Digital Art Originals

 The World of Art and Communication in 2014 is my inspiration for this project. In our ever-evolving, we are always finding new ways to create and communicate. Technological advances in computers, telecommunications, and videography, have made it possible to envision and realize my current works. The idea is to combine as many medias and mediums to create a project in both the real and virtual worlds. This project perfectly matched my skills as both a digital and conventional artist.  The subject matter selected to photograph and paint is also part of the concept of the project. Being a digital artist I create images in the virtual world and then, through a number of different processes, I am able to reproduce them as physical works of art. If modern technology can achieve this commercial art why can’t the same technologies be employed to create a fine art which reflects the real world and the virtual world at every phase of the project.

My subject is people. People interacting and networking, perhaps unconsciously, in public places. My intention is to use art to hold a mirror to social media today as it operates in the virtual world.  Each event would arise from my daily observations.

One of the tools that really sparked the project was my model Zi8 HD video camera.  I was able to shoot HD video and digital photography undetected. Most people think I am holding a phone and act naturally. I observe, record, and shoot; the composition unfolds right in front of me. This part of the process, the interaction, is extremely rewarding. The next step is to process the video and prepare to load it onto YouTube. From the stills I take, either with my cannon 5D or my Zi8, I pick the best image, the image I will then use as an underpainting layer in Photoshop. My 25 years of experience in digital retouching allows me to combine 2 or 3 pictures and move elements to enhance the composition. Once the image is complete I begin to paint over the image on a separate Photoshop layer. The updates to photoshop in CS5 feel as if they were were designed  for this project. The upgrades in the brushes help me achieve fine detail while accentuating the feel of the brushstrokes. I paint over 95% of the photograph, eliminating some elements and adding others, as well as visual effects, to make the painting move around on the screen. My aim is to to lead viewer of the painting on a guided tour through the maze of the subject matter. When I am finished, I run the painting through three or four painting filters, using no more than perhaps 10% of any of them, to enhances the brushstrokes. Lastly, I size and prepare the work for export. Only recently has the technology become readily available for artists to transfer their digital work to canvas in an affordable way.  I prefer large format 30 x 60 inch canvas printed in 100-year archival inks. Once printed, I then paint on top of the canvas with acrylic paints adding detail and highlighting and accenting areas I wish to emphasize. These paintings are my originals. I do plan to produce limited editions of both signed and numbered limited edition 20 x 40 inch canvas prints as well as an unsigned edition, but these prints will not have additional acrylic painting.

At this point, I have 10 finished 30 x 60 inch multi-medium paintings. All along through the process I have been using social media—You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr—to promote the project. My goal is to get a gallery to represent the work, both in the physical and virtual worlds, and also a website dedicated to the show. The show will be a multimedia affair. Monitors will play the the HD video that inspired the paintings and I will create a DVD. Computers will monitor social media responses, perhaps artistic responses, to the show. Photographic prints of images taken during the reference gathering will be in view, and, of course, the 10 30 x 60 originals will be displayed. The various limited edition prints will be available as well. The innovative part of the project is that the promotion and all the work that goes into it—reflecting and refracting our creative times—will be an integral part of the show of the exhibition. 

 Under the Purchase page click on the drop down button “Original Artwork for sale once at the page click on any painting , Its linked to the purchase page for each piece of art at the Computer Art Market