Double Profile

Double


Three

I was just playing with a new abstraction and decided to add my old profile (Two New Lower Profiles, Jan 08) and forward portrait (Forward, Jan 08) from my earlier ArtRages. I like the effect of the background face showing through in "Three." I added some of the golden color from the profiles as a layer in the forward face by using the eye-dropper feature.

Surreal Lips

Pops


Pale


Tissue Box Floral

Here is a series of three, high-key lip ArtRages that I did this evening. My favorite is "Pops." It looks a bit like lollipops on a stage, while the red candy invokes the visual cliche' of rosy cheeks on a face. There is a strange French mine thing going on that I like. The sticks are just lines of the paint tube feature going behind the lips.

"Tissure Box Floral" is my answer to all of the Kleenix tissues that we have been going through this cold season.

Caged - Using Tube of Paint

Caged

"Caged" uses the same half-portrait that two of my earlier ones did (Still On Forward Faces, Feb 08). This one has texture from the tube-of-paint feature (reminds me of a basket). The bluish-green comes from the air gun feature in ArtRage on another layer. I like the textures showing through on the bridge of the nose.

Silly Lips

Dressing Gown

"Dressing Gown" is an ArtRage that I did a while back for fun; however, tonight, I decided to add some lips to it. The effect is comic with a twist. At first, I tried positioning the lips all over the place with differing sizes. It didn't work until I went for "literal" lips. The misplacement in terms of anatomy is strange because the "face" seems so serious even if the lips are out of place.

My love of the show Project Runnway must be coming out.

Lips

Grass Lips


Flounce Lips

Here are a couple of abstracts with black and white lips done with ArtRage. The lips are for a Flash animation that I have been working on for a Media Production class. I used a photo of lips as a 50% transparency with black and white lip shapes underneath. The black upper lip and the whtie lower lip correspond with my earlier portraits.

More Forwards

Neck


Disappear

Here a two ArtRage artworks using the face from "Forward" (Forward, Jan 08). This time I cropped them at the nose. "Neck" is a straight import with only one layer besides the abstract underneath. "Disappear," which I called "Inferno" when I made it tonight, uses the double face technique described in tonight's earlier post. "Neck" feels a little military to me, perhaps because of the darker blue-greens.

Still On Forward Faces

Horizon


Blue Circle

Here are a couple of cropped forward faces using the face of an earlier work (Forward, Jan 08). I get the semi-transparent look by importing the face and making a duplicate. I make the first face semi-transparent so the abstract underlayer shows through, while keeping the duplicate face at 100%. I erase areas of the duplicate so the semi-transparent layer below shows through. I leave the brow and lips alone so they stay black and white. The faces are different colors because of the layer below.

Forward

Forward


Automaton 1


Automaton 2

I wasn't satisfied with the past bunch of faces that I attempted. They needed the jawline, neck, and hint of shoulders. This latest bunch are not there yet, but I am getting closer. They eyes are not looking in the same direction. I think I like that. Not sure yet. On "Forward," I decided to start another face on the same background that I used for the first lower profile piece (Not Sure Which Face, Dec 07).

The two automatons are the same in the faces; the only difference is I transposed the abstract background by flipping it horizontally and vertically. The holes that I erased out of the face layers show different colors behind them. I like the hat effects for these two. Compositionally, I like the second one best.

I need to figure out how to tag these blogs. ArtRage, Paint Software, Digital Art should all go on there.

Two Attempts

Twins


Shades


Ocean Breeze

These two were a bit of a struggle this evening. I tried a three-quarter profile that just wouldn't come together, "Twins." Finally, I tried this face and got a comic effect where the two negative spaces in the light aqua blue areas suggested eyes, "Shades." I think I prefer the original abstract.

Two New Lower Profiles

Shoulder


Breeze

Two more of the ArtRage profiles. I used the profiles from "Lower Face" (Not Sure Which Face, Dec o7) and "Speed Racer" (A Better Speed Racer, Jan 08) as import layers. The profiles all look alike since they are variations of the first lower profile. Can't say for certain, but I think that I am done with this series. I think I will start sketching some other portrait views for a while. If I ever print this series, I may show them with the original abstracts. I enjoyed the cut and paste aspects of these works. The Transform Layer feature on the Edit bar came in handy.

Helmet

Helmet



Black and White


Still working on the lower-profile group of digital artworks. "Helmet" uses the profile I drew for "Rising Moon." I brought it down and used the existing white lines on the abstract background that I had worked on a week or so ago. I get a feeling of a slick motor cyclist from the early days of racing. The white line on the far left looks like a hunched shoulder much like a person on a motor cycle would have.



I am posting the original abstract design along with "Helmet" to show how I changed it to fit with the face.

Profile Three - Rising Moon

Rising Moon

Another profile added to a previous abstract (Downloaded ArtRage 2 - Nov 07). I added the face by using the import to layer feature on the File menu. I then transformed it to make it lower in order to add a bit more nose. I needed to erase out the white from the transfer so the under layer would show through. The pink and black vertical shape looks a bit like a tree trunk with a large face-moon behind it.

