Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Digital Art Revolution - a new book on visual arts

While browsing for information on another subject, I unexpectedly and delightfully came across Digital Art Revolution: Creating Fine Art with Photoshop, a new book by Scott Ligon. He is a digital artist, filmmaker and the coordinator for the digital foundation curriculum at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Although I believe traditional forms of painting will never cease to be created, enjoyed and collected, I see digital fine art taking its own important place in the field of visual arts. As such, you can find on this blog numerous posts about the impact of digital art, the growing interest in digital painting and how using the term "Convergent Media" might be a helpful term to digital artists.

Now comes along Scott Ligon to add an impressive voice and contribution to the conversation about digital fine art with his new book. You can visit his Digital Art Revolution website to read a synopsis of each chapter. The book is illustrated with fine art from 40 digital artists. There is also a link to download his critically acclaimed short film, "Escape Velocity", on iTunes.

Glimpsing the future of digital art

I suppose we all have milestones or epiphanies where we get a glimpse of the future. One for me was when attending an art and picture framing tradeshow, produced by my then employer, Decor magazine in Orlando, Florida. This show took place in the 1990s and was so long ago it was called the Art Buyers Caravan (ABC) Orlando Show. The name changed to Decor Expo a few years later.

It was there in the booth of an exhibitor, I met an artist named Rocco. The company was selling a full-service digital art creation and printing service. While there were other companies selling ink jet printers, there was nothing like this company in the market at the time. Rocco showed me a very nice digital still life image of an apple he had painted earlier in a demonstration there. It was quite well rendered on a white background, and one could see it could be finished into a commercially viable piece.

What was really cool was when he played back the series of strokes used to paint the apple. It was sped up and only took a few seconds to watch this image be completed. To give some perspective, the term "giclee" had yet to be introduced into the market. So, it was a bit surreal to see this use of technology to create art. I likened seeing the sped up strokes magically come on to the screen to watching the late TV drawing instructor, Jon Gnagy, on speed.

Rocco was using a digital stylus and tablet that was a crude forerunner to a modern Wacom Cintiq 12 x 12 Tablet. He told me from the first time he picked up the stylus and realized he could mix colors at will and change pressure on the point to get different effects that it felt as natural as a paint brush to him. That he could easily demonstrate how to use it to get realistic looking brushstrokes and create an appealing image were all I needed to know I had just seen the future of digital art.

Now, more than a decade later, we have artists like Scott Ligon coming along to teach and help push the importance and acceptance of digital art. And, I can't wait to see what happens next!

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P.S. You can still win the Milton Glaser "To Inform & Delight" DVD raffle! The drawing deadline has been extended to the release date of April 27. Get your entry in now. Having seen the film, I guarantee you will be both informed and delighted to win and view this terrific documentary on the life of one of America's greatest graphic design artists!

Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Milton Glaser's personal life and captures his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

Overload - What Digital Art Tells Us About the Future

It's been noted artists being aware, sensitive and demonstrative often have a way of portending the future through their work. I agree with this idea and have written about it here in posts such as, "Is the Next Big Thing About To Happen?" and Convergent Media - Stretching the Imagination.

If ever there were a piece of contemporary art that accurately describes the current human condition, it would be Rick Simpson's magnificent piece titled Overload and seen here.

The image is the perfect metaphor for the piling on of the global financial market gyrations on top of those of us interconnected through digital communications. As if we didn't already struggle with an overwhelming amount of useful, trivial and useless data being streamed through constantly improving gadgets.

Simpson's piece took home a well-deserved First Prize in the 8th Annual Donnie (Digital Art Contest) Awards presented by MOCA, the Museum of Computer Art. I think the judges were equally in tune with Simpson's view in foretelling our near future.

Digital art, in my humble opinion, is still in its nascent state. While there is an impressive body of important current work, I believe the best is yet to come. It might just be with equipment not yet invented, or brought to market.

It could be that futurist Watts Wacker's Next Big Thing theory as outlined in the above post may well come from the ranks of digital artists. Given we are nearly through the first decade of a new millennium, it would be a natural evolution.

Art is about expression, which is why it is an excellent harbinger of things to come. Artists seeking to express themselves will use whatever means available to forcefully and eloquently bring forth their vision. I'd say Rick Simpson's work shown here punctuates the notion.

