Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Circus Balls, Dream of Red, and Other Digital Paintings

Intrusion of Linear Elements

Dream of Red

Circus Balls

It's good to be back. My husband and I are always so busy with projects, being the do-it-yourself types. Doing construction and home renovation with your own hands, brings the freedom to pursue new options, but not without a cost. The cost is that the agenda is always intimidating, if not overwhelming. So be it...

I haven't been able to paint in months. My most recent art project was to size, print, mat, and bag about 200 prints for a local coffee shop.

I've finally had time to sit down at the computer. Smitten with the painting bug late in the evening, my only recourse was to turn to digital art instead of breaking out all the smelly, messy acrylics.

The nice thing about digital art is that you can do it almost anywhere that you can sit with a laptop or notebook computer, instead of requiring ample studio space and ventilation. And with iterative "saves,"one can easily squeeze multiple images from the same "mother" image. The possibilities are endless.

Here you see three images borne of the same original "source" image. I'm able to work with brilliant color which I so love, and texture, to create my visual experience.

I've heard some pigment painters object to digital painting because "you can't see the track" of the painter's hand and arm, the "touch" and physicality of it. But I don't think that's true. Surely it IS different, but not altogether. Using a touch-sensitive stylus with a graphics tablet can create many effects and communicate many nuances. Okay, so you won't have the richness and "presence" of impasto, but in my opinion, the effects done with the digital pen can be just as visually compelling.

I hope everyone had a happy and fulfilling Mother's Day, and I look forward to catching up with you!

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit
Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

35 comments:

  1. Lovely images. I adore the colors!
    Unfortunately my old graphics program won't work on my brand new computer. I learned that Corel bought out the rights to it & I downloaded a free trial of their most recent version, which is nice, but it crashes CONSTANTLY. I'm not sure what I'm going to do once this trial's over...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful work Lynda, I really want to learn how to do digital stuff too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dream of Red is my fav here. I love the colours of all these pieces; so vibrant. Doesn't matter to me what the medium. It's the expression that counts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LANA - Have you tried JASC? I've heard that it's a good program with all the bells and whistles, and much less expensive than PhotoShop.

    I have "Painter" but don't know much about it, except what a few "experiments" have taught me. One day I'll find time to watch the tutorials.

    Are other programs crashing your PC, as well? Maybe it's the computer?

    ReplyDelete
  5. BOB - I'm sure you'll come up with a lot of "cosmic" imagery when you do! You can incorporate all your photos of the skies and add effects to them. That would be fun! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. DAVINA - I agree with you on that. Sometimes I feel the two-dimensional quality of digital work can detract from it--i.e. there's no real-time "textural presence"--but then, you have all these layering, lighting and other options that are hard to achieve with paint.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love vital/vibrant images wherever they come from, and I am on of the "digital images are art" school of thought people! Some of my very favorite pieces have come from 'Paint Shop Pro'. Doing computer art for me is always surpising and satisfying, although when I post in on my blog, I get fewer (than usual!) comments.
    Enjoyed your gorgeous pieces very much.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MARIE - THANKS! The way I think about it, there's room for everything, in art and in life. The whole point is to be creative and make new visual experiences, and the choice of "tools" (or software) does not make or break the piece.

    I've noticed that too, that sometimes I get fewer comments on digital art. Probably because a lot of people are more comfortable with realistic photos than with bold, abstract digital imagery. I love them both, as well as real-time brush and pigment painting.

    Happy art-ing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. These are awesome! I wish I knew how to do this. Outstanding creations!

    P.S. Hubs and I have been remodeling/constructing our home (by ourselves) since we moved here in 2007.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Lynda,

    It's good to have you back, girl :D!
    Any type of art is good enough for me: be it hand painted or digitally made. As long as it transmits something to me; as long as it talks to me.

    I wish you a fabulous weekend, darling!

    :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. All of them very beautiful, Lynda! Keep 'em coming! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Misty Dawn - I wish you all the luck with that! We have actually been working on this house periodically over ten years! We ask ourselves if we were crazy to undertake this, and the answer is: YES!

    As for the digital art, you can always get a program like Photoshop or Jasc, and experiment with it. That's what I do. There's no way I'll ever know any program as vast as PS in its totality! But I don't let that stand in the way of my next visual adventure...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey, Max, I've been thinking of you. Got to visit you soon!

    You have my deepest affection, my friend across the sea!

