What If --- a visit with Art-Traditional and Digital

If is such a little word isn't it?  But oh my goodness it can mean so much.   What if Christopher Columbus turned the wrong way and not "discovered" America in 1492?   So many what ifs can change so many things. 

I have had on my mind for a while about traditional and digital art.  I even woke up the other night thinking about it and how it would have turned out in the art world.  Now the funny part is me waking up in the middle of the night.  That usually doesn't happen at all with me.  I am asleep for the duration !!!!! 

Now bear with me with this one.  Picture this----- what IF a four some of artists from the 1500's and the late 1800's got together with a glass of Iced Tea,   remember I am from the south so iced tea is the  drink I want them to have.     The artists just chatting art the way artists of all kinds do.   Now I am talking some big wigs here.    Leonardo Da Vinci, way ahead of his time and for my story I am going to call him Leo,  Michelangelo, the artist not  Michael the Angel,  Mary Cassatt and Claude Monet were the artists that I dreamed about.  Might as well have big wigs in my dreams.  Right?   They probably would be talking the media they liked the best and then what about that new fangled Photography?  Oh my goodness would that not just ruin a traditional artist?  I mean why even draw, paint or anything with that around?

Then Leo said in his knowledgeable statement,   well what about DIGITAL ART?  Well heads whipped around and everyone nearly dropped their glass of iced tea and said WHAT are you talking about?  Remember Leo was always way ahead of his time here.   After going to the exhibit in Vegas last year man was that ever an eye-opener of his genius abilities.   Mary C. and Claude M. and the big boy Michelangelo couldn't image what in the world he was talking about.   Now remember this was in my dream .    So I stepped in and said may I say something about all of this and including Digital Art?    Leo just smiled and said yes Annette please enlighten my fellow colleagues.     Remember this is my dream and I do have some doozies sometime.  Lots of action and goings on but this one was a calm one. 

So here goes my friends my take on DIGITAL ART and Traditional art.   I feel like DIGITAL ART WILL NOT  take the place of traditional art.   But they can go hand in hand like the new fangled photography of years ago and traditional art.  I call it traditional art  for no other reason than it sounds good to me, a brush, pencil, pen or what have you to create art--a devise or tool.   Like a computer and a Wacom tablet.  A devise or tool.   There is even a Facebook place for the Digital art and I do feel like if you are going to do digital art  tout it for what it is.   Don't say I painted this and try to pass off as traditional art.   Be proud of what you do even if it a piece of charcoal on the sidewalk.   Don't hide it, I don't think Leo would have hidden it.  He would have jumped in there and ran with it.  Be proud that you are a part of the Corel Painting world and the Wacom tablets.    

There are some 21st century artists I have run across that are wonderful artists and the new fangled digital artists.  They are a few of whom I have been influenced by in the digi world.

  Helen Yancy is the first one I came across at a photography convention in Mississippi.   She was up on stage and in her soft voice went thru the whole process of  Corel Painter and how you can achieve photograph and painting together.   Not just the smearing of some pixels but true painting of a photograph.    Stroke by stroke and she has such a soft palette.  So I, of course bought here CD ( then were CD's) and went home with some new ammo to add to my photography business.  Later I will tell more about Corel Painter.

 

This was one of my first Digital paintings.   It is photographed based and a photograph I took of one of my clients daughters.  I cannot remember what I did to the painting,  it was to long ago.   Funny we had this porch built on the back of our garage and some people thought it was the porch to our studio.    Nope just a big prop.   Anyway this is a digital painting.   It is very pretty, soft and I think Leo would have liked it.  I know the parents did.

 

Now I do want to show you a couple of my traditional paintings done with  Soft Pastels.   I do know how to paint traditionally also.  

 

 

A tad blurry, one morning it has sort of snowed and I ran out and snapped this it was across the street.  I had on my robe and Eldon's house shoes, a neighbor one never said a word what I was doing.  I did use the photos as a reference but just pure charcoal drawing and pastel painting.  

 

  The next Digital artist I ran upon in my quest is Marilyn Sholin.  Beautiful vivid colors and of course I have her Cd's and DVD's..  She left a wonderful impression on me and she is teaching and guiding so many artists in Painter and teaching about  enhancing the art with Golden acrylics.    She encouraged to use your own colors and make the paintings yours.

Karen Bonaker is the next artist that has taught me a ton about Painter and has  a "school" that teaches so much about Painter.   I took many of her classes, some wanted to know why.  I wanted to know the program in and out to see how and why it all clicks and what it can do.   She has a wonderful way of teaching and you just can't get enough of any of these teacher/artists. 

Jeremy Sutton, was the last artist that I have DVD's of and loved his accent of course when I talked to him.  He has another way of the digital painting.  He is outstanding in his field of art of several medias and can draw like crazy. 

Jim Cunningham came to Lubbock Texas one year and gave a two day workshop.   He was so kind and patient with all the "class' interruptions.   I so enjoyed the teachings of this patient young man.    

I just want to say if you are going to do Digital Art jump in with both feet but learn what you are doing correctly.  There are more out there in cyber world that teach Tim Shelbourne and Skip Allen  are a couple I can think of off hand but you are an artist and I know would want to learn the program and techniques.   Not just the smearing of pixels.  Sorry a pet peave of mine.     Take the time to learn the program you will be so glad you did.  I promise. 

 

These are two digi paintings on canvas that I painted from my own photographs.  

 

Now how in the world do you do this you may ask.    Corel Painter is an awesome program.  You have many brushes and media to choose from , different papers and I could go on and on of what it entails but you will love playing and learning on it.  A Wacom tablet is a must.  The tablet that hooks into your computer and you use a pen that comes with it and just draw and create to your little hearts content.     You can use your photograph as a base and play on it with the colors and techniques or start from scratch and create your art.  Adding your own colors is part of the artistic touches and as Marilyn Sholin teaches enhances with acrylics.  Makes it even more fun.  Your choice you are the creator of art here.   There is a magazine, I use to get called  Corel Painter and was a wonderful magazine.  A friend Cat Bounds did articles in it and you could understand it perfectly.  People language not geek, sorry, language.   Thank goodness I kept all the issues.   They changed it   Digital Artist  is the name and I quit taking it but some may love it.   Anything you can get to help you understand the program.   But please if you do digi painting s own up to it, tout it.  I think Leo would have, nothing to be ashamed of at all.

 

Now some of you know I have been painting faeries and all traditional with pastels and Twinkling H2O's.  Just another media.   I will do more on that later but I wanted to give Digital Art it's own little section of my world.   

 

Why did I start doing digi art?  Another media to learn and while in my 24 years of professional photography I thought the two medias-photography and digi art  went hand in hand.   I do love my film though, expose it correctly, compose it in the camera and you were good to go.  No color correcting and hours at the computer and now I sound like Mary C., Claude M, Michael and Leo.   Well not Leo he was heads above us all.  LOL not that I am in the same category as those guys but you get the picture. 

 

And you get to meet a lot of wonderful people.   

 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.  Well my dream on this one. 

 

xoxoxoxo

Annette