Art Is What You Make It

There is no argument we are cursed to live in interesting times. Events of the past few weeks have made things too interesting by far for most of us. Let's hope the last minute maneuvering to save the US economy works. Too bad most of us are clueless as to how this happened.

On a wing and a prayer our economy flies now

We all understand home prices jumped to unheard heights when the interest rate was dropped down to record lows and stayed there for the longest time. In a nutshell, supposedly smart people who should have cared and known better turned out to be average people with above average greed.

Homeowners were sucked in along the way as many succumbed to the Pied Piper's tune telling them prices would not go down and they could use the equity in their home like a free ATM machine. It was a glorious party, but now the hangover and reality have set in with a monstrous financial headache. It's not that simple, but the essence is there and applies to the highest gilt-edged boardrooms as well as modest two bedroom bungalows.

Can these really be the best of times?

Now, if you are not so depressed about the undoing of our national financial underpinnings, you might be wondering how you can sell some art. I have been saying in workshops, consulting sessions and private conversations for some time that these interesting times are arguably the best of times for visual artists. How so you say? Simply, there are more ways to create your art and more ways to get your art to market than any previous time.

You are not relegated to choosing between oil and acrylics and paper or canvas. You might be start your creative process with the Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camerafor digital photography to capture an image and manipulate it in Photoshop. Or to perhaps learn exciting techniques for making digital imagery in Painter. If you choose the latter, you'd be wise to partake of the tremendous knowledge from Masters such as Marilyn Sholin. You might be digitally painting on the fabulous Wacom Cintiq 21UX 21.3" Tablet with Interactive Pen. 

Are you working in convergence media?

If you are doing these things, I think you are creating something I call convergence media. Like mixed media, the term it borrows the name from, it requires pulling together in unique fashion an artistic vision using a variety of techniques, tools and products to create the final image. Then again, you may be putting paint on canvas as always and just using technology to do image capture to print giclees. And, there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Just a few short years ago, you would have been doing none of this. Nor would you have a blog, or an online presence with your own Website, not mention the many worthy sites that will help you market your work. In short, right now, you have more opportunity to control how your art is made and more unique ways to find collectors than before.

These are the best of times to release all your creativity

If you have a spirit of adventure and a streak of creativity, you ought to be thinking of how you can use this new technology to create new ways to make and display your art. Why do vehicle graphics have to always be a movable billboard. Why can't they also be a piece of movable art? Do you have the resources, vision and chutzpah to graphic wrap something larger than a Hertz bus? Challenge yourself to go beyond your traditional thinking. How can you use your creativity to create something unique memorable and fantastic? If you rise to the challenge and answer that question and succeed with your vision, you are certain to have your ticket punched for the fast lane to awareness for yourself and your art.

Maybe your vision, budget or stomach for adventure is more mundane. Why not think about using wood, mylar, plastic or other substrates to create art. Here's an idea; you could work with a custom furniture maker to create art that is part of the furniture! The only limit is your imagination being throttled by yourself.

Below is an example of how Dutch photographer Suseela Gorter is using technology to create new ways to have her work displayed and appreciated.

Blooming Window Art - Flat Flowers Stickers (GALLERY)

(TREND HUNTER) These Flat Flowers stickers are the work of Dutch photographer Suseela Gorter. Flat flowers are photographs of flowers in a vase printed on a clear and static material. You simply stick the Flat Flowers… [More]

Start your own creative wheel turning. Let your mind wander. Daydreaming is essential to creative thinking. Write things down as you think of them. Use The Brain to capture and connect your thoughts. You have the capacity to do something unique. If you challenge yourself and respond, good things are bound to ensue.

Convergent Media - Stretching the Imagination

Regular readers here know I also am a frequent guest blogger on Absolute Arts, one of the most frequently visited fine art sites on the Internet. A previous post there titled Brave New Digital World by Brad Michael Moore, prompted my subsequent post there.

Brad had these things to say:

As a Digital Artifact Artist - born just passing the golden age of photography, I will offer to you here, a intricate definition (part theory, some elements - tongue in cheek) of where I have arrived as an artist, and why I think I am here.

