11 February 2008

The Grosse Pointe Light, Digital Smudge Painting

The top picture is the finished (or nearly finished) digital smudge painting.

The next four pictures are 4 photos I took to assemble the collage from which I made the painting.

The last picture is a detail of my working. It takes me a long, long time to do these. Rarely can I do one in a week--it often takes a month to six weeks. I literally paint over every stroke (often more than once with many shades and hues). Some people are much faster at it. I am very slow.

(I also worked on the sky picture BEFORE you see it here. It was just grey.) The lighthouse picture I used as a starter was from wall paper. (Top one for monthly challenge).

I have exhibited my work in shows for digital artwork on several occasions, but there are people who say that this is not art! I get confused, myself.

But a photograph can be art and a collage can be art, so why not a digitally painted collage? What is art? American Heritage defines "art" as:

"The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty; specifically, the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium."

I envisioned this , arranged it, and created it, from images I made for the purpose, and I declare it to be Art! (Click images to view larger.)

3 comments:

Michael Serafin-St. John said...

I know Mary spent many hours working hard to create this display and I thing she is correct in her view that it IS art, and rightfully should be considered so! Great work, Mary!

Unknown said...

This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing the process and thanks for the link. I'll keep on visiting.

Michael Serafin-St. John said...

Thanks, Sarala.. I put a link to your site on my blogs to visit.