What's New

which curve?

digital art - 2 Much 2 Control - Dan Beck 2008

When I wrote about this digital painting before - I focused on the process and the secondary success not conceived of with the original goal in mind.  There are always secondary gains or successes which were not intended - just as in life.

I like to think that my work is innovative art - that I am always pushing the limits of the medium or my own limits - the limits of my audience which of course includes myself.  If I am doing my job correctly, I will not necessarily appreciate some of the things I do right away… a strange paradox really.

All art comes from somewhere else - all music, all dance, all theatre etc. is not created in a vacuum, but is built upon what is already found elsewhere in culture.  A term I have come to appreciate more than even originality or innovation is authenticity - whether the art is authentic or genuine - coming from the place of being done because it has to be - where appreciation and regard are not a thoughtful consideration.

Innovative - I think, is more about being ahead of the curve …

See Also

• Shape of Something New - a previous departure from the art I was doing at the time - but a road I didn’t travel down - and one which seemed too familiar and previously traveled by others - but a piece I like nonetheless
• Ahead of the Curve - this article takes the curve for granted - career with money
• Ahead of the Curve - clips from university musicians - some authentic - some cloning … obviously originality and innovation are difficult to measure - work that is too different has always been poorly received

coloring our senses

Times Square 2 - digital art - Dan Beck 2008

I felt good about my first take on Times Square - but wanted to try to tackle the feeling again - a little more focus on the TV nature of the advertisements - still the bright color and overwhelming show - but hoping for the shape of the over the top media bombardment that is part of the fabric of life in the big city.

My life is normally situated in a more bucolic west coast - rolling hills - and farmland setting - so this is a departure from what feeds my art generally.  But what an incredible scene - the East Coast in general has such a great mix of old and new - quaint and over the top sensory bombardment - it feels like there are artistic touches everywhere.

In the Salinas Valley I am fed by nature and quick scenes which grab my attention - in the East - I was bombarded by lights - by life - by urban frenzy - and this for someone who lived back east (love that expression) for a major portion of my life.

See Also

• Digital Art - explanation of different meanings and more about what it means at Outhouse Studios
• Beautification or … the death of Times Square Eye Candy - stumbled upon this discussion about banning advertisement in San Paulo and a question of when have we gone too far…

Times Square Can You?

Times Square Canyon - digital art - Dan Beck 2008

Visiting the East Coast this week …

I had been asked a couple of years ago to do a digital painting of Times Square - I thought about it - even googled some images but knew I hadn’t been there in so many years I couldn’t do it justice.

In general I like to work from my own impression and feeling of a place and then use the language and vocabulary of the digital medium which is at my disposal.

In this case, it is using the mouse pad and finger painting in an abstract manner to capture the feeling and enormity of the show of technology ads and bright lights of the city at night. In particular - looking up Broadway in what feels like a canyon of buildings and lights - jagged, beautiful, and bustling with moving lights and people.

It is a couple of days (or a couple of years) later - but this is also sometimes my custom…

See Also

• Digital Art - what does it mean - and the outhouse studios interpretation
• Other Artists’ Takes - some New York artists’ impressions of Times Square

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

painting the feeling of perception

Pinnacles 1 - digital art | digital painting - Dan Beck 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the Pinnacles up close - I have only gone once, only done the one digital painting - and did it in my normal fashion - based the piece on some of the views I saw which left an impression - combined them a little - but mostly painted from the impression they left upon me.

I painted it that afternoon, the images were fresh in my inner view.

The color of the sky - though not remotely real to the day - somehow helped to convey the feeling that these incredible rock formations had on me. The different depths - the incredible tone of colors and the massiveness probably can’t be conveyed in photo or painting, but my intent has always been to capture something more intangible.

It usually works for me - but I am triggering my own memory and I couldn’t possibly know how it reads to someone never having experienced something similar.

See Also

• Digital Art - discussion of the broad meanings of the term and the process at Outhouse Studios
• Impressionist Art Gallery - other works based on glimpse, visual memory, understanding - plus discussion of impressionist art
• Pinnacles National Monument - U.S. Parks service site with most information on this incredible rock formation

priceless necessity

Horizon 4 - Digital Painting 2006

Having posted the first two tracks of the “Red Eye Recordings” - a music project that is intended to be listened to in order (for the most part) because there is a story to be told; it is time to introduce the third track with some explanation.

The song - “Money is too important” is about the necessity and the change it brings about - the nature of seeking satisfaction from things or consumerism - How much is enough? - always more than one has - and my observations on how often having money changes people.

And of course, having said that - it is my need as well, to have money to live on and continue to produce my art and music.

I am offering these tracks free - and will continue to - but eventually plan on making it possible to contribute to the outhouse studio fund -

The songs are about my observations - about life - about capitalism - about equality - about sickness - about letting go -

It is both too personal and somehow improper to put a price on -

Listen or View

• Money Is Too Important - Dan Beck  2006- to quote the song “I’d like less worrying, though I am not at all bad off, I’d like less worrying, like everyone I’ve known”
  
• Credit to Johnny Mandel and Mike Altman - for MASH melody and lyrical reference - nothing is created in a vacuum and I kept hearing their lyrics and melody in the music
• Horizon 4 - current art print availability for above digital art and its original prints

seeing for the first time

Rooted Tree - digital art - finger painting - rendering from memory impression - Dan Beck 2008

There are trees like this at one of the places I frequent with my exercise craving dog - it took me a while to notice them.

But like with most things - once one finally sees something - one starts to see the same thing more frequently. Even though I am an artist and probably more observant than most, I am keenly aware of how much of life I miss, until I become finally aware.

Perception, attention, and understanding are all fascinating subjects - I paint from an impression - a memory - quite frequently - knowing that my understanding plays an even bigger role in what I project when painting.

The intention here is not fantasy, but fun and freedom to portray the essential double rooted nature of these trees on the hillside - blasting with my own color but attempting to convey

the beauty and oddness that strikes me and makes me smile when I see them.

See Also

• Composite Nature: A Conversation with Stan Brakhage - an image search result for double rooted nature - found the work rather interesting
• Celebrated Poets - another interesting search result - the top poem seems to even relate
• Digital Art - a look at the wide definitions and usage for the digital art term - and what it means at Outhouse Studios

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 …