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Foothills Anywhere - digital painting - Dan Beck 2007

Some pieces of original art feel more serious than others - more in a tradition of fine art than colorful poster art or illustration, cartoon, or folk art.

Just as my music has influences of jazz, rock, folk, blues, and classical - my visual art tends to have more than one influence.

Even though the above digital painting is intensely colorful and painted in a quick bold fashion, it is more serious. There is an intentionality of communicating a feeling and mood which is not always there with an abstract piece or a more fantastical piece.

I have been working on other types of art and creativity and this still feels like my most recent work - original prints are not yet available.

See Also

• More Warm Hills - a piece I am reminded of - translating the hug-able quality of the hills and a similar type of 3 dimensionality
• Fine art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - for lack of a better place to refer - this offers many a category of distinction - though the point is all categories overlap

digital painting documents men on their knees and conflicting interests

Spinach Harvest - Digital Painting - Dan Beck - 2005

I have already written about this piece and even featured the image more recently as illustration for one of the points on being creative.

I am featuring this digital painting again today because the spinach crews were harvesting again in the same field next to my house.

Not so much a full year cycle but a growing cycle - for the crops are in full swing here and the men who bunch spinach do so on their knees. They are experts and you can be assured this is what they do each day.

Growing food and working the land is probably the most grounded work that anyone could think of - but with markets, business, and making money - men are made into parts just like other aspects of our world.

I am sad we have built a world where people are treated like things - sad that money is like god - sad that with every image, I feel obligated to give options to buy art prints - sad there are so many conflicting interests.

See Also

• Figures Art Gallery
  The gallery with the most conceptual art - others which speak to the human condition
• Dean’s World - More Books
  a few “facorite” quotes

Part 3 - discussion of digital options and song

Bottles In the Kitchen - Digital Painting - 2006

For illustration purposes, I decided to do a quick painting - digital painting, of the wine bottles in the kitchen. Normally when I paint, I use no photo - only memory - in this case I used the photo as a basic design - but really didn’t refer to it much.

Digital refers to photography, manipulated photography, images created through the use of computer formulas and geometry, and digital painting which could also incorporate some of these things.

As I have already said - I would never want to belittle any form of creativity. What I am trying to do is differentiate to some extent. The work I do has limits like a physical painting and requires imagination and a certain level of physical skill to do. I use a program - Appleworks - which is available to lots of people - is not particularly technical - but has limits.

I like these limits - but also do not feel I have hit the ceiling as far as its capability.

This is a new arena - and terms don’t always clarify.  Both these are digital - but they do not require the same level of skill or vision.

See Also

• deviantART: Photo Manipulated Gallery
  some other examples of more sophisticated manipulated photography
• Digitally Manipulated Photography Fine Art Prints
  Example of Digital Art - showing off differences in meaning
• Listen to song “Bottles in the Kitchen” by 1danband
  On the Outhouse Studios Music page - full song excerpt