Intelligent Machines This image comprises many effects. “The wheels to the left represent simplistic machinery, which evolve within the center of the work, into conscious, on the right side,” explained Price.
Fruit Here, Price gave Impressionism a digital twist: “I wanted the image to look like a traditional oil painting, but not look like one.” He did so by adding shadows and a metaphysical surface.
In 1988, professional painter/writer Bruce Price of Norfolk, Virginia, made his foray into the world of digital art. Since then, he has spent more than 6000 hours exploring concepts and ideas using the medium, which has become his exclusive palette.
The advantages of generating art on the computer are plentiful, Price points out. For example, the virtual canvas lets an artist merge images to create something entirely new, and allows a “creative personality” to forge new ideas quickly and focus on the ones that are most appealing. “I’ve always been an experimental artist; I doodle and hope to get lucky,” he says. “The computer is a natural ally to the artistic explorer such as myself.”
For his virtual canvas and brushes, the artist uses two Macintosh G4s running ACD Systems’ Canvas and, occasionally, Pixologic’s ZBrush.
Price, in fact, believes that the future of digital content creation lies within fine art, and to this end, he is trying to show the high-end aesthetic possibilities of the medium. “I start with a blank screen and try to make something I’ve never seen before. I never use photos or scanned materials, or Photoshop,” he says. “I am not competing with other digital artists in so much as I am competing with those in
Artnews (a fine art magazine). That’s why I call my work ‘digital painting,’ to suggest a continuum with oil painting and more traditional artwork.”
During the past year, Price’s works have been selected for 35 juried shows, in which he received eight awards. This past summer, he was featured in two solo shows.
A selection of Price’s works appears on these pages. More images and information about the artist can be found at www.cgw.com. -
Karen Moltenbrey
Dream Target This piece, made in ZBrush and Canvas, illustrates “a more spiritual version of [painter] Jaspar Johns’s creations,” says Price.
You Have to Wonder This image, which Price contends would have been difficult to create in oils, “is intended to invoke surprise and curiosity, with its contrasting shapes and colors,” he notes.
Evasive Typical of his current work, this image consists of several panels surrounding a main image. “It’s similar to how painter James Rosenquist creates a large work from smaller ones,” Price said.
Rauschenberg Can’t Touch This An experiment in digital collage, this selection is so named “as a playful challenge directed at one of my main influences: painter Robert Rauschenberg,” says Price.