Computer sketches for acrylic paintings

I've done a great deal of experimenting with digital images. Some of these have been exhibited as limited edition prints in galleries and art centers. Craig Smith, who represents me in his gallery, art critics and others have suggested that I do some large scale acrylic paintings based on these digital images. An Executive Director of a nearby museum came over to view some of my work recently and showed enough interest in these images to offer me an exhibition when I have a few of these paintings completed, an exciting prospect ! Below are few digital sketches which I have been working on.


This is an interesting project, a merging of digital art and painting.




I have done a whole series of digital abstract figure studies which also could be used as a basis for acrylic paintings.


Here is a digital color study that I did a few days ago and have started doing a painting based on it. A very exiting project. I will let you know how it all turns out.

Adding elements to photographs

Photomontages are a lot of fun to create. Just let your imagination run wild, anything goes !


Here is a scene taken in Newfoundland to which I added photos of my cat's red ball creating a weird, but interesting image.



A couple more Newfoundland photos with the red spheres added.



This is a great way to experiment with Photoshop, you can come up with some very creative images with very simple objects. The computer is the perfect medium for this kind of experimentation.

Exhibition opens today at the Scarlet Macaw

The Scarlet Macaw Gallery in Sawyer, Michigan has an opening tonight and the artists were invited to submit one piece in any medium that reflects their views on the state of the nation.


IN GOD WE TRUST

Here is the piece that I submitted on inflation, it's a digital print done in Photoshop. Hyperinflation can be a very serious thing. My folks left Germany for the US in 1925 because of the hyperinflation. They told me that at the time everyone was paid daily as the next day the money would be worth half of what it was the day before. To buy a loaf of bread took a wheelbarrow full of money. The way our government is printing money IS a bit scary.
I'll end this post on a lighter note with a few fun photos.


My black and white clown, Jpeg, she's great fun and a real character.


Here's a shot of Tiff, a terrific cat who won't leave me out of his sight. That ball is the one I frequently use in my photomontages.


Here's Laura, my oldest cat, snoozing amongst all of the computer wires. Boy, cats sure do sleep a lot!


....and here's Gloria ready to go out wining and dining, a fun lady. We have some really great restaurants in the Sawyer area, if you ever are passing by on I-94 be sure to drop by and have a look.
Gloria actually found me on the internet. She is a writer and was doing research on internet dating when she ran across my profile on Yahoo Personals. After my wife Jeanne died my friends talked me into putting my profile on Yahoo Personals, which I thought was nuts. Anyway, Gloria saw my photo with me holding Laura and also being a cat lover, decided to contact me. We've been dating ever since.
Below are a couple of posters that I designed for her, promoting her book "50 Ways To Find Romance After 50".

More Lake Michigan photographs

Here are more of my photographs of the Lake Michigan beach near my home in Sawyer. I often use these photos in my photomontage experiments, but these are all unaltered images.


On a clear day you can see Michigan City, Indiana, about 25 miles away.




The lighting and colors can vary from day to day, or I should say from dawn to dawn.


I thought that this was an interesting image with the three soft bands of color.




This beach is a great place to walk in the early morning. However, I never see anyone else here at 6 AM, they are really missing some beautiful sights.

A book project: The beach at Sawyer

I live in a beautiful area of southwest Michigan in the small town of Sawyer. Being near Lake Michigan I often takes walks on the beach at sunrise, with my camera handy, of course. It seems that the light is different each morning and often there is the opportunity to take very interesting photos. I started this book project a couple of years ago and these are a few of the scenes that I have photographed at dawn. These photos were taken with a tiny Pentax Optio S which easily fits in my pocket. It is only a 3.2 megepixel camera but I can make large 13 x 19 " prints without any problem.


The proposed cover design.


An interior spread.


Each morning the light can be quite different. These are all photos that have not been altered by the computer.


Even a simple scene like this makes an interesting composition.


I love the color and design of this image.


This is a photo taken at sunset.

Some advice for aspiring artists

A couple of years ago I was asked to give a lecture to the art students at the Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. I gave each of the students a brochure that I had prepared, here are a few of the pages for young art hopefuls to read and ponder. Below is an ad which captured my attention when I was a kid, it appeared in magazines in the 1930's.


$10 to $50 dollars a week doesn't sound like much but that's what a lot of people were earning during the depression era. If I remember correctly, my dad was earning $30 dollars a week as a tool and die maker, which was actually a pretty good wage at the time. It only took a nickle to ride the bus and a postage stamp cost three cents. Then you could buy a new car for under $600.
Anyway, here's some of the advice I gave the art students.









I told the students that as an artist, your life will be one long growing and learning process. At 80 years old I am still growing and learning and enjoy every minute of it.
Also, while the computer is a fantastic art medium, it is not a magic machine. It's essential to have a good solid background in drawing and be experienced in the traditional art mediums before tackling the computer.

An almost surreal dock scene

A series of photos of a dock scene taken around Port Huron, Michigan at dusk. It is a rather mundane scene but it still has a weird surreal quality about it. The photos were shot in the sequence shown.


A simple shot of a dock pile still makes an interesting photo because of the overcast lighting. Bright sunny conditions would not worked out as well.


I moved back and to the side to show more of the pilings. Again, the lighting works very well for this scene.


I zoom out to show more of the dock and include the figure of the boy as well.


My favorite version is this one where I centered the first piling and include even more of the dock. The figure is further down near the end of the sock.