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change of scene - changing seasons

More Remote Tree - digital painting for original prints - Dan Beck 2008

When I have painted this tree in the past - it has always been by memory and impression - this is no exception - the seasons have been changing - grasses growing and leaf base is quite a bit stronger.

To me the work has an impressionistic feeling with a rather clear digital component - even if the medium is intended to take a back seat to the content of the painting.

Observing the changing tree over time makes for an interesting group of work - or at least an interesting puzzle and interesting in that each one so far has been created without referencing the previous versions until after completion.

Limits are good - my rules are to not intervene with photos and not try to block my own understanding - hoping to impart the feeling which has prompted the painting in the first place.

See Also

• Original Prints - discussion of digital painting and original nature of prints at Outhouse Studios
  
• An Artist Needs Limits - discussion of the importance of limits for the creative process

viewing and processing life - creatively

In my mind the three images above of digital paintings were created around the same time. Whether it is true or not, I am not going to research.

Promoting the Creative World is about observations particularly in regards to the creative process, but it is also observations about viewing and processing life. How could it not be?

Associations are more real than the way things happened. Our memories and how we categorize what we have experienced take on a life of their own - truth is they become our reality unless they are shattered. And many folks won’t budge from their reality even when confronted with facts.

There is no critique here; but just like "hindsight is 20/20" and "the older we get, the better we were" so much of what we perceive is wrapped up in our own perspective of the world - worth mentioning I think.

See Also

• Landscape Art Gallery
  where above pieces can all be found
• Hindsight Perspective
  How film and literature changes with plot information - further insight into how informed we are when we already know

Creating from memory - true to experience

Cactacious - Digital Painting 2005

This is a  painting from memory of the Joshua Forest Parkway  on US Highway 93 between Kingman and Phoenex, AZ - more specifically, the section where there are both Joshua Trees in the foreground and the Saguaro Cactus on the slopes behind.

The Joshua Tree had a big impact on me. They look like they are from another planet - tree-like at the bottom - they are spiked with ferocity.  Not only do we need to be careful or distant, but it seems they need space from themselves as well - as they do not grow close together.  They are also very slow growers and can get up to a 1000 years old.

I keep saying that I am more concerned with feeling than literalness of what I am painting.  Though I am fairly true to the landscape and look of the two species, some of the colors and specifics of the scene are created to be more interesting to the eye.

With that said, I still believe this is a piece mostly about recording/recognizing a really wonderful experience and keeping alive some of the feeling.

See Also

• Simi Dimbah Steel Sculptures
  Sculptor clearly influenced by desert and Joshua Trees
• The life cylcle of Saguaro Cactus
  additional link from in text with more info on cactus
• Joshua Trees
  Mojave National Preserve - tells additional info from link in text about Joshua Trees