Digital Art 3

Since we we're discussing abstracts yesterday. I thought I'd throw up a few tonight and chat a bit about them and that era in my art adventure.

Lodgio by M Francis McCarthy

These images date from 1996. All of them we're created using my first PC, a 486 with 8 mb of ram. Actually in 1996 my friend David lent me 400 dollars to help me upgrade my machine to a 1 gig hard dive and 16 mb of ram. I owe David a lot and will always remember his kindness.

At the time, that ram upgrade was 300 dollars or so. In those days multitasking like we do now was limited. I was able to play a CD while working in my art programs though which was miraculous at the time.

Kope by M Francis McCarthy

I know, It's a bit of a cliche now but at the time power was a big factor in what you could accomplish on a computer.

We spoke a bit about my digital technique in my last digital art post but the truth is most of this work is not repeatable. When creating abstract art digitally I followed the path of pure inspiration. Though I had some formulas that I would use consistently, the array of options available at every turn meant that no two pieces we're ever the same. 

Muin by M Francis McCarthy

I always strove for organic expression in my digital abstracts. I wanted to develop each image in a natural way even though I was using unnatural means. I seldom would actually draw or paint them in a direct manner, preferring to manipulate digital media in more oblique ways. 

I used all the distortion and blur filters combined with Kai's power tools like vortex distort. However, I do not like anything canned looking and seldom would I leave anything but a faint trace of a filter used. I've more digital pieces that have never been aired and I'm sure we'll revisit this topic in a future post.

Landscape Painting - Abstraction

I like abstract art. Not all of it, but a painting being abstract or not is not the thing that makes it good or bad in my view. I always look for a strong pattern of light, shadow and contrasts in all art.

It would be reasonable to ask why I do not paint abstracts now. I certainly have before in the digital realm. a place of strong contrasts and experimentation. 

However abstract art for me these days is more limiting. I know it would seem to be the opposite but abstract art for me too closely reflects my inner reality. Without an outside idea or aspect to work against or toward I feel my art gets stale.

Coming Storm (8x12) by M Francis McCarthy

That said I believe all art to be essentially abstract in nature. You really notice this in primitive art and cave paintings but abstraction is present in even the most photo realistic art. I like to hang my landscapes on a strong abstract foundation.

Twilight Cypress (sketch) by M Francis McCarthy

Here's the sketch for Twilight Cypress. There are slashes of strokes in the sky and I've defined the shape of the tree with strong graphic edges that reinforce my composition.

Twilight Cypress (9x12) by M Francis McCarthy

The final painting of Twilight Cypress is far softer than the sketch. The over all effect is realistic in that you tell it's a tree and a sky with some earth below. But the painting is still quite graphic in feel.

Another reason I paint Landscapes instead of abstracts is that I feel that the vehicle of landscape allows the viewer to ride into my paintings. They've no need to wait, stand there and ask what it is before getting on board. To their conscious mind the question of "what is it" has already been answered.

To the less conscious part of their mind however, abstractions and metaphors abound. Colors communicate feeling and composition directs and constrains the eyes towards it's own ends. This is far more interesting to me than abstraction outright.

Digital Art 2

Christmas eve here in New Zealand and I thought I'd put up a few more digital art images.

Eog by M Francis McCarthy

Here in "Eog" I was fascinated by bezier curves and the path tool in Photoshop this was created using channel ops, many learned from Kais power tips. Kais power tips we're useful for creating effects we now take for granted. In a pre layers world most effects had to be created using the calculations menu and multiplying or subtracting various channels to create the desired effect.

Scrap by M Francis McCarthy

This was created using one of the first programs to ever have layers. Unfortunately I forget it's name and my researches cannot find the name of the program or it's inventor. It was very limited but I took the rough idea into Photoshop 3 and worked on it. We take layers so for granted now but they were miraculous when they came out.

Sopyu by M Francis McCarthy

Sopyu was created in Corel's Photopaint. Photopaint came with the suite and was just a few steps behind Photoshop back in 1995/96. This was done after they got a better Gaussian type blur. They're original blur was super boxy.

Uyki by M Francis McCarthy

Uyki was the first peice I sold that was digitally created. It was sold to an interior designer I knew from my time as a manager, artist and designer at a company that did art and framing for interior designers and the hospitality industry.

Digital Art

I first became aware of computers in the 80's. Frankly I was leery of them and was sure they we're going to take over the world and enslave us all (Er. I guess this is a legitimate fear given humanity's adoration of the smartphone. present company included). I wanted nothing to do with them

Hoquea                                                              M Francis McCarthy

Fast forward to 94. I see comics colored in glorious ways that I'd not imagined possible and on the film screens a new type of art was making it's presence felt. I've always followed my deepest intuitions and they we're leading me into this realm of color. At the time I made not a lot of money though I worked hard at the job I'd had for 9 years or so. My mother provided my door into computer land by secretly loaning me the money for my first computer (my dad never knew she did this).

Pokp                                                                    M Francis McCarthy

It was an AT&T 486 with a 500 mb hard drive and most excitingly a CD drive! Not a CD burner that was only an expensive and vague dream at that time. It took me awhile to wrap my head around the thing, this was 1994. I've no space here to delineate my complete progression of learning program by program but I started out with the CorelDraw 3 Suite and then progressed to Painter 3 finally I was able to get my hands on Photoshop.

Broken                                                                    M Francis McCarthy

My big goal at first was to color my pen and ink work and I did do a far bit of that but eventually I started getting really abstract with my art. The freedom of the virtual art studio was intoxicating and I ran wild in it. Creating whatever struck my fancy. I used to love starting with only a blank white file and using only noise I'd create a digital work of art filter by filter, manipulation by manipulation.

Nu                                                           M Francis McCarthy

These images I've posted today are just a small sampling of this exploratory period that lasted from 1994 to 1998. In 1998 I started working as a graphic artist and illustrator and was on a computer all day long working! How I got to landscape painter from there is one of the tales I plan to tell on this blog and I've more to share...