What's New

fresh ideas - part of original art concept - time tells

Morning Light - digital painting - original prints - Dan Beck 2005

Did my quick image roulette thing and found this work of original representation and original art.

The slabs of concrete looking things are to represent the unsightly mall in between my view and the mountains. I frequently, like a many artist, have selective vision … and here again I did as well - choosing this representation.

At the time, I liked it conceptually - thought it kind of fun - but never did more - an indicator in itself.

Love the clouds and sky - the mountains are cool - but it never made it into my real favorites - nevertheless, it is original on many levels and documents the creative process and my own progression as an artist.

Original Prints have been made available for this digital painting and all others in the Figures Art Gallery.

See Also

• Figures Art Gallery - view other works of similar time period and similar themes available for purchase
• Selective Vision: The Brain’s Spin Machine Starts Early: Sciam Observations - liked this article because it is so much about the link between perception and understanding
• Photography Composition Articles: The Magic Of Selective Vision - Photo Composition - liked this article as well for its more conventional look at selective vision - but I of course take exception to photography being more difficult than art - better not to go there if one can help it

Bold strokes: Digital painting with fervor

Bold Glimpse - Enlarge - Digital Painting - 2006 - Dan Beck

When I first wrote about this - it was more like a short story or prose - I had fun writing but it was probably more about the writing and the evening than the art itself.

Digital Painting is a lot of fun for me. It didn’t start out that way - it was mostly frustrating - though I laughed a lot thinking - how could anyone ever learn to paint this way.

This particular painting attacks the sky with a fervor - the strokes are bold - intensity to match the evening though obviously beyond literal. The light shining through becomes that much more inviting as a result.

I have always been happy with this painting - it feels like it is something perhaps more unique to me - I left the white gap - because I liked it - swirled because it was fun and generally treated the canvas like I owned it.

I am not always able to paint this freely - particularly when there is a place or feeling I am trying to communicate.

See Also

• Bold Glimpse - art print and purchasing options for this digital painting
• All About Art: How to Hang Loose and Paint Freely - Lynne Taetzsche discusses how she tries to remain free in her work
  
• 10 Tips for Loosening Up - another discussion on how to paint more freely - though I am not an exercise type of person - it is interesting what others recommend

drive by landscape - fields, sky, and texture

Valley Colors - digital painting - Dan Beck 2007

There is a spot which this is loosely based on - I drive by it fairly regularly and it has a good view of the valley extending to the Santa Lucia Mountains and Mount Toro.

Like a lot of my work, it is more of a drive by impression - I saw color, and a few barns or houses, a few trees - but mostly the colors of sky and fields.

This is not a piece which knocked me over when I was finished - I wasn’t really sure about it - but there are many things I like: the short field growth in the front, the way the cloud twists like a ribbon, and the beautiful texture in the green field.

My eyes and mind move around the landscape well - so I guess I did ok.

Like all but a couple of my pieces - I started with a blank page and painted and created the digital painting by the strokes of a mouse.

See Also

• Big Valley 1 - another digital painting taken from an impression of pretty much the same spot

• UC Vegetable Research & Information Center - several good images of Salinas Valley plus some information about agriculture

• From the ground up - an image of the Salinas Valley brought me to this site - good article about small organic growing in the area and the group ALBA