updated!! 4-13-18!!! Page 22

Schweeeeeeeeeetness!
That's Squid all right....

Holy crap! What did you do with my hair S.P.? Very cool! And you were way too kind to LLT. :) You're right....no one is safe! Keep 'em coming!

Hey- My man Squid in all that crazy digital glory! Great stuff, suburbanpagan!

Further work done...
Thanks LLT!
Squid, I said the same thing the first time I saw you after you buzzed your hair off!
Thanks Sam....tiki paintings-special edition! I'm thinking of adding a digital concussion ring to Kenny's portrait!

What ya bringing to the Tonga Hut art show?

Not sure yet! I think I'll bring a couple of my newer pieces in giclee print form and maybe, just maybe (!) have the Notorious L.L.T. poor trait and maybe Squid as well....Portraits of the artists as young men!

sooo, Im confused... you say these are purely digital....., but your thread title says "paintings" and you talk of "brushes". I understand the concept of a brush stroke/width/opacity/etc in the digital sense. My question is - "are these photographs that have been "photoshopped" (for lack of a better word) or are they paintings, that start with a blank canvas and tubes of paint?"

Just trying to understand the new "medium" of digital art.

awesome paintings, I love the looseness of the brushwork. Very expressive.

My question is - "are these photographs that have been "photoshopped" (for lack of a better word) or are they paintings, that start with a blank canvas and tubes of paint?"

hey jpm, I can't speak specifically about these paintings, but perhaps I can clarify digital 'painting' slightly. Digital painting uses traditional painting techniques on a virtual 'canvas'. In other words, you open up a blank doc in Photoshop, select a paintbrush from the tools palette, and using your mouse (ehhh) or a tablet with a stylus (yes!) you go to town.

Most raster-based programs (like Photoshop, Painter, etc.) allow you to create custom "brushes" so that you can mimic diferent brush types andthere are also controls where you can set pressure, fading, 'paint wetness' etc. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's worth trying. See?
:) G

What Martiki-bird said! These are all painted from scratch so I take the "are they photoshopped photos" as quite a compliment. I use a stylus and have created digital brushes that mimic traditional techniques like gouache, acrylic, and oils which I have worked in for years. Some earlier pieces started on a physical canvas and were finished digitally but I like to work quick and in the moment and sometimes you don't get that spontaneous painting when you have to set out your paints and prep your canvas etc. In other words, the technique works for my short attention span lifestyle! And that is how I paint digitally.

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-13 21:05 ]

Ok so granted... some open up a blank/new document.....

In other words, you open up a blank doc in Photoshop, select a paintbrush from the tools palette, and using your mouse (ehhh) or a tablet with a stylus (yes!) you go to town.

but it is also possible to open up a photo/jpeg/bmp/tiff/gif and then apply a morph programm to create "art"

The above photograph/cartoon simply created by a program that cartoonizes your photo.
Sure you can create greater variance with different size brushes and altering their transparency and also their "blur".

I know its a new generation of "art"... Im just trying to open my mind to accept it!
Im an old school artist that starts with wood and canvas in a roll, then tubes of paint and hours of mental development of composition, layout, perspective, color and blend.

Just trying to understand,,,,,

suburbanpagan - Very impressed to hear you are creating these on a blank page - you have obviously mastered a "almost photographic" technique... Kudos to you!

[ Edited by: jpmartdog 2007-09-13 21:24 ]

I felt the need to reply...as this new art form is part of my generation!

Personally I feel if you don't know the traditional mediums, then STAY AWAY FROM DIGITALIZING IT!
Case in point, this catastrophe: Ehh..

The new "digital" medium for digital artists is growing fast...and really it is easier and you get the same results as the old school traditional way. If you know what you are doing! It doesn't mean that traditional mediums will die out, not by a long shot! But the new medium is also a great tool for practicing as well! :)

jpmartdog, I understand the respect for the traditional, but don't think that this new medium is just "two clicks" and done or using some random filter programmed into PS.

The heart to any great painting, as we all know, is a great drawing...Remember, you can't polish a turd!

And if you can master this new medium, you get pretty cool results: sweet!

Keep pumpin that digital stuff out Kevin, I think it rocks hard!

Love the portraits! :D

That's my two cents fer the night...

That is a filter. I don't use filters. I use photos as reference for portraits just as you would with a roll of canvas, a sheet of paper, and all of the romantic trappings of traditional techniques. I just choose to work this way and it works for me just as your techniques work for you but please don't have any assumptions that it is any easier or less of an art if it not created "traditionally". I have enough canvasses, gouache, acrylic, oil paintings and charcoal drawings lying around my studio to attest that I am a "real" artist. Yes, I do work in a traditional studio.

On 2007-09-13 22:52, suburbanpagan wrote:
That is a filter. I don't use filters.

EXACTLY...

That's the one misunderstanding people have with the new digital medium...

Not to mention the only REAL difference is that doing this digitally really is just "mess free" and we have the "ctrl-Z" function that we can take back and re do...tho, we should never ever rely on that. we don't have ctrl-z in our lives. :lol:

Hey Suburban, love your paintings man. You have a real eye for color and shape. Those digital pieces are killer. I like how you made your style work as a digital painting you can tell they are by the same artist. Nice to see some digital work, keep up the great work man.

Hey Swamp Fire! Good to hear from you and thanks for the compliment! Your kind words inspired my first new exotica sketch in a while...of course it will be called "Swamp Fire"! Normally I don't like to post such a rough sketch but I'd like to show my process from the nebula stage on this one. As you can see, it is VERY rough but enough to provide me a map to paint it! Stay tuned! I promise very dramatic lighting on this pup!

A little progress....my process is very organic and flowing and I let things suggest themselves to me as I paint....so my painting evolves quite a bit as I work on it...let's see where it goes!

Listening to the Gene Rains episode Vegas Vic's Tiki Lounge so progress has been good. Also, I finished my first flip of a house and finally put it on the market so I have a few moments to sit down and paint! I'll show a pic of that next...if interested of course!

suburbanpagan~ Thanks for posting the "Swamp Fire" rough sketch, and the early progress shots! That's what always gets me excited! Really cool looking colors, as always! I love that Gene Rains episode of Vegas Vics too!

The poor traits look GREAT! I love your fast expressive style!

Digital painting, I'm like the total opposite. I started painting digitally, and only now have taken up the physical brush and canvas. I used to "paint" in photoshop with a mouse in the 80s. Sort of like drawing with a bar of soap while looking in a mirror. My problem with digital paint was always, I was never sure if the colors I was using were even going to be close to what I was seeing on the screen. Screen colors and printable colors are two very different things. I would paint a huge illo, it'd look killer on the screen. Then I'd print it out and it's look like doo doo.

AND, I also could never get the idea of screen resolution to real resolution figured out. Meaning, I could zoom in to the screen to work on detail, but I wasn't always aware how much detail I was really putting in till it was printed out. You can't step back from a digital painting and look at it across the room and tell what it will really look like printed out. Right? If you "zoom" out of a digital painting on screen, you resolution crunches down the detail, and you don't get a true idea of the image. You know what I mean?

So how do you figure out the printable color vs screen color, and the resolution problems?

Thanks, TSA....Well, I know the output resolution will be 240 dpi at full scale on a giclee printer so I like to work a little larger at 300 dpi and that gives me a very good resolution at print size so it holds its integrity. And, as with any print of any art piece, you have to be there for the press check and run to make sure that the color translates correctly, just as you would have to make sure a photo of your piece is accurate. As far as stepping back from the piece, I just treat it as if I were painting on a small scale and judge my composition and color design with the ol' Popeye eye squint. I guess I got used to looking at my work on a screen from years of working in animation. I wouldn't be using this approach if I didn't like the results, that's for sure! I'll keep the updates coming!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-16 23:48 ]

ROCK ON KEVVY!
Deciphering the Mystery for all of us Gawkers!!! Thanks for sharing the process with the Ohana! There's always so much to learn and understand from youse artists and carvers!Now, after this Swampfire,are you gonna do a Doug Horne portrait as befits a Master such as he?

