Last from Summer 2007

Face

This art is flat like some of my others from a few years ago. Flat in the sense that the positve images of the face and arm (or what ever the two main shapes are) are on the same plane or level. There is space around them, but the overall effect is of up-front flatness. "Face" has some of the features of my earlier digital art. The swirls and the black outlines and my favorite greenish-gray. The lower part of the "arm" has a stained-glass effect as well.

Well, I have posted most of my past artworks (those that I plan on posting). Time to create some more. Time to check out other paint software such as ArtRage 2. I only hope I can get the pastel action that I love about this software. I suppose I can always create in ArtRage 2 and alter in Disney's Magic Artist Studio.

Space

Space

"Space" is unlike any of my other digital works from this summer. That strange red platelet with a blunt tale reminds me of a mysterious eye, but it also feels like the Spaceship Enterprise from the Next Generation Star Trek. I like the idea of the very small and the very large of space.

This blog is for one of my night classes, but I have let it become for me by having fun with it. It helps that I have a narrow focus and that I had all of that art sitting around without a home. I feel this in the right way to show digital work. I will defiantly keep this blog going after the class. By the way, the very first night that I published to the web, I got one comment. I have never gotten any more. It was a rush to have a stranger find and write about my work.

ArtRage 2

I just spent a bit of time looking at digital art that I found on the ArtRage 2 website. http://www.artrage.com/artrage.html The software is not expensive, so I think I will look into it. I may end up retitling this blog before long. Paint Software is an idea. There is also a You Tube video that showed some of the basic features of the software. I will attempt to embed it.

More 2007 Summer Work

Horse


Pod

These two digital artworks from this past summer seem to go good together. It must be the composition. They both seem to sweep in from the right and cross over to the left. However, "Horse" has more visual heat and is hard to fix in space, while "Pod" is a little cooler in temp and seems to be some kind of object laying on a surface. It must have looked like a pod when I named it. "Horse" doesn't look like a horse to me; it does, however, remind me of a Franz Marc painting of a blue horse. http://www.tamsquare.net/thumbnail/M/Franz-Marc-Blue-Horse-I-.jpg

Last One From 2003?

Night

After saying yesterday that I had posted all of my older digital art works from 2003 that I was going to post, I decided to dig out the CD with all 80 of them and have another look. I found this one, now called "Night." I find that I like this one more than I did a few years ago. It has some of the rich textures and dark hues that I am working with in my recent work. I originally called it "Hut." It doesn't feel like a hut to me any more. It is a bit landscape, bit still life (in the same way that "Potato" is still life).

As far as the date of 2003, I think that this may have been done in 2004. I am not sure. There is a large gap in the years for these artworks because I went back to school in 2004 and started my teaching career. This past summer, I took the Disney's Magic Artist Studio software CD out of the pile it was in and started to play around again.

The Last of the Early Work

Purple Centers


Universe

These are the last couple of 2003 or earlier images that I will most likely post here. These two have richer colors than some of my other 2003 work. The colors are more reminisent of my recent work. (See second entry in Sept 07 for a few examples.) The dark, warm red in both is one of my favorite colors. I should use it more often.

I must me more linear than I thought since I have been putting my work up here in chronological order. Not such a good trait in an artist or a teacher for that matter. I will need to think about this for a while and work on getting out of my comfort zone.

Reverse Feature

Beach


Beach Reverse

At times, I like to use the reverse feature on the pastel tool. As with all of the other tools, if you click on it you will get an alternative effect. The pastel reverses the colors. Most of the digital artworks look strange or the contrasts are off if they are reversed. Occasionally, one will work. I like the way these two from 2003 look together. I like the blurred marker marks contrasting with the sharper-focused pastel and pencil marks in the two pieces. I named them "Beach" because they look like aerial views of a beach with seaweed or huts along the shore and because the upper marker-lines looks like water rolling in.

More 2003 Variations

Head


Peeled

"Head" and "Peeled" are obviously from the same start. One of the things I love about this digital medium is the ability to save and change as you go. I can make many different versions from one core start. "Head" can be seen under "Peeled" except for the light green outlining. Of the two, I prefer "Head." However, I have used the other more often in a variety of applications -- like cards or to dress up websites. I wonder why that is.

Taking An Order

This weekend I showed my digital art to my sister-in-law so she could pick out a few for printing. I had planned on getting a bunch together in a smaller format and sending them in an email, but that was way too much work. Instead, I brought all of my CD's with me to a family gathering and viewed them on our hosts' computer. It was so strange to see all of the files opened, first my current (last summer's work) then my 2002-2003 work. So many stood out as favorites, but more of them stood out as "what was I thinking." They definitely suffered from seeing so many of them all at once. They seemed too bright, too much alike. Next time I show someone my work, I think I will make a limited file of the best ones. They are like children, best experienced in smaller batches.

Black Outlines Phase 2003

Potato


Wrap


Bun

At some point, I discovered the dark (at times black) outlines for my digital Disney's. I created my non-objective artworks by layering with the pencil and pastel features on the software. Near the end I would outline in a dark marker on a fairly wide setting. For a last touch, I partially covered the marker with pastel to soften the look. I am still very fond of "Potato" with its rich yellow, but I think "Wrap" is my favorite from this series. "Bun" has a nice warm glow with the illusion of three-dimensional space. All three of these have one of my favorite colors. The gray/green found on a color bar for quick color selections. (Otherwise, you can select any color from the wheel in any saturation or intensity.)

The swirl section under "Potato" was done with the crayon feature. If you click on any one of the tools, you can get alternative effects. The crayon has a melt feature that is fun. "Protected" from my earlier post has some of swirling in it.

Technical Concerns -- Size and Printing

I am noticing that the more art I put up on this site the longer it takes my old dial-up to load. I need to figure out a way to make the art work smaller without losing the clarity. So far I have been making them around 50 kb and saving as jpegs. It is the "best for the web" setting on my Kodak software. Otherwise, the original artworks are a bit over 1mg each and are bitmaps. They can get very large and still look good printed on a whole sheet of paper. These for the web need to stay small.

As for printing my work, I like to use a matt photo paper since the colors look the most true. I have an old Lexmark ink jet printer that can do the job. I have yet to print any of these with laser. (I am sure they would look better.) It is hard to get the light to come through as they do on the computer screen. It is a saturation problem. Too much ink and the white of the paper will get obliterated. Not good. Think watercolor; it is the same problem.

Transitions

Flower


Reflection


Fish

"Flower" started out as a simple line in dark red made with the marker feature on DMAS. I drew lines around the area and laid down blocks of color with the pencil. Finally, I used the pastel to alter the colors and soften the look. It is a very pale purple and blue artwork with punches of pure hues of red and fuchsia. One of my favorites when I need to make a card for some one's birthday. "Refection" and "Fish" are two different works created in 2003 that have the same base of layered markers. The first one that I did was "Reflection;" it has much of the up-front, flatness that my earlier works have. "Fish" is more outlined. A trend that I developed a little later in my art.

Some History and My First Attempts

Tunnel


Walkies


Dog Heart

I bought the DMAS software shortly after getting my first computer some time around 2002. My daughter had a great time animating Mickey and all of the other Disney stuff that goes with him. I found the paint pallet with the markers, brushes etc. My first attempts are fairly flat compared to the work that I have been doing over the past few years. I think I have been a bit heavy with the pastel feature of late, but back then I mostly used the markers and pencil features. "Tunnel" is one of my first. I also had an early "dog" phase where I plugged in the little Scottie dog found in the marker feature. Other than "Walkies," I am not that found of these any more. Next time, I will bring out one of my old favs, "Flower."