October 16th, 2006 by admin
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".
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August 31st, 2006 by admin
balancing impression and intention with work itself
Field Flat - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006
For me art is a give and take process. I had seen a strawberry picker in a similar posture - holding an empty flat and I wanted to capture that impression.
I created a backdrop - a non-specific but nevertheless somewhat accurate view of the Salinas Valley.
When I started I was expecting a larger figure and less background - but the painting pushed me in certain directions.
I may very well approach this theme again - to create something more iconic - but I actually find this image very pleasing and enjoy looking at it. I like the way my eye travels down to the other field worker and how it feels like the man holding the flat is on the verge of, if not already, moving down to join him.
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July 14th, 2006 by admin
not waiting - just paint or just observe
Just Painting
Just Looking
I was thinking about this topic this morning. I was feeling like starting a new digital painting, but with no idea what I might want to paint.
When one is at a loss for ideas - what does one do? For writers they often say - just start writing. So for people creating art - the same can also be true.
But in my case, I went outside and walked around my house looking - taking in - and thus the article today.
I didn’t end up painting or even end up with a clear specific idea - I sidetracked into doing something higher on my priority list. So much for inspiration.
But I realized, one does not need to wait for inspiration, one must simply look and listen.
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July 5th, 2006 by admin
zoomed in view needed to work sections of digital art
Section of current digital painting - view 1 pixel hole in center
I started working on a new digital painting this morning. A dreary kind of overcast summer day here - perfect for that sort of thing.
While I was working on it and enlarging the piece close to 400% - I thought it might be interesting to share what that looks like - and therefore a sense of how peculiar it can be to work with this digital medium.
Creating art on a computer can be very quick in some ways. There are tools which can create gradients, complex textures, lines, curves, fills, etc. However, certain things can be quite tedious.
For the look I want in this particular piece - I must work with the piece enlarged and must go back and forth with the size of the view. Often times even working at the largest level adjusting a single pixel.
It is fun to be able to see from different angles - stepping back, stepping in - but it is also tiring - as I am taking a break to write this.
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June 16th, 2006 by admin
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.
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May 19th, 2006 by admin
Attitude perhaps more important than Art
Grandeur from the Gorge - digital painting - 2006 - Dan Beck
The is the final in a three part series on the creation of this piece - from sketch, to filled-in sketch to the above.
I was successful in creating the majesty of the mountains in contrast to the smallness of the field workers and of course in contrast to us, the viewer. I am pleased with the way I painted the mountains and even created the grape rows.
I am pleased with a lot of aspects of the piece and some of the adjustments made to make the flow of the eye work better - the mountains on the left, the grape rows on the right, the grape rows on the left and even the big giant shadow.
But I am not ecstatic with it, not even delighted. Perhaps it is part of being too close or perhaps it just didn’t come together in the end quite as well as I’d hoped - or maybe it is because I am not feeling 100% at the moment and nothing seems that good.
Being pleased with something we have done or something we have viewed is so much about what we bring into it - our
attitude is much more telling of whether something will be received well - than is the actuality about the piece - if there even is such a thing.
So perhaps your attitude is better than mine today - if you like the piece and are interested in possibly purchasing an original art print - please email
specialorders@outhousestudios.net.In the mean time, I think I must live to paint again.
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May 18th, 2006 by admin
abstract style digital painting with links to related works
digital painting - 4 the Road Dan Beck - 2003
I keep spinning through my pieces - figuring there is a story to tell about each of them or at the very least a discussion about the medium or the art prints themselves.
When I did this I know I wanted a piece with this title - to come after a piece called 1more in the then other art gallery which has since been disbanded if you will and put into the original art-chives - more than probably anyone needs to know about outhouse studios website history.
The style was pretty abstract - I learned about more subtly adding texture long after this piece. And it looks like at this point, I was only using the stock textures - either not knowing or not having got to customizing my own yet.
There is a pond at the bend in the road - this is not the true landscape - but it is a wonderful microcosm of the rolling fields and the feeling of this land.
Like most of my earlier works it looks very complete printed on 13×19″ Japanese watercolor paper. Its initial pixel dimensions are such that it really looks bold and full. The trade off is that it would not be so exceptional larger than printed and matted for a 22×28″ frame.
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