Beech Trees atHistoric High�eld

Hall

The original reference photos used for these pastel paintings, were taken on a beautiful early autumn afternoon in 2007, the year of the �rst painting. There was no plan to create a series, but periodically I’d review the photos and get re-inspired again. To date, 7 versions have been painted and show how a simple, but appealing scene can be painted in various ways. Steps involved: 2 of the 3 sketchy pieces were applied directly on pastel paper while the 3rd was over black acrylic on watercolor paper. The traditional versions were applied over a light drawing of the image using a photo as reference and “Green Tree” was painted in pastel on high quality tracing paper laid over an earlier pastel of the composition. A vellum paper is a better choice when using this method due to its resistence to tearing and wrinkling. Since “Art Making” is also about materials, several brands of soft pastels, pastel pencils and Conte Crayons were used over di�erent supports or paper backgrounds. They include black Conte Mi Tientes pastel paper and board, Arches watercolor paper and tracing paper which incidentially was �rst introduced as a pastel support by Edgar Degas in the 19th century and is also approved for today’s use by the Pastel Society of America. FYI: each of these paintings were done in one session.

Evolution ofthe Beech Tree

Paintings atHistoric High�eld

Hall

David Kelley: “Art Making”High�eld Hall, 4/1- 5/10, 2015

There are many ways to make art and many steps involved from initial concept to �nished work. Since most exhibitions show only �nished artwork, an exhibition of artwork along with some of the steps involved in making it might be appteciated by many gallery visitors. This exhibition illustrates the “Art Making” steps regularly used by Cape Cod artist David Kelley for the art in this exhibition. They include: Beech Trees at Historic High�eld Hall - a look at the variation in the 7 paintings done of the same scene over an 8 year period. Evolution of “The Pear Image” - the steps involved in the re-make of an old image into something exciting, comtemporary and totally new. Finding New Experimental Art - developing new art from old sketches, paintings, ideas and thumbnails, an interesting resource. Making Digital Art And Its Applications - outlines the many creative uses of the computer in the development and creation of artists projects of all kinds. Thumbnail Sketches - a study of a sketchbook and the two thumbnail sketches behind several of the pieces in this exhibition and their importance in the development of art.

High�eld a’Glo High�eld a’Glo 2 Spring Morn

After the RainGreen Tree Afternoon in Spring Early Spring Morn

Development of “Fall Migration”

“ Fall Migration” Pastel painting over watercolor on Wallis sanded paper.

Development of “The Pear Images.”

(1) The ‘colored paper collage ‘with pear’ in this exhibition was created years ago as a magazine cover for the Boston Computer Society. Periodically I would re-discover and get inspired by its image but only recently decided to develop it further and re-drew it in my iMac as a (2) digital image. This allowed me to change the colors, try new backgrounds and have fun creating new options as the original was already a successful design. My goal was to create a dynamite, moody, o�-beat pastel that could compete in national juried exhibitions. To meet this goal, I had to be bold and change the overall color scheme and create a more interesting background. After several weeks of short bursts of play, what resulted was a (3) reversal* of all the colors which gave it a totally new and exciting look. When satis�ed, I made a (4) tracing from a digital print of the new design and transferred it to Wallis Sanded paper. A light watercolor (5) underpainting of the whole image and background was then made which provided a ‘new look’ and some exciting unplanned options for this design which I took advantage of when applying the pastels. The background in particular gave it a nice ‘spacey’ look which white pastel helped to enhance. The painting took time but progressed smoothly as it was interesting evolving the two backgrounds in harmony with the prime elements. I enjoy the playfulness displayed which suggests doing a 3D version, and further animated paintings with di�erent combos of subject matter. Lastly, the name!! It’s always fun problem to name a playful piece of art. After several back and forths, “Fall Migration” was �nally christened. FYI: this new version was developed o� and on over a 3-4 month period. _______________* Reversal is the negative version of a color. Orange becomes blue, red becomes green and yellow becomes purple. They convert into the secondary colors. (3) Pastel Study before doing �nal (4).

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24

5

3

pastel version

Finding New Experimental Art

Comp @ High�eld

Framed Pic @ High�eld

“ Boogie Woogie” Pastel painting over watercolor on Wallis paper.

“ FantaSea” Pastel painting on Wallis sanded paper.

“ Navajo Dream” Pastel painting on Wallis sanded paper.

“Magical Dream 2” Watercolor painting on Arches watercolor paper.

