Eating Dinner Together, Pencil & Crayon, November 2008
(Okay, this one isn't digital, But I like it a lot.)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Creativity Quote
Redraw, Photograph, October 2008The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.
- Anthony Jay (I have no idea who Anthony Jay is though.)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
inspiration or not...
I try to do pieces in any mood I'm in. Time permits that when we run out of time we can no longer work, ie... we are dead. So, if you have time to work and the impulse to do so, work! don't think about it beyond that unless you have to. If it takes pasting porn next to your easel or drawing board to get you going... do it.
Basically I say do whatever it takes to get you moving paint, ink or whatever medium you feel desirable. Even just choosing a medium can inspire me. A new sheet of paper... A new dimension of a page... oooo a really tall or really wide piece, etc... I try new stuff for the sake of trying it. Since I also work digitally, a new software package... especially a cheap or free one.
Sometimes I look at photos for hours then draw.... no purpose... just inspiration or feeding the mind with colors, shapes, compositions, etc...
But I don't wait for "inspiration" I collect piles and boxes of that in my head. More inspiration than time in a day. If you're not inspired by your world, your not looking close enough, or are looking to close... and then look again in the middle... squint more, close one eye, wear colored sunglasses, a box with a hole it. :-) you get the idea... I hope.
One more BIG thing... avoid negative people... they will suck any inspiration you may have. They will also squash ideas... I call them "dream crushers". Critics are one thing. But DCs are like a virus to the mind and soul. avoid them. This goes for family too! They can be the worse ones... with good intentions... but they can be viruses to your creativity!
play, have fun, work...
Basically I say do whatever it takes to get you moving paint, ink or whatever medium you feel desirable. Even just choosing a medium can inspire me. A new sheet of paper... A new dimension of a page... oooo a really tall or really wide piece, etc... I try new stuff for the sake of trying it. Since I also work digitally, a new software package... especially a cheap or free one.
Sometimes I look at photos for hours then draw.... no purpose... just inspiration or feeding the mind with colors, shapes, compositions, etc...
But I don't wait for "inspiration" I collect piles and boxes of that in my head. More inspiration than time in a day. If you're not inspired by your world, your not looking close enough, or are looking to close... and then look again in the middle... squint more, close one eye, wear colored sunglasses, a box with a hole it. :-) you get the idea... I hope.
One more BIG thing... avoid negative people... they will suck any inspiration you may have. They will also squash ideas... I call them "dream crushers". Critics are one thing. But DCs are like a virus to the mind and soul. avoid them. This goes for family too! They can be the worse ones... with good intentions... but they can be viruses to your creativity!
play, have fun, work...
Opinions on Art
Opinions? We all have them, just like we all have an... well... we all have them.
For me, art is the fundamental in social communications. Just like a verbal language, all cultures need developing arts to continue to learn, communicate and survive. All the arts!
I can't imagine living in any society without art. It's the language we can learn or redesign. Art is the place where we discover what we don't know and yet it still is able to remind of what we do know.
Art is more than mere craftsmanship and utility. And yet it can still be simply that. Art isn't always spirtual nor does it have to be. But it can be everything we embody as a humans, spirtually and non spiritually.
Art is the unspeakable made speakable.
The definition of art is an art. For every person with a definition there is a form of art hidden. The contemporary definition of art is a paradox. Age old traditions of art have many people entranced in what WAS defined as art.
The true role of an artist is to define what is art not now, but 100 years from now. Go back 100 years and look at the big names that represent their times and they were hated, scoffed at and ridiculed! Why would today be different.
What I've found most often while talking to them about "art" and what their opinions are or are not is that the ones that don't get it don't really understand it. They don't understand the background of the artist or the pieces they produce. So to me they don't know the language and often have no interest in really learning the language.
But... many people don't understand the language of music, an abstract art, and they still can enjoy it. Modern composition has the same problems in the general public not understanding or caring to understand thier form of art. What it really comes down to is one word, esthetics.
"Of or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste"
Once a participant of art gets past all art is pretty and pleasing, they get it. Once someone has seen the light through a dirty lense the world has greater measure. After all, all those mountain scenes, just big dirty rocks in wonderful light. No? Not everyone likes the mountains. Nor does everyone love the beach?
I once said "I rather paint a land fill than a landscape. It's more interesting."
For me, art is the fundamental in social communications. Just like a verbal language, all cultures need developing arts to continue to learn, communicate and survive. All the arts!
I can't imagine living in any society without art. It's the language we can learn or redesign. Art is the place where we discover what we don't know and yet it still is able to remind of what we do know.
