Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Influence Map

I wanted to highlight and discuss some of the artists that have inspired and influenced my from the very beginning to the present. I wanted to draw a map of the flow of influences I have encountered thru time. The map may or may not be the best way to present things - but it makes a good metaphor.

Along with the map I wanted to point out some of the reasons why these artists have been standouts and or the converse - why other artists have not stood out in comparison.

In my career and pre-career there have been certain points where I became very aware of some artists and very interested in doing what they did. Before that, I had a nonspecific art vocabulary that was not meant to look like any particular artists - but was meant to live in the same world as the art I knew around me. Comic book and comic strip art mostly.

There was a time when I was more a consumer and imitator of art than I am now. The same art that I desperately wanted more of when I was starting out has become - while still interesting in an abstract way - less interesting! I am now driven by a different craving. Harder to define... I want something and at this point I know what it isn't. It isn't more of the things I knew and loved. As I find it - I will try to link to it (if on the web) and shine the same light on it that I will try to shine on the influences I will be showing here. I want to live whatever it is I am craving. Make art that speaks to the craving. Says what I want to see (said)...

 

 

Monday, September 26, 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

IF: mesmerizing

The green is already turning. Looking up thru the leaves could eat up hours... The way the light comes thru the leaves and the way they move if a little breeze blows them...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

IF: boundaries

Experimenting within the boundaries of the tool.
An old experiment with Artrage.
Artrage is a natural media emulator. Simple and focused.
Artrage is a lot of fun, but I don't use it often. I am not sure why.
Digital illustration can be tricky. Studio Artist (my favorite digital art toy) is a wonderful tool with powerful features... But it is very hard to maintain a "look", style or process in SA - the tools being very organic. Artrage, very clean and focused and predictable - isn't what I reach for when I am looking to create an image.
Digital art tools have come a long way since the early 90's when I started to work with them. Each has had amazing strengths and each has some serious limitation that makes using the tool for certain jobs difficult to impossible. The boundaries of the tool become the greatest challenge: Either work within the limits - or look to break the boundary and make the tool do what I would wish it could do... Usually I find myself folding to the limitations... and in frustration - continue to look for my dream tool.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

IF: Mysterious

It's mysterious why nerdy dinosaurs were what came of "mysterious".

Thursday, September 1, 2011

IF: disguise

Undisguised pride - my daughter turned eleven a short while ago.
Healthy, happy, bright and beautiful!

We do have bunnies in our back and front yard. They are not so well fed looking. They don't get cake. We call them children of "Skinny", a rabbit that was eating my grass a year or so back - but never looked well fed. They are all "skinnys"!