On 2007-09-13 21:21, jpmartdog wrote:
but it is also possible to open up a photo/jpeg/bmp/tiff/gif and then apply a morph programm to create "art"

The above photograph/cartoon simply created by a program that cartoonizes your photo.
Sure you can create greater variance with different size brushes and altering their transparency and also their "blur".[ Edited by: jpmartdog 2007-09-13 21:24 ]

Do you know what program this is to create this effect? Or is it a Photoshop add-on?
I've noticed Oakley's new ad campaign is hitting this effect heavy, but I really like it. Always been a fan of the pop art look... like taking Roy Lichtenstein to the next level.

Love your stuff by the way! Keep up the good work!

Like I said LLT, no one is safe! A sampling of who is on the list: Doug Horne, Grog, DJ Lee, Holden, Kirby, Brad etc. Suzy is too darned cute but maybe I can alter my style to accomodate! Otherwise my style works for the rest of you cavemen!
As far as that ad goes, it looks to me like someone rendered it out in Illustrator. In all of my years of working in photoshop, I have never run across a filter that does such a clean job of vectorizing an image. Of course, I must admit that I haven't been searching for them! Thanks for the kind words! Roy Lichtenstein was my favorite pop artist, by the way!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-17 09:49 ]

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-17 14:27 ]

Looking fine thus far, suburbanpagan! Especially with the dramatic lighting, it looks like it'll be cool when it's done.

On 2007-09-17 09:42, suburbanpagan wrote:
As far as that ad goes, it looks to me like someone rendered it out in Illustrator. In all of my years of working in photoshop, I have never run across a filter that does such a clean job of vectorizing an image.

Those were my first thoughts when I saw a poster in the window of a shop in Toronto. In my side life as a Graphic Designer, I've done some renderings like this, but with a lot less detail. I can only imagine the time involved if it was only done in Illustrator.

Thanks Sam! I hope to not disappoint! So I guess that I hope to appoint?
More progress......trying to get rid of the white....almost there! In case you noticed on the last one, there were some more blocky areas of color. In general, I try to use my finish "brushes" on the whole painting because I am somewhat obsessive compulsive but in this case I broke and used the pencil tool to block in the larger areas just because I am trying to work larger to print these out at 14X17 at full resolution and the file is huge! So on this one I have gone back to my brushy brush and am starting to paint it in and figure out the push/pull of light and dark and am playing with some diff approaches to the flame and such. Stay tuned! I sense a volcano may be needed!
Lake! I agree! That level of rendering is insane on that ad!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-17 13:01 ]

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-17 13:40 ]

It's refreshing to see you post prog-shots like before! :D

Diggin' the colors! volcano? stand back! :o

Thanks Ravenne! It's moving along now. As I work the composition, I add or remove things as I go. Stay tuned!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-18 13:51 ]

Is swamp fire caused by the release of swamp gas. Doug Horne's gotta layoff those bean burrittos at lunch.

Looking pretty sweet so far S.Pagan, now don't fuck it up!

P.S. Nice composition.

[ Edited by: GROG 2007-09-18 14:00 ]

On 2007-09-18 13:58, GROG wrote:
Is swamp fire caused by the release of swamp gas. Doug Horne's gotta layoff those bean burrittos at lunch.

I have one word for you my friend, "BEANO", in tablet form.

Kevin, wow dig it, tiki in a swamp. I like the flames and of course the swampy vines. Can't wait to see it done. I really like the moody atmosphere you create with your paintings.

