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Digitally Enhanced Photography, Computer Paintings,
Virtual Visions Art, Virtual Art..
What the heck is it I do? |
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Beyond the
Photographic Image |
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The computer is a
new palette for an artist in the twenty-first century. And
like the "traditional" artist, you blend its paints and
tools to create works that are uniquely your own. I create
my art with the help of a computer, but they are not
computer generated! A computer is a tool only. It generates
nothing unless someone tells it what to do and how to do it.
My artistic process is very much the same as for making any
other kind of painting. I choose tools, paints, paper,
canvas, etc. I start with an idea (in my case, a photograph)
and then begin painting. In some cases I do alterations
learned in my darkroom days, such as solarizations, as part
of my palette. Sometime, rarely, I even do nothing if it
seems it would be happiest living out its life as a
photograph.
I can tell the computer that my "brush" is to behave like a
piece of chalk, or a pen, or a wet brush. I can choose the
shape of the brush, how wet or gooey the 'paint' is, whether
the canvas is bumpy or smooth... whatever my inspiration
leads me to at the moment.
Starting with a photo, either one from a traditional camera
where the negative is scanned into the computer, or from my
professional digital camera, I then paint, manipulate,
change, add to or subtract from the image within the
computer. My goal is not to necessarily to make an honest
rendition of a subject matter, but rather an interpretation
of it. I freely add or subtract to and from my works.
My process can take anywhere from a few hours of computer
time to, in a few cases, up to ten or twelve hours before I
am satisfied with a work, and this, of course, does not take
into account the time spent getting the photographic image
to begin with. Sometimes it's done at one sitting; sometimes
it can take weeks of thought before I am ready to call it
complete. But it is all meaningless without the proper
photograph to begin with. That may seem obvious, but the
point is not to make a computer painting or other effect
because I can, but to hopefully create a work of art.
Just as other artists frequently use photography to help
create their art, I use the computer to extend my
photographic vision and interpretation of the world
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