    Did you notice any effects from the volcano, or are you too far south of it for that?

    ReplyDelete
  14. ANNE - Hi! It's good to see you.

    I have a question for you. If I'm starting a digital painting at 300 dpi and with enough pixels for printing at say 16 x 20, and I'm getting rough edges on the forms when I use gradients or freehand drawing, is there a way to smooth them?

    You too, keep the beautiful artwork flowing!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lynda;

    No body is better at this stuff than you are. You produce some truly eye catching and beautiful digital art. I love it all.

    Happy trails.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lynda,

    We felt the effects of the volcano for one day only (more than 15 days ago).
    Other than that the only effect we feel here is the airport closing every other day.

    Thank you for your friendship, darling: it means a lot :D.

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  17. Swubird - There is SO much wonderful digital art out there! Me thinks thou dost flatter me!

    Of course I like it...and I do value your opinion on all things artistic, literary, and otherwise. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Max, you know I think of you often, even when I'm not in blogging mode.

    xxxxx (((( hugs ))))

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kia ora Lynda,
    It was great to pop in and see you back. Hope your time away was refreshing and well spent, as I am sure it was! I think it is good to step away from the computer and reaquaint ourselves with nature. I am building to that but must be patient. Kia kaha Lynda!
    Aroha,
    Robb

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lynda these last posts are quite stunning.
    I enjoy creating digital art (using Paint Shop Pro) as much as regular painting - each has added knowledge to the other.

    ReplyDelete
  21. ROBB- Be patient and you will get there. You don't want to give yourself any setbacks. I'll be over to read your latest post, to see how you're doing....

    I'm beginning to get a LOT of arthritic symptoms myself, and it's depressing how it can slow one down. :(

    ReplyDelete
  22. JANICE - It's amazing to me that I thought of you a lot, yesterday on my walk--probably because two little poems occurred to me and I thought of your lovely, poignant posts--and here you are! Such coincidences are enough to make one feel there's a lot going on that we can't see!!

    I hope you are doing well, Janice. My memory is not so good these days, but if I remember correctly, you had a rough year.

    ReplyDelete
  23. that second image is my favorite. you make the digital art work in your favor, for sure. i'm sure you'll be able to create with your paints/ brushes soon though. either way i enjoy looking at your artwork. hope all is well. have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Naquillity, glad to see you again! Hope all is going well for you with your new site!

    I'll be over!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Very nice. What a wonderful colors!

    ReplyDelete
  26. For me "Dream of Red" is the most beautiful.

    Wonderful Art !

    ReplyDelete
  27. EDDIE - Thank you! You can tell that I love color! :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. eyewitness - That's the one I like best, too. Thanks for coming over from "fried eggs" to visit! :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Love the digital art Lynda...I can't decide which one is my favorite...although Circus Balls has the most purple and I'm always drawn to purple!!!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  30. You are quite correct Lynda about a tough year - there was a lot of death around me including my own son a few days before Christmas. I have moved to Alberta and am restoring my parents home which has helped a great deal in the healing process as the house was in a fair amount of disrepair. It will be a few weeks yet before I can post and comment on a regular basis but if not tired I try to get in a comment/post here and there. :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Losing a child--even a grown one--is such a terrible thing, and I'd imagine the healing process might take longer than in losing a spouse or a parent. My heart goes out to you.

    I hope you have had some loving person or people giving you support in your time of need.

    Life sometimes seems to get more lonely as we age and lose parents, friends, and in some cases as you have experienced, a child.

    I wish you peace, healing, and renewed joy. It will come.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The dream of red piece is stunning Lynda!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Mark - Thanks for visiting and commenting. That's the image I like the best, too.

    Have a good week and stay cool!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi Lynda,Love your digital images rather i should say art,have great colours one day i will have a look at the digital programs for art and have a play with them.Brian

    ReplyDelete
  35. Brian - Thank you! You must have a go at it. The possibilities are endless, and it's a lot of fun to discover some of them!

    ReplyDelete

I try to respond to comments whenever I can. I ALWAYS appreciate your visits and friendship, and I will reciprocate with visits to your site. Thanks for sharing parts of your blogging journey with me. I value each and every one of you.

NOTE: Please, no more memes, schemes, or awards. They're fun and they may help us to know each other better, but I'd rather spend the time reading your posts and having you READ mine!

Happy blogging!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Buy My Art!

My most popular images for sale at Shutterstock:

Comical and Endearing Bird Ritual....