Little Creature

I've been working on this ipad painting for quite some time. I used the Procreate app. The bird is completely worked freehand with the details painted in after a confident contour drawing was rendered. The background was also painted with the final step being to add a slight texture layer. The subject is a female grackle, a very common bird in the Southern US. They are small unique little creatures in their own right.

A New Walk #2

Several of the works shown on the blog were created from photos taken while on a hike through a forest. They are then manipulated in several photo apps and changed towards somewhat somber and mystical images which is what I aim for in my landscape art.
This current painting was created from a photo manipulation such as the described works. To bring the digital image to life it was printed on thin paper and then adhered to a board. I then covered it with acrylic medium and proceeded to paint extra details, bringing out more and pushing back some. In the end the original image had been nearly covered up by the glazed acrylic paint. It becomes another way to depict the sense of place from the landscape, from digital space to physical space.

New Digital Painting

I've been working on this painting for quite some time. The beautiful model is my wife. I used various techniques for the image but the majority was freehand painted with the exception of the texture layer added at the end. Texture tends to deepen the image and add intrigue.

More from a Hike

Here is another photo from my hike this past weekend. The original picture was taken with my iPhone and like the previous entry it has been manipulated and worked in various apps to bring it to an artistic and spiritual interpretation of place.

A Walk in the Forest

This morning I took a hike in the woods. The weather was cool and misty which makes the senses more pronounced than usual. The sounds are clear and hushed, the smells are strong especially the cedar and oak. Everything has a tinge of dampness. If you pay attention you will see a rabbit or two or notice the flash of a deer bolting as you walk. It was a good opportunity to take photos with my iPhone. I enjoy capturing images and then tinkering with them later on the many photo apps I have on my phone. The end product looks similar to the way I would chose to paint a scene. And even though I am using technology to assist in art making I still have a sense of fulfillment from the finished image.

Sunrise

This painting arose from a series of images captured on my drive to work, like much of my recent painting. The landscape is flat with quiet forests in the background. There is usually fog being permeated by the sunrise making for some great interpretive images.

Another Ipad Painting

Here is another Ipad painting, painted with Artrage. Again I really like how this app flows like the real deal. The process of painting is very similar to traditional painting.

These are two versions of Cindy, the top is a digital painting created with Painter12 and the bottom is a traditional oil painting on canvas.

These paintings were created a few years ago and represent the style I was interested at the time. It was my intention to barely represent the landscape in order to accentuate the spiritual and emotional aspects. The landscape provides the perfect metaphor for the inner life of the person. All three are oil on board.

Another Scene on the way to Work

As usual my long drive to work in the morning offers many beautiful scenes for a painting.

Connected Soul

This painting was completed last summer. It took several months of work as it became quite tedious to finish because of the details. I started the project with a pencil sketch that I worked on at my school while not helping students. From there it went to the scanner and into Painter 12 where I filled in the colors and completed my overall design. I sent the file off to be printed on quality watercolor paper. The finished printed image worked out great as far as the colors and line work are concerned.
What inspired this work was the idea of transhumanism, the popular theme in which modern technology and humanity merge. They merge into something wholly different than what we are now. Certainly we have had a technological revolution in recent years with the advent of the smartphone. It has changed and is changing how we live. I myself am a consumer of these products and regularly use them. But are they good for our lives and our future. This question is yet to be answered. But it can be said that information is valuable and controls the destiny of humanity. Whoever controls information and the way we perceive information controls what we as people believe and therefore what we are to become.
In my painting all humanity is stripped from this beautiful woman. All that is left is her head the seat of being; the brain. She is plugged into the grid having all of mental activity monitored and controlled. That wonderful individuality that is part of each one of us is now taken away as all thoughts are part of the public domain. Transhumanists don't believe in a soul. We are merely animals or more precisely machines. Our destiny must transcend, in their view, these weak and corrupt bodies. The philosophy is wholly secular and atheistic. There is no room for God and humanity. They believe we decide our own destiny as humans. The scary aspect to this ideology is that as we all know people are fallible and our grand designs are not necessarily going to bring us to a good place.
In the painting the woman is looking towards the sky; upward, the universal symbol of looking towards something out there, something greater than ourselves. She does have a soul and it cannot be satisfied by the material world regardless of the grand inventions of technology.

Landscape

Imaginary landscape painting created with Painter 12. The scene reminds me of the western US. The lonely desolate landscapes offer opportunities for reflection and separation from everyday life, something healthy for the soul.

Some Previous Paintings

Here are some paintings done a few months ago. One is of my daughter, the other my wife. The third is an abstract painting I created on my iPhone using Artrage.

Lookout

This is a digital painting created with Painter 12 a program I am using more and more as I continue to learn it many facets. It is very in depth but at the same time it can be used in a simple fashion if one chooses.
I wanted to show in this painting the idea of a culture constantly looking for truth, and for answers but never finding them. They look at the wrong things while Truth is always close by. They do not apprehend the Truth because they do not want to believe it. Truth has implications for the way in which we live.

first ipad painting

Hello I am making my first attempt at blogging. I think most of the blog will deal with my art, the paintings and other works I create. I also happen to teach art at the high school level so I will be sharing my students' work from time to time.

As I go along I will become more familiar with the setup and layout of the blog and it should be more attractive to the viewer but this is my first shot at it so please be patient.

Anyhow I have recently purchased an iPad. Mainly it was bought to create art, kind of a mobile digital sketchbook. I have done much art on the iphone and liked the novelty of using such a mobile device and the digital power behind it. But the iphone is limited by its' size. That's where the ipad excels . Its' screen is large enough to truly create stunning art. Here is an example of a painting created in Artrage, a superb app which emulates real art making technique. It was done freehand using a Nomad stylus brush.  Artrage has a tracing function built in but I feel using it cheapens the creative experience. It is possible to create a good work of art that way especially as the forms and shapes are correct but when created freehand those little human mistakes and nuances are introduced into the work. This results in a more interpretive and "realistic" painting. I love the way Artrage follows the process of painting "for real." It feels very much the same as when I am using traditional oils or acrylics. The process is very similar with of course no mess.