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pushing the limits of matting and printing

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

In the spirit of original - I have printed a version of this which framed is going to be 4ft by 5ft. At that size, it looks even more like pointillism than this detail .

Crazy me - I found a frame that size and knew I needed something that would look even enough in such dimensions and exciting that big. Despite knowing that the largest oversized matboard I could get measures 40 x 60in - 8 inches too small - I suspended my knowledge and had the image printed anyway.

Well - truth is I was pretty annoyed with myself because the best patch job would still look like a patch job. The enormity of the original print overshadows the seemliness of the pieced together matting but the challenge has also overshadowed any blogging this week.

In any event, this giant print is not just an original art print, but probably a one of a kind - it is more than I want to wrestle with ever again - too big for my workspace and just barely fitting in my wagon.

See Also

• Original Art - discussion of varied meanings and in particular at Outhouse Studios
• looking for oversized matt board - The Picture Framers Grumble - apparently there are larger matboards out there - but I was not aware and don’t have a source for buying them at this time.
• WebMuseum: Seurat, Georges - more information about pointillism and the artist credited with its beginnings

Irrigation Man is enveloped in water - almost unseen

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

I have been obsessed with trying to get my website moved to a different web-host. So far it is a much bigger undertaking than I could have expected and nowhere near done… oh well.

This is the first painting I have done in well over a week. I had the idea of creating a piece that would be ideal printed in halves and pieced together - making one large diptych if you will.

The first one came out really nice, but it was not intended to be printed like that from the outset. This piece is designed to maximize two sheets of 13 x19″ watercolor paper and put them together for a total print size of 19 x 26″ - which is pretty sizable.

I wanted this figure enveloped in water - I have seen things similar to this - though not recently. Sometimes for what one wants to communicate, that may actually be better.

See Also

• Impressionist Art Gallery
  Other examples of irrigation in digital paintings
• Jennifer Casey figurative pastels
  These are figures enveloped in water - much more literally than I was thinking - but rather interesting - dark website - probably easier viewed at night
• Flickr: Diptychs - two is better than one!
  Photos are more in the sense I am thinking - than traditional diptych

no longer featured on website home page - image has great color and qualities

Cloud Over Sprinklers  - digital painting / art prints - 2005 - Dan Beck

I just did a little update on the website homepage and this piece is no longer shown. I figured it was time for a little change.

And no matter how much I like a piece, it is important to keep moving things around and of course keep creating new.

With that said, there are things I particularly appreciate about the above digital painting. The colors themselves have that wonderful Autumn clarity. The clouds wisp over an artificially large round sun - yet the size works well.

The irrigation could be easily misread unless of course you are privy to this type of view - because it is very textural and very much of a “what is that?” if you haven’t seen it before.

Finally, this piece also manages to capture the hilly terrain. It is simple but says a lot. And the colors are every bit as luscious printed - actually more so.

See Also

• Cloud Over Sprinklers
  galley page - enlargement and art print availability for above digital painting
• M.E. Parker Photography - f/stops along the way
  Photographer’s log - used same terminology - “luscious color” - also some vary nice work
• Julie Zickefoose: Color from the Conservatory
  another photographer I found looking up the term “luscious color” - and her work is also incredibly vibrant

True to theme without conscious aim

Irrigate 2 - digital painting - 2004 - Dan Beck

I was thinking about creativity when I pulled out this piece - and then I realized that I had written earlier about irrigation in conjunction with another article (likely below).

So there is a theme here about how creativity works. It has to do with connections we make without even trying.

I was actually looking for a piece to showcase which exemplified creativity though not necessarily the nine’s in results. The piece above is that way until it is full sized. It is ok as a smaller image, but the texture and complexity of the fields and mountains cannot be seen small.

But it is incredibly creative - neither field nor mountain aim to be true - but they somehow are.

And I suppose that is the parallel in my picking this piece today - it is connected to my earlier theme but without my consciously aiming to do so.

See Also

• Irrigate 2
  Art Print Options for above piece
• The Conscious and Unconscious
  This particular page I found interesting and to my point about creativity

qualities of piece and size of digital painting shape final art prints

Cloud Over Sprinklers - digital painting - 2005 - Dan Beck

I might have featured this piece already. I have it as the first image of my work on the current version of my website.

I don’t know that it is one of my all time best pieces, but I love the color of the sky, the way the clouds hover over the the sun, and the color and texture of the hills. As a digital image it also works quite well at the size shown above.

When I’ve shown a finished print to people, they have all commented on how nice the colors are. It is simple and pleasing - and does capture some of the beauty of the irrigation from a distance.

Another thing I like is that this piece looks so good at the most affordable 13×19" art print size. It will enlarge up to 22×28" well. However, the size of the original digital painting does not make it conducive to being printed super large.

The positive side of this, is that everything is easily visible in the smallest sized print.

See Also

• Clouds Over Sprinklers
  Gallery Page - Enlargement - Art prints and framing options
• Don Villarejo - Consultant :: Photographs by Bill Gilette
  Looking for Irrigation photos, I found this page - very interesting b&w photos of central valley 17 years ago

Rolling Hills and Textured Irrigation lead to Versatile Art Print

Irrigate 1 - Digital Painting & Art Print - 2005 - Dan Beck

The piece above is one of the first pieces I felt like I really hooked - right after I had finished. Not only pleasing right off, it is also quite representative of the world around me.

The hills surrounding Fremont Peak have the rolling quality portrayed even though they are represented as being almost transparent.

The striped land with the texture of irrigation is as it is here. I don’t know that I can find a representative photo; I have few in my own collection since I work from my impressions.

The other thing that is significant about this piece is that it works well printed small or large. It is grander printed large as one might expect, but just as you can see it well above vs. the enlargement - it shows well as a print on 13×19" watercolor paper.

I have developed a great deal of technique, and even my attention to composition has improved since creating this, but the piece remains strong. It has stood up well over time and has continued to have a remarkably good response from viewers and other artists.

See Also

• Irrigate 1
  Gallery Page - Enlarge/Details - Various sizes of Art Prints, framed or not, for above digital painting
• The bigger picture - covershot101
  An awesome view of Salinas Valley
• Monterey County Historical Society, Local History Pages–A Short History of Salinas, California
  Beyond photos - learn about the Salinas Valley