digital arts – Kip Deeds: Art and Design

Again and Again

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Kip Deeds

I previously wrote about creating the the image above. However, I felt that the picture could change in compelling ways. The blue and green colors set an evening atmosphere and I imagined the light and color changing. I also could see a time when the child is no longer the center of the landscape. First other colors were sampled. I was searching for an intuitive balance. The result is a composition with more elements contrasting and thus a busier looking image.

I created another version in with a similar blue and green palette. This time the center is more open. At first I wanted to leave the center ’empty’ (i.e. lacking figures, trees or other elements). However, the maximalist in me could not let this happen. Rather, I settled for a scene where not much is happening.

A fourth version was created in an attempt to focus colors on a day time color scheme.

By re-making the image several times surprises were found, comparisons were made, and reappraisals became possible. The transformations of this image were limited. Thus, re-exploring the image felt akin to going for walks in the same forest but at different times of the day, at different temperatures, or in different seasons. There are times when repetition is drudgery. However, usually there is an opening to see something new and it could come from a small change in procedure or perspective. The walk might be the same but the opportunity to reflect holds possibility. Paradigm shifting ideas are rare, whereas incremental adjustments are available and the results can reach further than expected.

Potential Patterns

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Kip Deeds

The image featured here was built from a collection of inspirations. While chance is a part of almost every decision, when an artist starts to add more than one subject within a drawing or painting chance becomes a unifying force. In other words, I can say where one part of the image comes from. However, as a whole it is much hard to estimate a complete meaning. While words can not complete the picture, we can have a sense or have a visual understanding about the sum of the parts. This is facilitated by the pattern of decisions that the artist infuses into his or her work.

The pattern of artmaking is often discussed among other artists as a strategy. Because there are many potential choices involved in creating art, limiting certain options creates a focus. Even the most chaotic art has a strategy. Lacking other structure or stated meaning, there is always a place where the artist started and then stopped working. This picture employs a color strategy. While not totally blue, there is an attempt at a dominate blue image with a focus on cool colors. The effect gives the picture a sense of the evening. For me the graphic drawing and the color choices feel like two different animals or like trying to work with both left and right hands. One hand is always a bit more adept then the other, and at times we have to struggle with the hand we are less use to using.

While using hands as a metaphor for balancing abilities, they are also a central element in the picture. It is not apparent that the central figure can see all the elements around him. However, he is reaching and trying to feel his way in a world with many moving elements. In a broad sense, this is also what art allows us. That is, to feel with all our limitations, and reach for a higher order.

Notes: While the subject of color is vast. I was introduced to it in a formal way by Richard Cramer. Later I came across a wonderful book Color in Contemporary Painting (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1991) by Charles LeClair.

New Horizons

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Kip Deeds

The idea of a new horizon as a metaphor for change is puzzling. In a literal way, a shifting glance can produce a new horizon. However, how special can that be? The more meaningful sense of this phrase involves recognition that something ended, changed, and another more hopeful reality may exist in front of us.

For me, this post brings a new horizon. I have learned a lesson. Prior to this posting, I tried “free” web hosting and found that slow speeds and limited traffic was the price I paid. After a small investment and moving files to a new host, I feel hopeful. However, this only one part of the puzzle. Without a follow up or momentum to get to a new and positive place the new horizon is a fantasy.

In an attempt to move closer to an illusive vista, I have provided an image of a horizon. While there is no literal horizon line in the image, it has provided me with a spring board to approach drawing in a different way. It followed a process of drawing on graph paper when I had time. Later it was scanned and adjusted in a way that allowed for an evolving process.

As one may have noted, my new horizon has become several related glances or horizons that cause other new horizons. Perhaps my initial concept is getting diluted. However, this is likely meant to be. After all, there is no indication that we arrive at and stay at one point on the horizon.

Name Day

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Kip Deeds

I previously wrote about Św. Szymon Słupnik (en. Saint Simeon Stylites), with the intent of expanding on the subject. My son’s name is Szymon. In Poland, where he was born, names usually corespond with a Catholic Saint. Each Saint has a designated day on the Catholic calendar and that becomes one’s “name day”. While there are several noteable Saint Simons, the one I was looking for and previously wrote about was Saint Simon Stylites (Św. Szymon Słupnik in Polish). I found at least one reference that this Simon is celebrated on January 6th. With the 6th in mind, I made an interpretation of the painting of Saint Simon previously found.

The vector artwork above began with an ink drawing. Later it was scanned. Color, additions, and compositional changes were made in the program Inkscape.

While the name day date was not as precisely determined as the birthday, I can tell Szymon “happy name day”. I hope this is something he can remember.

Discovery: From Architecture to Printmaking to Vector Graphics

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Kip Deeds

When I was eleven years old, I thought I wanted to be an architect. I was attracted to building, materials, and the feeling of being in a place. However, I did not know what an architect did aside from make plans. Although, I lost the desire to be an architect, I still feel connected to the feeling that architecture evokes. I am aware how these shapes, ornament, and colors help form my perspective.

A building can hold and reveal stories and is a place to look out of and through. In the example above, I continue to examine Italian Rennaisance architecture. Here I fashioned a drawing after a domed building inspired by Andrea Palladion. While I am merely interpreting or making a derivative version of a building, I am also aware that art reveals more than one subject, and the inescapable subject is the medium itself. For example the act of painting always reveals the language and construction of painting. I realize now that I am also attracted to the structure and planning of architecture and perhaps this is what led me to study printmaking. Although different discipline, making prints required step by step planning and an exacting sensibility a kin to the architectural process.

While I have gained great pleasure from making prints and it has been an important component of my art, the means of its production has proven more and more ineffective when compared with digital rivals that tap into the same esthetic. Without a studio I can use vector graphics to prepare a range of marks equivalent to what I would have previously carved for a relief print. I can make blocks of color similar to the stencils made for screen printing. I can even use bitmap in photoshop to approximate touche washes used in lithography. Additionally, with a digital illustration, I have the freedom to test and make adjustments with less effort.

Because vector illustration can approximate printmaking, does this mean that myself or others should quit making prints? Probably not. However, it becomes increasingly apparent that one’s process may outlive its usefulness. This is worth investigating in much the same way we ought to consider the value of razing an old building to replace it with something new. Sometimes we have regrets and at other times the new results are an improvement.