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exercising the movable medium

On Site 1 - digital art - laptop finger painting - Dan Beck 2007

This is a sketch - on site - still working out the bugs for plein air - where to sit - place the computer - have enough shade? etc.

In some ways embarrassingly, this was done from the passenger’s seat of my car - it was dark enough to see the screen and the wheel wasn’t in the way - so sketching what I saw in 30 to 40 minutes prior to an appointment.

Like a lot of my recent work, this was an exercise - not a bad thing - just trying to get a feel for painting with a laptop and using my fingers instead of a mouse. I subsequently took this piece and worked on it in my normal fashion - sketched turned to fully textured and more developed digital painting- but what a challenge to actually make the digital art better.

This captured what I saw - in a way that couldn’t be done at a later time. I am trying to understand the differences and possibilities here.

See Also

• Three-Finger Exercise - TIME - a review of a 1998 play called “Art” - the language of the reviewer and the content of the play are remarkably in tune with my own
• Another Sunset Sketch - though not done on site - the same kind of quick rendition of a scene - done within moments of viewing
• The subjective truth - article title (My Camera World: What I Saw, My Camera Captured and What My Mind Thought it Saw) - but all art including photography requires interpretation

Forgotten Sketch Shows Its Colors

Sunset Sketch - digital painting / original prints - Dan Beck 2005

I had totally forgotten this painting - don’t remember creating it - don’t remember the evening it was inspired by - it had kind of slipped through the cracks.

This was a digital painting that had made it into the last round of pieces to go on the website end of 2005 - but didn’t get included. I went looking through all my original prints and came across this one and was quite taken with the way it looked so much like a tissue collage.

Perhaps a little too evenly balanced to be a really wonderful piece - it still has some magnificent qualities - the sun and clouds in particular and the texture in the vegetation on the horizon and the more detailed yet not exactly lettuce in the front.

I guess I do remember something - because it was romaine I was portraying but I would never have known that by just looking - it was a representation like most art - enough to evoke a feeling and a time but hopefully be its own original place to get lost inside.

See Also

• Experimental Field - notice how romaine lettuce was portrayed here - both more detailed and more abstract - it’s not easy being green
• Original Art - discussion of different meanings and understandings or what original art really is and isn’t
• Tissue Collage - a page filled with examples - no enlargements here but one can get enough of the idea of why this seems so reminiscent of the above work

depth of field, workers, limited exposure, and time constraints

Break Line Hoe - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

There is a lot of activity in the fields these days - too much to really capture. What I like about this piece is how the line of workers are being swallowed by the field.

For the record is was a field of immature romaine lettuce. What was also interesting about what I viewed was that despite the short visibility due to fog, you could still get a good sense of the depth of this field.

Those were the things I concentrated on conveying when I created this digital painting. The figures are simple, but then I only got a glimpse of them driving by - and time constraints made me need and want to create this more like a sketch.

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

See Also

• Experimental Field
  a different image - figure harvesting mature romaine
• Lettuce: Romaine or Cos Produce Facts
  a romaine overview for those growing or interested

single row sighting inspires quick digital painting

Break Line Hoe - digital painting / art prints - Dan Beck 2006

It has been weeks since my last digital painting. I was away on vacation and this was my first chance. I wasn’t planning on painting - I have many other things on my plate.

But I spied this line of workers - hoe in hand - making a b line to the edge of the field - and I assume a break. Although it might well have been they were just moving in unison to another field to hoe.

When I saw them this morning I just thought it looked awesome. I wasn’t sure if I could make it work as a painting and knew I didn’t have time to do anything detailed - so the above slight step up from a sketch is what I came up with to capture the scene.

See Also

• Figures Art Gallery
  most similar work currently on website
• Online Etch A Sketch
  Did not know this existed - works with arrow keys - can’t do angles like you sort of could with manual model - but cool nevertheless

digital painting through the window conjures plein air fantasy

Rainy Halloween Harvest - digital painting /art prints - 2003

My most recent digital painting came to me by looking out the window. When I started thinking about it, I was reminded of the above piece.

This is the only digital painting I have ever done “painting on location”. At that time my computer was right next to the window where this scene was happening.

It was Halloween morning - the workers looked a little ghost-like in their yellow slickers and I sketched and painted as fast as I could.

I was and still am pleased with the results particularly as an art print. I toy with the idea of getting an Apple laptop that I could do plein air digital painting. It seems awfully silly, I think that’s why I like the idea …

but I will be needing that on site portable printer to compete with the plein air painters.

See Also

• Rainy Halloween Harvest
  availability of art prints
• P-A-P-A Art Page
  Explanation of plein air and its credo