Art is more than mere craftsmanship and utility. And yet it can still be simply that. Art isn't always spirtual nor does it have to be. But it can be everything we embody as a humans, spirtually and non spiritually.
Art is the unspeakable made speakable.
The definition of art is an art. For every person with a definition there is a form of art hidden. The contemporary definition of art is a paradox. Age old traditions of art have many people entranced in what WAS defined as art.
The true role of an artist is to define what is art not now, but 100 years from now. Go back 100 years and look at the big names that represent their times and they were hated, scoffed at and ridiculed! Why would today be different.
What I've found most often while talking to them about "art" and what their opinions are or are not is that the ones that don't get it don't really understand it. They don't understand the background of the artist or the pieces they produce. So to me they don't know the language and often have no interest in really learning the language.
But... many people don't understand the language of music, an abstract art, and they still can enjoy it. Modern composition has the same problems in the general public not understanding or caring to understand thier form of art. What it really comes down to is one word, esthetics.
"Of or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste"
Once a participant of art gets past all art is pretty and pleasing, they get it. Once someone has seen the light through a dirty lense the world has greater measure. After all, all those mountain scenes, just big dirty rocks in wonderful light. No? Not everyone likes the mountains. Nor does everyone love the beach?
I once said "I rather paint a land fill than a landscape. It's more interesting."
ART0101?
In my opinion, unless you beat me over the head with your art, literally, there is no such thing as bad art. Just as there is no such thing as bad sex, unless you're beating me over the head with a 2x4 while in the act.
The traditions and theories you may have learned in ART0101 or art appreciation are not for contemporary art or artists. Those theories and traditions are LONG GONE! Accept that and you just might have a carreer in "contemporary" art.
The traditions and theories you may have learned in ART0101 or art appreciation are not for contemporary art or artists. Those theories and traditions are LONG GONE! Accept that and you just might have a carreer in "contemporary" art.
The Future of Art
The future never just happened. It was created.
—Will and Ariel Durant
Instead of looking in the past, look into the future. What will art be in 100 years? Who will it be that future generation will be learning about of today?
—Will and Ariel Durant
Instead of looking in the past, look into the future. What will art be in 100 years? Who will it be that future generation will be learning about of today?
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Bird in a Bush
Bird in a Bush, Abstract Digital Painting, 1536 x 2304, October 2008
I think this piece would make a great piece to translate into real world art. I'm thinking thick sheets of white paper cut to the shapes then loosely painted would work well here. I've done other pieces similar that look like layers of board raised over each other. I was almost stuck for a title for this one... then I saw the bird hiding in the bushes.
The sky line was an obvious interpretation and the green field. This piece was based on a over blurred photo of a rusty door with a deteriating building number. Blurring it all out simplifies the color fields and then I simplified it more with a "cut out" filter. Then I choose a color palette and make selections and swap colors to get the fundamental colors.
From there I take it into Painter and brush it all in with a natural feeling brush, normally I use the artist brush called "sargent Brush" which I have also modified to give an empasto texture and a little more jitter. After it's all painted in with texture I add a surface texture of a subtle paper. I think after that I pushed the texture a bit more with image luminance, and a little softening to smooth out some sharp sparkles. As usual, this piece was not planned. There is another version that I like too. But in the end I liked this one more. Below is version 2.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Is it Art if it sells?
You and your art will always be judged!
The reality is our art, God willing, will out survive us. If we're even more lucky it will out live our offspring.
With that said, our art and ourselves will be judged on the work, not the sale of the work.
Many artists will waste too much of life worrying about acceptance with concerns of selling out or not
.
We all need to make a living and pay our bills. And the history books are filled with tons of people that are highly respected for their works and left a constant trail of financial troubles and bancruptcies.
If you can sell your art, do it. Sell them what they want. But save some energy in your day to make art that you know to be a master piece. In the end our days are numbered... protect your craft for when you are gone. Leave the message the mere mortal have yet figure out.
The reality is our art, God willing, will out survive us. If we're even more lucky it will out live our offspring.
With that said, our art and ourselves will be judged on the work, not the sale of the work.
Many artists will waste too much of life worrying about acceptance with concerns of selling out or not
.
We all need to make a living and pay our bills. And the history books are filled with tons of people that are highly respected for their works and left a constant trail of financial troubles and bancruptcies.
If you can sell your art, do it. Sell them what they want. But save some energy in your day to make art that you know to be a master piece. In the end our days are numbered... protect your craft for when you are gone. Leave the message the mere mortal have yet figure out.
