I have to admit that I have always found representational art boring, except when the things represented are aircraft, or automobiles. Back in 1972 I got in the habit of sketching, doing imaginative renderings in pen and ink and charcoal. I did get books on figure drawing and art anatomy and practiced representational drawing as a kind of discipline, but the objective was more control, so I could break rules with an objective. And then after doing this for a time and building a portfolio I let it all go dormant because I didn't have the time or inclination anymore and the stuff I did deteriorated so badly it had to be thrown away.
Digital photography and programs like Photoshop gave me a thought: why not try working in traditional media and use that as a starting point for digital manipulation? One thing I wanted to do, is transform small, rapid, sketches into big renderings. When I retired, I thought I'd give this a try.
Here's a sample of some of the little sketches, done rapidly and then magnified. I've had to reduce file sizes on all of this stuff in order to post it here.
I tried adding some color.
Back in 1972 I really liked surrealists and expressionists. Max Ernst blew me away.
Some more sketches using surrealist methods:
Surrealists used techniques that generated a lot of accidental picture elements, and Photoshop did the same. I saw nothing wrong with that.
I was handicapped by the primitive digital cameras of that time. I had to use software to enlarge files so they could print at poster sizes but a lot of sharpness got lost.
I don't have the original mixed media forms of any of this. After I photographed things I tossed them. I've been kind of thinking about trying this again, since the cameras are much better and I don't have to drive anywhere. I can work on this in the garage. Problem is, I don't feel very creative anymore. I can't reach into my psyche and find stuff the way I used to, and I don't know how I could get that back. I think I've been living a very conventional life for too long. I don't "see" things the way I used to.
I'll continue with this old stuff next time.
Digital photography and programs like Photoshop gave me a thought: why not try working in traditional media and use that as a starting point for digital manipulation? One thing I wanted to do, is transform small, rapid, sketches into big renderings. When I retired, I thought I'd give this a try.
I tried adding some color.
Some more sketches using surrealist methods:
I was handicapped by the primitive digital cameras of that time. I had to use software to enlarge files so they could print at poster sizes but a lot of sharpness got lost.
I don't have the original mixed media forms of any of this. After I photographed things I tossed them. I've been kind of thinking about trying this again, since the cameras are much better and I don't have to drive anywhere. I can work on this in the garage. Problem is, I don't feel very creative anymore. I can't reach into my psyche and find stuff the way I used to, and I don't know how I could get that back. I think I've been living a very conventional life for too long. I don't "see" things the way I used to.
I'll continue with this old stuff next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment