It was years ago. (I think it was probably shortly after suffering my last bearable indignity in high school and I had left for the last time.) It happened that I hadn't been awake until the wee hours of the morning and I was up early enough to be watching The Today Show. They were doing a segment on Milton Glaser and it was, during that short segment, when I decided I wanted to be a graphic artist. More specifically, it was this image that inspired the decision:
The juxtaposition of the natural fluidity of the flowers and the rigid geometry of the grid left me awed. It had never occurred to me before that you could do such a thing! It completely changed the way I thought of art, making me realize that everything wasn't just the same prosaic paintings that hung on my grandmother's walls. Although I've since discovered many other wonderful artists since then, Mr. Glaser seems to be always at the back of my mind and continues be an influence in my work.
It's no secret to anyone who knows me how much I love my Wacom tablet. Since I got it a few months ago, I've quit using the traditional forms of media almost entirely. This brings me to a couple of questions: Is digital artwork valid as art and will it eventually replace art in conventional media? Because I create all my work digitally lately, I never have a physical finished work - nothing you can hold in your hands. Of course, I can always print it out (or have it printed out), but then is it still an original? One generally thinks of a printed image as just that - a print. Even if it's a one off, it's still a print. Although most of the work I've done lately has been more in the realm of design that's meant to be added to the products in my Zazzle store; I have done a few paintings and drawings that I think could easily stand on their own, but they only exist on my hard drive. How does that impact their relevance? Does it impact their relevance?
At this point, the number of artists that use strictly digital media is probably relatively small, but this is the digital age. I suspect more and more artists will begin turning to digital. After all, who can resist the lure of dozens of different pens, brushes, paints and most any other medium you can think of right there at your fingertips? (Not to mention any color you want without having to blend or deal with the hassle of cleaning brushes.) Will art galleries eventually be filled with artists' work who have never so much as touched a real paintbrush or pencil? Maybe. Maybe not.
All I know is that, either way, I will keep happily using my tablet and hope that my computer doesn't crash.
Been struggling all night with an image and just can't make it happen. These are what I've come up with so far. Not thrilled with either. It may not be meant to be. Sigh.
I've done a lot of genealogical research for my family. In the course of doing that research I've been in dozens of cemeteries. The photo that this image came from was taken at one of my very favorite church/cemetery spots. It's an 18th century Lutheran church stuck way back from the beaten path in Wythe County, Virginia, but what actually struck me was the enormous old tree next to the church. It completely dwarfed it. So, I took this shot and it's been sitting in my files until now. In the good old Corel Painter program I did the match palette function with an artist I really like named Dadd. I then used the auto paint function with a fine camel brush. I've added this to several items on Zazzle. I'm just so glad I finally got to do something with the photo of that amazing tree.
Since I seem to be creatively dry at the moment I figured it would be a good time to share the Zazzle store of one of my favorite artists. His work is simply brilliant. The mood he can evoke with just some simple lines and his use of color are genius. And he's a very nice person to boot. I think you might be able to tell - I'm a fan. This is just one example of his beautiful work. There's more at:sword42's Store at Zazzle
The juxtaposition of the natural fluidity of the flowers and the rigid geometry of the grid left me awed. It had never occurred to me before that you could do such a thing! It completely changed the way I thought of art, making me realize that everything wasn't just the same prosaic paintings that hung on my grandmother's walls. Although I've since discovered many other wonderful artists since then, Mr. Glaser seems to be always at the back of my mind and continues be an influence in my work.