Abstract Art - My Explanation - MHO
Abstracts can be based on real things... many are. But abstract pieces most often do not related to reality in obvious ways.
As far as having a good shot at being a good piece in most viewers eyes an abstract piece needs all the same good qualities as any non-abstract piece does; form, color, texture, composition and anything else that makes it work. That's not to say it will always be successful or appreciated.
Two key words I use are subjective vs objective.
The best way I can guide you in what I personally see as a good abstract piece is reverse the learning process of drawing objects.
Here's an example using a sentence.
Use less to describe more.
U L T D M
UL2DM
U2M
u2m
Also don't confuse abstract expressionism with a pure abstract.
Abstract expressionism, from my point of view, is where symbols and recognizable objects start to appear without much interpretation needed. I see it as an evolution from abstract or a retraction from objectivism or even realism.
So in my opinion if I was to do a huge painting of great interest of a number "2", personally I think it's not abstract. But that doesn't mean it can't be a good piece.
Of course this is all my opinion based on looking at a lot of art and reading and listening to a lot of other people's opinions. I do the pieces I do because they come naturally to me. I've always been a fan of abstract and expressionism, before I knew they had a name for it.
There are a lot of people out there that think a lot of negative things about abstract art and the artists that create it. Luckily for me I never did care what people thought about my pieces. But I was still curious about what I did and I'm always surprised to find people doing work that is similar to mine or mine being similar to theirs depending on how you look at it.
Here's something that just came to mind how to describe abstract art. Abstract art is an interesting blob on the canvas, expressionism is an emotional blob on the canvas, and a objectivism is a painting of a specific blob on a canvas.
I have a 19 month old little girl. Let me tell you... if want to see real abstract art, look at kids drawing before they learn how to draw objects. It's all about color shapes and textures. And let me tell you they do see color value too. But adults will always be looking for objects in all the scribbles and scratches!
I love this subject and could go on and on. So if you or anyone else would like to discuss it more I'm always game.
jaems 1964
PS
Just got this off Wikipedia... thought it summed up abstract art fairly well.
"Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which exists independently of visual references to the world. "
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Abstract_art
As far as having a good shot at being a good piece in most viewers eyes an abstract piece needs all the same good qualities as any non-abstract piece does; form, color, texture, composition and anything else that makes it work. That's not to say it will always be successful or appreciated.
Two key words I use are subjective vs objective.
The best way I can guide you in what I personally see as a good abstract piece is reverse the learning process of drawing objects.
Here's an example using a sentence.
Use less to describe more.
U L T D M
UL2DM
U2M
u2m
Also don't confuse abstract expressionism with a pure abstract.
Abstract expressionism, from my point of view, is where symbols and recognizable objects start to appear without much interpretation needed. I see it as an evolution from abstract or a retraction from objectivism or even realism.
So in my opinion if I was to do a huge painting of great interest of a number "2", personally I think it's not abstract. But that doesn't mean it can't be a good piece.
Of course this is all my opinion based on looking at a lot of art and reading and listening to a lot of other people's opinions. I do the pieces I do because they come naturally to me. I've always been a fan of abstract and expressionism, before I knew they had a name for it.
There are a lot of people out there that think a lot of negative things about abstract art and the artists that create it. Luckily for me I never did care what people thought about my pieces. But I was still curious about what I did and I'm always surprised to find people doing work that is similar to mine or mine being similar to theirs depending on how you look at it.
Here's something that just came to mind how to describe abstract art. Abstract art is an interesting blob on the canvas, expressionism is an emotional blob on the canvas, and a objectivism is a painting of a specific blob on a canvas.
I have a 19 month old little girl. Let me tell you... if want to see real abstract art, look at kids drawing before they learn how to draw objects. It's all about color shapes and textures. And let me tell you they do see color value too. But adults will always be looking for objects in all the scribbles and scratches!
I love this subject and could go on and on. So if you or anyone else would like to discuss it more I'm always game.
jaems 1964
PS
Just got this off Wikipedia... thought it summed up abstract art fairly well.
"Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which exists independently of visual references to the world. "
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Abstract_art
Random Abstract No. 11b
Digital Abstract No. 11b, 2700 x 1350, No 11 of an unfinished Random Digital Abstract Series, 2008
Random Abstract Series
Random Digital Abstract No. 7, 800 x 360, 2008
One of a series of pieces composed with random selections. My process will be posted later.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
On The Edge
On The Edge, 2008
3 of 3 digital pieces I did after a long frustrating day and a refresher course on Basquiat.
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