“Magical Dreams” Pastel painting over watercolor underpainting on Wallis Sanded pastel paper.

“Boogie Woogie” digital design and color guide for painting.

Where do new visual ideas come from?If you are new to art, your primary concern may be in skill development, but some-thing stimulated you to become an artist and seeking samples of it to make drawing and designs of may help to build your creative foundation. If artists are curious “Art Makers” interested in doing creative or better work, they are always on the look-out for interesting elements that stimulate this interest. Setting aside your own ‘creative or experimental playtime’ helps youto seek new and exciting combinations that make good art. An important area that shouldn‘t be ignored is to search through old sketch books, drawings and notes for visual ideas that were not developed at the time, but might be a goldmine now especially as you get older. As artists, our skills and talents are always developing and it’s possible that they were not ready to develop some of these earlier sketches, but may be perfect to do so now. That’s what happened with the two thumbnails shown here in my sketchbook. I was tired of what I was doing and wanted to go beyond abstract painting and start doing something playful. So here they are out of the sketchbook and now on the gallery wall. They were fun to do and quite time consuming. They are playful, colorful, inspire analysis and make me wonder what they mean and where did they come from. This is their �rst public exposure and they are curious about their reception. As artists, we are drawn to do such things so as to share them with others and maybe discover what’s happen-ing here. At present, I have a variety of older images all ready to be developed and brought into the 21st century. I’m looking forward to working on them as they arevery upbeat, colorful and playful images ready to �y. Wish me luck!!

Digital Art As An Application For Design & ArtThis exhibition of “Art Making” includes several pieces of digital art that serve di�erent functions. One is the design and color development of new ideas & designs shown as framed digital prints, and the second aids in the development of �ne art projects shown as layouts. In both cases, a computer using the same program like Adobe Illustrator was used. There are many ways to create these digital images which include scanning thumbnail sketches, original drawings and photos, then re-drawing and developing the scanned images in the computer. Or you can complete the whole process from start to �nish within the illustration app in your computer. All of the digital art samples shown here are a combination of the two processes just mentioned. All kinds of design and art work can be done within the computer such as medical & scienti�c illustration, photo manipulation, graphic design and �ne art. It’s just a great way to expand your creative vision.

Development of “The Pear Images.”

(1) The ‘colored paper collage ‘with pear’ in this exhibition was created years ago as a magazine cover for the Boston Computer Society. Periodically I would re-discover and get inspired by its image but only recently decided to develop it further and re-drew it in my iMac as a (2) digital image. This allowed me to change the colors, try new backgrounds and have fun creating new options as the original was already a successful design. My goal was to create a dynamite, moody, o�-beat pastel that could compete in national juried exhibitions. To meet this goal, I had to be bold and change the overall color scheme and create a more interesting background. After several weeks of short bursts of play, what resulted was a (3) reversal* of all the colors which gave it a totally new and exciting look. When satis�ed, I made a (4) tracing from a digital print of the new design and transferred it to Wallis Sanded paper. A light watercolor (5) underpainting of the whole image and background was then made which provided a ‘new look’ and some exciting unplanned options for this design which I took advantage of when applying the pastels. The background in particular gave it a nice ‘spacey’ look which white pastel helped to enhance. The painting took time but progressed smoothly as it was interesting evolving the two backgrounds in harmony with the prime elements. I enjoy the playfulness displayed which suggests doing a 3D version, and further animated paintings with di�erent combos of subject matter. Lastly, the name!! It’s always fun problem to name a playful piece of art. After several back and forths, “Fall Migration” was �nally christened. FYI: this new version was developed o� and on over a 3-4 month period. _______________* Reversal is the negative version of a color. Orange becomes blue, red becomes green and yellow becomes purple. They convert into the secondary colors. (3) Pastel Study before doing �nal (4).

Making Digital Art and Its Applications

Thumbnail SketchesDeveloping Art from Thumbnail Sketches. Thumbnail sketches can be doodles or a ‘stress free’ form of play which often has surprising results. The images shown here are a good examples of this and a great way to invent new shapes for you to turn into interesting, playful designs and paintings. This exhibition provides good examples of this. Another form of thumbnails often used by landscape and still life painters, are simpli�ed sketches of various scenes or set-ups that are developed in several small sketch stages that try to solve various problems before beginning a painting. However used thumbnails simplify the image, stress the major elements and encourage the artist to solve the structural aspects,