It's been a long time since I posted here. Summer was very busy. The only free time that I could find was devoted to collecting source material, and enjoying my local environment in the sunshine, (while it lasted).
Autumn brought to me a prolonged illness from which I am, even now, still recovering. There was little opportunity, (or inclination), for me to indulge myself in artwork.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a better and more productive year.
Those of you who had been following me in WetCanvas will have noticed my absence there also. I shall not be presenting my work there in the future, however. It became abundantly clear in the earlier part of the year that my recent forays into other (digital) media were unwelcome. The monthly digital abstract thread has in fact, I believe, been discontinued entirely. Critique in that forum also appeared to have become limited to kudos only, resulting in my falling out with the administration.
Anyway, here are a few diverse offerings which I hope will soon be followed by a more regular input.
Please feel free to submit your comments, kind or otherwise. No offence will be taken for harsh critique.


2010.01.04.3 (photo-manipulation)


2010.01.04.2 (photo-manipulation)


2010.01.04.2 (photo-manipulation)


Xmas 2009 (digital)

Some Other Recent Works

Just a small collection of images which were created from scratch, using Adobe CS2.
Hopefully you will enjoy at least one of them.
Please feel free to comment using the function at the foot of the post.
Thanks for looking.


Click on Images to enlarge



Dining With Dali (digital)
A playful (but hopefully respectful) homage.





Life and Death (digital)
A somewhat introspective journey, which I still find a little disturbing.





Torment (digital)
Another piece of introspective self-expression





Titanic (digital)
Visions of chaos and confusion/terror.





The Memorial House at Aix (digital)
Created at the request of and inspired by a piece of poetry, written by the love of my life.





A Midsummer Nights Dream (digital)
A pure flight of fantasy.





Pillar of Contempt (digital)





Ceramica Contorta (digital )
A simple exercise in composition

Reclamation by Decay

Reclamation by Decay (click on image to enlarge)


They say that if mankind should disappear from this world, the last monument to his existence will be the Hoover Dam. But after a few thousand years even that will crumble to the forces of nature.
This is not the Hoover Dam, just my representation of simple bricks and mortar after not so many years exposure.
All comments, complimentary or murderous, are of course welcome.
Thanks for looking.

Tech Info:
Medium : Digital
Software : Adobe CS2
Print size : 60 x 42 inches
(Original) Image resolution : 150 ppi (9000 x 6300 pixels)
(Original) File size : 16.8mb @ 1Mbs

Incidentally:
Working on such a large scale in CS2 is not advisable. Having struggled to save the original image, the software appears incapable of opening the file again (insufficient RAM), and I was forced to rely upon Windows Paint to create a reduced size copy for loading here. Any suggestions as to how to overcome the problem within CS2 would be appreciated.

Fingal's Cave

This is the first of what I expect to be a considerable output of work this month. I have many images which are very close to completion.
Inspired by the movement of the same title from Mendelssohn's Hebridean Suite, this was produced using Adobe Creative Suite.

Fingals Cave (digital - click on image to enlarge)


(Technical info: Original image size 3000x2276p without border. = 30x22.75inches. Resolution=100ppi. Original file size=7.04mb)

Please feel free to comment.

Eden, The Final Reckoning, and others

In this posting, I am presenting five new images, created over the past week or so. Two of them are offered as what I call serious works, one is a study, and the other two are more frivolent, fun pieces.
When I use the word serious, I do so to emphasise that these are not quick-fix images produced by playing around with a keyboard and some software. They certainly weren't quick, and they were the result of long periods of contemplation and hard work. On occasions that work can be mind-bending, as I struggle to persuade the software to perform the tasks I require.
The reason for me saying all this stems from an incident recently, in which I was involved, which demonstrates the serious prejudices which still exist against digital media. It was suggested that I didn't "get my hands dirty" as I might have done if I had limited myself to more traditional paints, such as acrylics or oils. Strange that acrylics should have been mentioned, because only very recently have they been accepted as a serious medium, and in fact, many galleries still refuse to host such work.
I deliberately used the word 'limited' a couple of sentences ago, because that is the way I see those 'traditionalists' who refuse to take on board advances in technology. They just cannot seem to encompass the idea that digital software is just another tool to add to their arsenal. At the end of the day, art is about delivering a statement, albeit a visual one. It is not about the methods employed to reach that goal: that is craft, and maybe there lies the bone of their contention. Maybe they believe that as a digital artist I have not 'paid my dues' by learning the craft of the medium, as though all that is necessary is for me to push a few keys and the programming will do everything else for me. Let there be no mistake, the complexities of the software are no easy topic to learn. I have known professionals who have been using the same software as myself on a daily basis for years in a commercial setting, and who still claim that they are but scratching at the surface of the subject. True, with just a little knowledge a great deal of fun and a certain amount of success can be had, but that success wil be limited in its range.
Anyway, now that I have ranted long enough in support of digital art being 'real' art, perhaps I should say something about the pieces I am presenting here.
This first is one of the serious works, and was conceived in order to express my personal concept of what it might be like to come face to face with the moment of reckoning, those last moments approachingthe point of death. Death is always going to be a terrifying experience. It will be apocalyptic in personal terms. At the same time, I also had in mind the possible alternative apocalypse, the sudden and violent end to this world as we know it. However, what you see here will always be your own personal perspectives. Incidentally, this piece was 'designed' to be printed pretty large, anything up to sixty inches wide, if ever I can find someone with the equipment capable of doing so.