A Better Speed Racer

Speed Racer

I wasn't satisfied with the profile on the first "Speed Racer," so I used the same profile from the earlier "Lower Face" (Not Sure Which Face Dec 07) as a template and used it as a layer. The features in the original digital artwork were also on layers, so I made them invisible by clicking off the "eye." I was able to use the same colors by using the eye dropper feature. The Nike chin has been softened, but, overall, I like it better. The speed skater hood is still there; it is more defined now.

Speed Racer

Speed Racer

This one is a profile similar to the one I did a couple of days ago. Or was it yesterday? I have been working on these during the day and again at night so I am off on what day I have done what. This ArtRage piece is a combination of a landscape that I turned upside down and numbered (earlier blog post "Back to Numbers" Dec 07) along with the addition of the profile. The title is a reference to the leotards that speed skaters wear during competitions. I see a Nike symbol on the chin as I write this. I think I will continue combining the landscapes with faces since I like the feeling of outside space that I am starting to get.

Flames Two

Flames Two

I didn't like all of the dark around the face in "Flames," so I decided to rework the background. This is more Rock-a-Billy with the 80's hairdo. I used a comb looking stencil with the purple lifted from the face using the eye dropper feature. The look on this face is more confrontational than the first version's.

Flames With Pallet Knife

Flames

Still doing the illustrative faces thing. This one is very passive, resigned. I didn't try for realistic eyes. One is a spiral and the other is a mass of darks with a light spot rubbed out with the pallet knife. I did the spikes of light with the edge setting on the pallet knife.

Not Sure Which Face

Lower Face


Lower Face Alt.

I am not sure which of these two I like better. I like the strong black of the second for abstract reasons, but the first may be more unified in terms of the illustration of the face. The red of the negative space seems to cut into the throat in the first one. I smoothed it out in the second and like it better.

Another Face

Cartoon 2

Here is another try at a face. I like the lower lip area. The pallet knife is hard to control; I like the way it randomly slices the colors.

Cartoon

Cartoon

This one started out as one of my smeary landscapes and started to look a bit like a face. A few black and white lines with a bit of pallet knife later ... and it turned into a cartoon face.

Pallet Knife Feature

Jagged

This one has the altered pallet knife feature that makes it look sharp and pointy. The yellow is on a top layer where I erased out a bit of the blues and darks. I made a stencil out of the top layer, but it didn't work out. It is a cool feature that I hope to use soon.

Back to Numbers

4567

Had some fun slapping some pseudo paint around tonight. The red should look good with my blog format color.

Size of JPEG

Pink Bird


Pink Bird

Same birds, different jpeg sizes. I am trying to get the right size for these ArtRage images. They save larger in pixel size but not in kbs compared to the Disney's. Strange. I saved the second one as a smaller size, however, it ended up with a few more kbs.

Just tried the "click on the image" and found the second to work better.

More Stencil Fun

3456

Made the numbers small this time by blowing up the image on the screen. It is a strange program that doesn't change the size of the stencil. I am not sure if the number system on these latest works have meaning yet. I like numbers in a row. The numbers 1234 and 234 are sometimes the time I go to bed and notice the numbers on the clock --12:34 and 2:34. Otherwise, these number pieces seem to be landscapes until I add the numbers. The numbers label and take away some of the landscape feel.

(Later Note -- I have found that the stencil size can be changed with a right click and a diagonal drag.)

2345

2345

I figured out a few things on ArtRage tonight. I can make the stencils larger or smaller by using the zoom. In "2345" I made the numbers larger by using the magnifying glass feature to make the image smaller on the screen. I was also able to go off the edges, a problem I have had in earlier works when the curser would run up against the screen and follow the edge rather than keep going.

December Final

I posted this YouTube video because I needed to embed one for a test in my teaching with technology class. My friend LeeAnn thought it was funny, so I am leaving it here.


YouTube Video

Finished a Painting

1234

Just wanted to see what more than one post per day would look like. I just finished this one before going to bed.

Blurring Metallic feature on ArtRage 2

Face

Face 2

Started this piece with a dark blue metallic line. I then used the pallet knife to smear it around. It looked a bit like a face, hence, the hair. My daughter says it looks like a porcupine. I find the face to be soft and non-threatening with the light background, and the second face is more intense and a tad angry. The faces are the same; the backgrounds are the only difference.

I need to get around to changing the name of this blog. I need to get art onto my my website while I am at it.

I did this Christmas card image a few days ago. It has many layers. Happy Holidays.

Square on ArtRage 2

Square

I have been playing around with the pallet knife over the spray gun. It makes it look dry. A very different effect from the pallet knife over the oil paint. The white haze effect came from the eraser at its largest setting.

A bit of a Christmas feel to this one. The reds in the center are like a rich, velvet throw. This one is all about textures.

New ArtRage 2 Digital Art

Before Spotted Pony


Spotted Pony

Here are a couple of my digital works from last night. I am still getting the kinks out of working with ArtRage, but I am having fun. These two are less decorative than many of my DMAS works --less about color harmony and becoming more about content. I don't really know where my digital art is going, but I plan to do what feels right. It has been some time since I thought about content intellectually. Teaching has been on the front burner for the last few years. However, there are usually two burners on the front of a stove, sometimes more.