunset array of colors.

In creating this abstract art, I remember building color upon color upon texture upon texture to try to emulate the show that the clouds of the evening produced.

I am not sure I understand what I am looking at still - it almost looks like a dust devil in the desert.

What is incredibly clear by this digital painting, and more-so from its art prints, is that art is not necessarily about something else even when it tries to be - it is itself both a place and destination.

See Also

• Orange Sky Purple Clouds
  Availability of art prints for above digital painting
• Dust Devils
  information and photos
• Cloudscapes
  Post sunset and incredible cloud photos

experimenting with new program leads to new work and positive results

Nework 2 - Digital Painting 2003 - Dan Beck

In 2003 my old computer died. It wasn’t very impressive - barely could get online - I was fortunate to be able to use email at my (at the time) workplace.

When I replaced my computer, I was fortunate that I did not have to lose any of the paintings I had created - they were safe on another hard drive.

But I bought another Mac and the program which it had for painting was more sophisticated and had textures - which I have since found out I could customize as needed.

The above piece was one of the first pieces I did using texture. It still utilizes the overlapping translucent gradients, but added textured color. It was relatively simple, but more importantly it was created with little expectation or cares.

It flowed, it was fun, it was play, and it came out quite nice.

See Also

• Nework 2
  Art print options for digital painting -Nework 2
• Appleworks Paint
  Basic look at the Appleworks Paint program I create with.

Link to shopping cart yields miniature icon

Original Size ArtCart - Digital Art

When I first built my website, the shopping cart stayed open as a separate window - so it didn’t seem necessary to have a link to it in any fashion. When someone bought - there it was.

Recently, I was on a site and noticed a little icon for a shopping cart - nothing special, but for some reason it made an impression. And when I checked how my shopping cart works now, I realized  I needed to have a link. Gone are the days of a separate window.

So I had a little fun creating this miniature cart and throwing some art inside. I actually took some miniature sections of some of my work and put it in the cart.  

But at the size on the website… no one would ever know.  But that is why I am including the original size here. Plus I think the size of the original work is interesting.

I have found that something too big - won’t look good small and something too small won’t look good big. Though there is incredible flexibility within the digital art medium, it is not without its limits.

And that is probably good.

See Also

• All Works on Sale
  a jumping point for all works which can go in the new art cart
• Veerle’s blog | Pushing Illustrator and Photoshop to its limit
  There are limits and then there are limits - amazing what some people strive to do with technology