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seeing for the first time

Rooted Tree - digital art - finger painting - rendering from memory impression - Dan Beck 2008

There are trees like this at one of the places I frequent with my exercise craving dog - it took me a while to notice them.

But like with most things - once one finally sees something - one starts to see the same thing more frequently. Even though I am an artist and probably more observant than most, I am keenly aware of how much of life I miss, until I become finally aware.

Perception, attention, and understanding are all fascinating subjects - I paint from an impression - a memory - quite frequently - knowing that my understanding plays an even bigger role in what I project when painting.

The intention here is not fantasy, but fun and freedom to portray the essential double rooted nature of these trees on the hillside - blasting with my own color but attempting to convey

the beauty and oddness that strikes me and makes me smile when I see them.

See Also

• Composite Nature: A Conversation with Stan Brakhage - an image search result for double rooted nature - found the work rather interesting
• Celebrated Poets - another interesting search result - the top poem seems to even relate
• Digital Art - a look at the wide definitions and usage for the digital art term - and what it means at Outhouse Studios

new format brings on different vision

digital art (painting) - 2 Much 2 Control - Dan Beck 2008

I have started work on a new project - which has lead to a new sized template and as a result a more fluid and playful way of creating. Not totally sure where the idea came from - but that is the nature of ideas - if one lets the mind wander and don’t rule things out before you even think about them - you find something even better as you progress.

On the path, one is always trying to take things to the next level - always striving for a new twist. My desire for a new template was one thing - but the resulting play and at least the look of this piece is a bit different and a nice side benefit.

The tree concept is just about as old as I am - one of the first things I ever committed successfully to paper - I find myself painting often when I am playing - and taking walks to give my dog the running exercise he needs has made me notice some incredible trees.

The solidness of the foreground tree - is about how we focus our attention - but also something that worked most successfully in a recently shown piece. The title is both about attitude towards world these days and the nature of trying to paint on an old computer with a template that is a bit too big for its memory. I used two different computers to create this piece because the old one - just couldn’t compute.

See Also

• Digital Art - just proving that the multiple meanings of language are also a bit too much to control
• Frozen PB&J - not particularly related - but part of that creating solutions to problems which don’t really exist - and a fun result for “just couldn’t compute”

images of significance - digital painting references development

Treework - digital painting - Dan Beck circa 1999

Earlier I wrote that I try to strike the balance between create and created, artist and audience.

Earlier I had written a complete article about the significance of trees for me - pointing out how there were three in the art-chives where the above digital painting is housed on my site … about how trees were so significant because they were one of the first things I could draw which looked representative of what it was and also be interesting.

I also wrote about family trees and branching out and having established roots - how trees are such a fine metaphor… and even the Wizard of Oz - where trees talk and pitch - wonderful.

A tree was also the image for the CD cover of my previous album: About Time - showing the concept and passing of time in an image itself.

But that was earlier - and that entire article was lost - and that is also part of being creative - making the best of bad circumstances -

earlier I might have even agreed with that.

See Also

• Treework
  availability of art prints for above digital painting
• Textured Tree
  another tree - first with texture - please click “enlarge” to see adequately
• Tree Rings Record Annual Growth
  Mostly things we all know - but some perhaps not - pretty amazing nevertheless