Experimentation, Chapter 1

Recently, through a class, I was put to a challenge: As a painter in the modern world who dabbles/has dabbled in digital media, can I personally make the two media and art forms coexist? The main thing to note about this project is that I'm really not sure if there is an answer for me. While the time table for this project has an end, I think i can say pretty safely that the search never really ends.

Phase 1 of my digital vs traditional experiment-

The first attempt I made at fulfilling the challenge was taking something I had painted and running it through Photoshop. So that I could add interesting photographic qualities, I chose to take a leap of faith and paint on human skin, rather than canvas. Not easy, or fun for that matter, with acrylic paints. I give enormous credit to people who can create a clean, crisp, nice image that way (especially those who do it with ease). After that I decided that I wanted to incorporate digital manipulation by separating the painting from the surface between color and black and white. My models were Sarah Trull and Trevor Heilman.

Next stop, Phase 2: Going back to the stone age with Microsoft Paint