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composition for a non-specific subject

Quick Study 2 - Dan Beck - digital painting for art prints - 2007

The process of creating is almost always interesting. By the time I got to this stage, this digital painting was no longer a quick study… but it did start out that way.

I have had enough of an absence from painting - that I did not want to retrieve a subject - this is no place in particular - something I do from time to time - but it definitely is here.

I am happy with the composition - the eye-flow - the richness of color and the feeling it evokes.

See Also

• Filming In Monterey County - Location Library - Location Photos, Listings
  photos of Monterey County from the Film Commission
• No Particular View
  art print options for a different but similar piece - have not yet created purchasing options for above piece

creating in new ways, good results still looks a lot like other work

Afternoon Glow - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

Though I firmly believe it is the process of creating and the journey that is important, it is also quite nice to get results.

In any piece there are always features which are like other works - one has to use some of the things which work - because we are result oriented even though we might be trying new things in new ways.

The fields in this digital painting were done differently and have a height and texture which I had not really tried for before. And the mountains incorporated a few different techniques but combined in a new fashion.

And yet, for the most part - it looks a lot like a lot of my other pieces. The house and building in the hillside give a sense of distance - and though this is not a specific place, it is quite right on for what one might see here.

Mostly, I just like the way the piece makes me feel - I think because of how much I like it here.

For art prints of the above digital painting, please email: specialorders@outhousestudios.net.

See Also

• Foothills View
  piece I am reminded of the most - texture and hilly terrain
• Doing new things « Flowingly
  article - preaching to the choir - as far as doing things in new ways - didn’t check out blogsite though

knowing when to quit is sometimes circumstance

tired - digital painting and art prints - 2003

Like most artists, I enjoy the process of creating. I enjoy being lost in my own world, enjoy being lost in a space where nothing else matters.

Knowing when to call a piece finished is an incredible challenge - to many it is the challenge. One doesn’t want to call it done too soon; it is important to work through the problem sufficiently. And one doesn’t want to work a piece to death - for it will have lost its essence.

The above piece was aborted - I was too tired to think of where to take it - but every time I looked at it to see about finishing - I liked it as is.

And after three or four times of this, I decided it was done. And I think it is - it has a wonderful flow and a clean look - and if I didn’t enjoy the process so much, I think I could do more pieces like this.

See Also

• tired
  art print and purchasing options for above work
• When Elbow Grease Is Not a Virtue: overworking your art
  Exactly to the point of my article
• “Sorting Out” Dec. 5, 2000
  One quote about overworking and others of interest