Hahaha! Classic GROG! Big clouds of swamp gas eminate from Arizona? I knew there was a reason I chose such a sickly green color for the flame!
Thanks Doug....that means a lot coming from a master draftsman such as yourself!
I was on a little bit of a roll and felt the sky needed something more......so an A frame has sprung up! Stay tuned!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-18 19:42 ]

I knew this would end up looking fine! I especially like the moonlit moss look - haunting and moody. There is moss on the trees where I live, so this piece hits home... A very cool piece!

On 2007-09-18 19:41, suburbanpagan wrote:

I'm liking how this is turnin' out! keep postin man! :D

Now it is on to refining and tightening up...well, as tight as I go anyhow! I'm also on tangent patrol! I'm paranoid that GROG will be more than happy to point them all out! Haha!
Thanks Sam! I love creating moody places.......I'm always striving to try to combine beauty with a slight sinister or uncomfortable feeling...I hope I'm getting that feeling past my own brain!
Ravenne......it's been nice to be painting again....that house kicked my arse! So now it is on the market and I just got my next one to fix up! Party on!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-20 01:58 ]

OK. First off, this caricature is REALLY off but this is a first rough sketch that will be refined and I like it anyhow! Haha! This is DJ Lee in a guest role on Scooby Doo or something along those lines...stay tuned

http://www.thetackytiki.com/new_gallery.html
This is a link to my online portfolio. For the love of God, don't click on the metal chicken!

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-21 00:44 ]

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan 2007-09-21 00:45 ]

A li'l progress this morning

dude! the first run on DJ Lee is awesome! I love that Scooby Doo style! :D

But the 2nd one is turnin out cool too!

Killer! :D

Scooby Doo Style for the Mr. DJ Lee! Hands down...CLASSIC! When you gonna do a Scooby Doo flyer for our upcoming Tonga Hut gig? Slacker!

I agree! We should ALL have an alternate scooby doo version of ourselves! But I am also commited to righting this ship so I persevere! LLT! Your patience shall be rewarded! How? Not sure, but I just know it!

On 2007-09-22 13:42, suburbanpagan wrote:
LLT! Your patience shall be rewarded! How? Not sure, but I just know it!

:lol:!!!

Awesome.

Anyway! DJ Lee protrait is lookin great Kevy! :P :D

This is a rough of what I imagine occurs when you anger the gods

Testing the Gods

I'm diggin' the wrath of the gods pieces. Reminds me of the reception I get at home, coming home a few hours late in a booze soaked daze. Ha ha.

Are those last two pieces the same...? or different?

if so, what happened to the firey mouth one?

Both are coolies!

Sorry about the delay, but I usually try to have something new to show when I reply but I haven't been productive artwise at all!
Tabu: Haha! Classic reaction! Yeah, usually what follows "Testing the Gods" is "The Wrath of the Gods"! Hahaha! Glad I could strike a chord with that one! Thanks!
Ravenne: The first one is my quick sketch, then I looked at it and wanted more symmetry and the second one was "born" out of it! Glad you like it-I was wanting to put it in the show but since my printer bailed out on me, it's a no go! Oh well, maybe next time!

Printer down? Bummer! that's why i paints with a brush and canvas Kevvy! No technology glitch is gonna keep the pieces from being produced! I know you're no stranger to art in the physical world...dig up some of your older framed masterpieces and bring em down to the Tonga hut tonight!Or are you planning more of a dance/performance art thing for the show????? :D

Ugh! that's such a major bummer about the printer! Do you have a laptop? Bring that as yer mini-gallery. A nice little "add-on" cooool interactive..new wave of art and technology for you to present.

No PowerPoints tho, pls. :lol:!

But try too!

Download 'em on CD and head to Kinkos. I think you can even email them to Kinkos, but not sure.

Why hello there! Oh me? I've been a busy beaver! Yessirree Bob!

Sleepy Haiku

The days are long
Nights are short
No time for goodies