From - - to - - to -

INTRODUCTION

'm sure you have heard of the term, " cart before the horse ". This is what happens when we scan some old photos and try to make digital art. How can we develop a mature art form from such a process? Upon what do we rely when making compositional choices and emotive context? One may reply, " well, it's a picture of my favorite Aunt in her favorite chair." But this does not mean that it is a good picture of your Aunt. Nor does she come across as a particularly nice Aunt to anyone else.

ketching lets you make mistakes when they are easy to accept. The sketch also gives you the opportunity to examine more intelligently many issues of a successful composition. The artist often makes preliminary drawings only to discover that the basic concept needs further examination and understanding, or that the idea should be dropped altogether. Artists also find that the sketch is complete in itself and needs no further exploration.

or our purposes, sketching does all of these and more! We find that this tool also reveals many problems and solutions about such things as shadow, lighting, perspective and scale.

THE PROJECT

You are to create a sketch; a plan of what you want to accomplish in your next composition. You art an artist! As always, consider aesthetic concerns as discussed in earlier projects (Thinking Digital Through the Lens and Digital Photomontage).

After sketching, go out and seek photographic subjects that meet the criteria developed in your sketch. You may need to modify your ideas a bit as you encounter the real world. Use your observations to further develop the composition, always listening to your artist-self. Don't compromise! Seek what is needed to fulfill your dream (within reason).

Make your digital artwork based upon that (darn) sketch and your adventures!

IMPORTANT IDEAS

  1. Make it SIMPLE, YET INVOLVED.

  2. When planning the sketch, decide upon these factors:

    1. Drawing proportions
      1. square
      2. landscape (wide)
      3. portrait (tall)
    2. Intimate or Observer (are you part of the picture or is it a window?)
    3. Meaning (what do you want to say and why?)

  3. When sketching, remember these:

    1. Move the eye around the image
      1. Diagonals
      2. Overlapping forms
      3. Verticals
      4. Horizontals
      5. Horizon Line?
      6. Determine focal points
        1. Where do you want people to look most often?
        2. What is the subject of the main focus?
        3. How does the eye get to that point (ie; diagonals, horizontals, etc.)?
        4. What will keep one looking there?
        5. What will draw them away?
      7. Keep details to a MINIMUM! Just get the basic feel; the underlying mood.

    2. When photographing:

      1. BRING your sketch!
      2. USE your Sketch!!
      3. RELY on your sketch!!!
      4. Be TRUE to your vision!!!! (the most difficult task)
      5. Make note of these things:
        1. Perspective
        2. Horizon line
        3. Scale
        4. Lighting

    3. When working on the computer:

      1. Scan at the correct resolution for the output.
      2. Proportion the artwork in relation to the sketch.
      3. Bring the elements together and color correct/incorrect them as necessary.
      4. Determine what about your picture elements work/don't work in relation to your vision.
      5. Modify those elements as needed.
      6. Tweak the final image and make it pull together. Examine how you observe and discover the art and it's meaning.

    AN EXAMPLE

    Here is an example of the project.
    Notice how the sketch varies from the finished piece?
    The basic elements and vision are still intact.



    The Sketch for "All of Me" or "Conversations With Myself"



    All of Me
    by Michael McGinnis; 1997
    Medium: electronic phosphors on screen

    Home| Art 18| Art 5| My Art