The Final Reckoning (digital) (click to enlarge)



This second piece, also hopefully to be taken as a serious work, is anything other than apocalyptic in its subject matter. Again a personal viewpoint, it depicts one way of perceiving the Garden of Eden. A place unspoiled by the hand of man, a place where he/she lives in harmony with the beauty and diversity of nature. Again, this is intended to be printed reasonably large, perhaps thirty or forty inches square (one metre).

Eden (digital) (click to enlarge)



'Ignition' is a study piece, what tradtional artists would call a sketch. I'm not going to say much about it at this time, its title is self-explanatory, and in all probability I shall post the image again in the future, alongside the finished painting that I am currently working towards completing. How far into the future that will be is indeterminate, just as it would have been had it been sitting on the easel.

Ignition (digital study) (click to enlarge)



And now we come to the 'follies', or less serious images. Both are quite simple in their composition, and in the methods used to produce them. These are genuine 'quickies'.
They were both created to support and be included in a 'Quick Digi' thread in the WetCanvas web forum. The thread has in the past, and continues to be, a learning ground, and a generally fun place, for those wishing to experiment with or just play around in the medium. I give it my support because I believe that many people who feel that they cannot produce art, who cannot express their emotions and experiences so well through more traditional methods, or who find themselves shackled by conditioned realism, or even indeed simply don't have the time required to be more dedicated to their art, can often experience much joy by exploring the possibilities of doodling or 'sketching' their ideas and presenting them in a less formal critique setting. We all have visions and dreams, let them see the light of day, that others might enjoy them also.
Both of these pieces demonstrate the potential of a very limited knowledge of the software, requiring only very minimal use of the standard tools.

Stars and Stripes (digital) (click to enlarge)



Oppulance (digital) (click to enlarge)


Many thanks for taking an interest in my work. Comments are always most welcome, using the facility at the close of this post.

Produce of Passion

Only when we unshackle ourselves from the inhibitions of our emotions do we begin to open our eyes. Only then do we allow our creative intuition the freedom of expression.


Click images to enlarge in new window


Urban Free-Fall (digital)



Temple of Contemplation (digital)

Feel Feather Flow (digital)

Please feel free to comment. Thanks you.

Nine New Images

Sometimes images can lay around for days, or more, in a folder waiting for the right moment to arrive. Sometimes that moment of inspiration is required to give the image the final touches to make them work. Today has been one such day, and a number of works have come to completion. Others will have to wait for the emotional batteries to be recharged before they find their way out into the light of day. Here anyway is a selection of the latest to have made their way into the world.

Click Images to Enlarge

Hurricane (digital)



Hokusai #1 (digital)



Holi (Regeneration) (digital)



Wrought (digital)



Mono (digital)



Cradle of Creation (digital)

Power of Three (digital)

Ethnographica (digital)

Knurl (digital)

Thanks for looking. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Just Jazz & Imperfect Storm

Some passages of our lives are inevitably more emotionally charged than others. Such periods lend themselves to a greater productive output generally, but even more so in the creation of art. Recent days have found me stretching the frontiers of my personal life, with the anticipated consequences.

Just Jazz! (digital - click to enlarge)



Imperfect Storm (digital - click to enlarge)

Pe Plaja Electric & Counting the Cost of Summer

Here are two further new images. Again, they are digitally created.
It is often supposed, by some, that these digital performances are achieved mostly by accident, and quickly. In the case of some fractal imagery, and some other abstact work, that theory might have some credence, and there is no denial that software such as Adobe Creative Suite can drastically reduce the number of hours needed to complete the process when compared to more traditional methods.
I hope, however, that the images which follow will go some way to dispelling any misconceptions concerning the degree of conceptual process and the amouint of hard time required to bring them to fruition.
Thanks for looking.


Pe Plaja Electric (The Electric Beach) - (digital - click to enlarge)



Counting the Cost of Summer (digital - click to enlarge)

Ziiiiip!

I'm just going to let this one stand on it's own.

Ziiiiip! (digital - click to enlarge)

I have recently started a new series of digital images, thanks mainly to the encouragement of those of you who have privately endorsed my recent work, and especially due to the formation of a new and very special friendship.
Here are two offerings.

Dissidence (digital)



Pueblo Nevada (digital)

I don't usually add literary appendages to my work, so what follows the next image is somewhat of a rarity.

Ioana - Convergeance of Virtualities (digital)


IOANA (Converging Virtualities)

Out of darkness they emerged,
apart, but treading parrallel courses,
seperated by the gulf of ethereal identity,
neither knowing the potentials of their destinations.

But as they ploughed the waters of that foreign place,
they glimpsed each other, and became aware
of the presence of a light within,
a beacon, enquiring to know
if there existed in this world somewhere,
another of similar heart.

Slowly they shifted there courses
to take a closer look, and found they had committed
to know who lay within.
And so they ventured onward, forever drawing near,
until a point was reached where fingers stretched from bow to bow,
and hearts screamed forward to that place
where dark might meet the light.

Thomas Greaves, March 2nd, 2009.

Well I'm feeling a little guilty, as I haven't posted any new work for quite some time.
Truth is that summer is only just drawing to a close, and whilst plenty of colour and light persist in the great outdoors, very little in the way of completed art is coming from the easel still.
It seems that my year is divided in two: one half being spent filling my eyes and gathering material, and the other half translating and rendering my inspirations to canvas.
However it appears that my recent forays into the realms of digital abstraction have proven very popular, and so I have dedicated some time to exploring and producing a further (quite large) series of images.
I present them here hoping that some of them, at least, will provide equal enjoyment to viewers as they have to me in their creation.

The 'R' Series
(click image to enlarge)