Interview About Digital Natural Media
Over the past 10 years there has been a revolutionary marriage of computers and art. We're now starting to see some of these works appear in shows and galleries. Today, I'm conducting an interview with Steven Friedman. Steven is one of those artists who is using computer technology to produce some stunning works of art on a whole variety of subjects.
A: Steven, thank you for being here.
S: Your welcome!
A: The term you've coined to describe your technique is Digital Natural Media. How did you come up with that phrase and how does it distinguish itself from other forms of computer art.
S: Perhaps the hardest aspect of this type of medium is to come up with a good name for it. Computer Art is far too broad, and for another thing, my work is not completely done on the computer. Digital Painting is a part of it, but again it doesn't encompass the whole range of techniques that I use. The digital artistic revolution spans a wide spectrum from 3D fantasy landscapes to straight digital photography. My particular style closer resembles traditional art mediums such as oils paints, pastels, watercolor, etc. - hence I've coined the term Digital Natural Media.
A: I must say from looking at your work you certainly have created the look of traditional mediums. How do you compare yourself to artists who work in traditional mediums.
S: I'd say we're alike in many ways, but also very different in many ways. We're alike in that we both need to know and master our tools and mediums - be it paint and paintbrush or camera, digital stylus, and software. In my case it has taken me years of exploring a lot of different graphics software programs and a lot of techniques both documented and un-documented to get to where I am today - and I am still discovering new things. On the other, there is a completely different approach to the way I work from the way a "traditional medium" artist works.
A: How is that?
S: Well when a painter works they first have to plan how big a canvas or paper sheet they are going use, and plan their canvas. Next they plan and sketch design elements and then layer colors that they have to create from scratch, and then blend using brush or palette knife. That may be over simplistic, but that would be an fairly accurate description. My own technique is completely different. I start with a photograph so the elements of my design are already there. I also don't have to care wit about my final size since I can size it any way I want at the printing stage. I also use color differently. Instead of mixing on a palette, I use the digital technology to alter the hue, correct the tonality, or increase or decrease the saturation as I work. In this respect I have a far greater degree of control over my color palette.
A: Would it be fair to say your work is closer to altered photography then?
S: Yes and no. I see photography as working with three primary "dimensions". These are Light, Composition, and Color. All of the design elements basically "live" within these dimensions - even Black and white photographs. While some photographers use digital enhancements to alter these, at the end of the day, they still stay well within these 3 basic dimensions. What I have done with my Digital Imagery is to actually add two new dimensions that have always resided in the traditional art medium domain - that being texture, and impressionistic abstraction. So at the end of the day, my images have crossed out the boundaries of photography and take on the artistic characteristics that have allowed other mediums to create great works of art. To simply describe my work as altered photography would be like saying pottery is altered mud. Both are true to some extent, but grossly over-simplify the process.
A: Many artists have criticized Digital Art as simply "Push button" art, with very little creativity to the process. How do you respond.
S; This is a gross oversimplification of a much broader series of processes and creative decisions. It would be like saying non-representational painters just slap paint on a canvas and call it art. While I can produce iterations of my images much faster, it is by no means instantaneous, and requires quite a lot of creativity. A case in point being my series of "Found Objects". Here the starting images were very ordinary photographs, but the creative thought processes to achieve the final images required qite a bit of experimentation and exploration.
A: Steven, thank you for being here.
S: Your welcome!
A: The term you've coined to describe your technique is Digital Natural Media. How did you come up with that phrase and how does it distinguish itself from other forms of computer art.
S: Perhaps the hardest aspect of this type of medium is to come up with a good name for it. Computer Art is far too broad, and for another thing, my work is not completely done on the computer. Digital Painting is a part of it, but again it doesn't encompass the whole range of techniques that I use. The digital artistic revolution spans a wide spectrum from 3D fantasy landscapes to straight digital photography. My particular style closer resembles traditional art mediums such as oils paints, pastels, watercolor, etc. - hence I've coined the term Digital Natural Media.
A: I must say from looking at your work you certainly have created the look of traditional mediums. How do you compare yourself to artists who work in traditional mediums.
S: I'd say we're alike in many ways, but also very different in many ways. We're alike in that we both need to know and master our tools and mediums - be it paint and paintbrush or camera, digital stylus, and software. In my case it has taken me years of exploring a lot of different graphics software programs and a lot of techniques both documented and un-documented to get to where I am today - and I am still discovering new things. On the other, there is a completely different approach to the way I work from the way a "traditional medium" artist works.
A: How is that?
S: Well when a painter works they first have to plan how big a canvas or paper sheet they are going use, and plan their canvas. Next they plan and sketch design elements and then layer colors that they have to create from scratch, and then blend using brush or palette knife. That may be over simplistic, but that would be an fairly accurate description. My own technique is completely different. I start with a photograph so the elements of my design are already there. I also don't have to care wit about my final size since I can size it any way I want at the printing stage. I also use color differently. Instead of mixing on a palette, I use the digital technology to alter the hue, correct the tonality, or increase or decrease the saturation as I work. In this respect I have a far greater degree of control over my color palette.
A: Would it be fair to say your work is closer to altered photography then?
S: Yes and no. I see photography as working with three primary "dimensions". These are Light, Composition, and Color. All of the design elements basically "live" within these dimensions - even Black and white photographs. While some photographers use digital enhancements to alter these, at the end of the day, they still stay well within these 3 basic dimensions. What I have done with my Digital Imagery is to actually add two new dimensions that have always resided in the traditional art medium domain - that being texture, and impressionistic abstraction. So at the end of the day, my images have crossed out the boundaries of photography and take on the artistic characteristics that have allowed other mediums to create great works of art. To simply describe my work as altered photography would be like saying pottery is altered mud. Both are true to some extent, but grossly over-simplify the process.
A: Many artists have criticized Digital Art as simply "Push button" art, with very little creativity to the process. How do you respond.
S; This is a gross oversimplification of a much broader series of processes and creative decisions. It would be like saying non-representational painters just slap paint on a canvas and call it art. While I can produce iterations of my images much faster, it is by no means instantaneous, and requires quite a lot of creativity. A case in point being my series of "Found Objects". Here the starting images were very ordinary photographs, but the creative thought processes to achieve the final images required qite a bit of experimentation and exploration.