Today, I challenge those old assumptions about reproduced art. I hold my strongest belief; that it should be the artist's prerogative, as to what standard they choose to create by. If one artist decides each print must be exactly alike, in every way, with it's literal counterparts - then that is a part of that's artist's identity - to create a digital file, and never change it, never improve it - never consider if you yourself grow from day to day as an artist... If an artist chooses, like I choose, to make each and every artwork unique - no matter how many times it is printed - then that is part of my identity - my freedom, and my creative prerogative. I believe everyday I am a newer person, with a greater knowledge - based on the experience of everyday efforts to improve myself as artist and human.

Those words inspired me to resurrect a suggestion I made about year ago. The title of my most recent Absolute Arts post is Has the Time Come for Convergent Media? This is probably a good idea anyway insofar as most often it takes repeated exposure to ideas for them to take seed.

My suggestion is to use Convergent Media to describe the evolving art form that has been called digital art for lack of a better term. I felt when I made the initial suggestion the process deserved a better descriptor.

While digital art is serviceable to a degree, it is limited in its abililty to accurately convey the medium. And, it carries with it some negative connotation as being machine made, or that somehow the hand and eye of the artist are more removed than from traditional art on paper or canvas. Those who are involved know this is far from the truth.

Art Stretches the Imagination

If you read the Absolute Arts post, you'll find me waxing artists' work portends the future. I speculate since Convergent Media employs blending a wide range of influences, techniques and technologies, it is a metaphor for how artists on a global level will help us understand the importance of transcending national interests for the betterment of global citizens.  It is an admitted bit of a stretch, but that is what art is capable of doing, stretching our imagination.

Barney Davey Featured in Great Output Magazine

I was honored to be invited for a Q & A interview with Eileen Fritsch, the editor of Great Output magazine. It is the cover story for the July/August issue. Although I primarily work with painters, I've lately found many photographers and convergent media artists interested in learning the nuts and bolts of the fine art print reproduction market. This feature story is an example of the growing interest in developing a following from photographers in the art print market and art marketing, primarily in the form of giclees.

Here's the description provided on the publication's Website:

GREAT OUTPUT is our bi-monthly printed publication for photographers who want to know more about how to print, finish, display, and sell digital images. Eileen Fritsch continues her leadership role in compiling and editing newsworthy and commentary content that has, over the last three years, earned a quality reputation and built a loyal following.

Paint Outside the Frame - Digital Painting Comes of Age

If you have been reading along with this blog, you've seen posts questioning whether the term giclée is passé, rhetorically asking "What Is a Giclée?" and suggesting the term, "Convergent Media" is more appropriate than digital art. The situation is that digital media and communication continues to take a larger role in our lives. The blog you are reading now is a cool by-product of digital media and Web development. The picture below is the work of Convergent Media Artist, Steven Friedman and is featured on the home page of the Digital Painting Forum.

To those born soon enough that life without Game Boys, text messaging and DVRs is inconcievable, I predict the notion digitally rendered art can be construed as fine art will go without question. The rest of us have, or will catch up in due time or let it pass as something we never got. Me, I've had maybe four text messages in my life and don't feel a need for any more any sooner...but don't think about asking me to give up my blog or Internet connection. And, don't tell me exquisite art can't be created from bits and bytes.

Convergent Media - Is It Time to Bury Digital Art?

Convergent Media

(I'm not big on double posting, but I'm going to with this one. This post was originally published on the Wet Canvas in the Digital Art forum. I present it here because it dovetails with my previous Is Giclee Passe? post. Apologies to those who have previously read this on Wet Canvas.)

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The term giclee was coined into usage as marketing jargon. It successfully allowed printers, publishers and artists get away from using the term digital art and digital printing at a time when using either was certain to cool the ardor of potential buyers of this new media.

To keep things in context, in 1990 there was no Internet to speak of, the desktop computer revolution spawned by Windows 95 was five long years into the future. Cell phones and digital cameras weren't the norm as with today. Fax machines exemplified the cutting edge of instant communication technology. (For those of us who worked in an office then, standing around waiting to send or receive a fax was the modern day equivalent of the proverbial water cooler.) So, using digital to describe anything related to art was not going to warm the hearts of any buyer and as such the usage of giclee was brilliantly, if no luckily, conceived, received and passed into the vernacular.