Artist Ray Ceaser trades in paints and brushes for Maya 3D Software

"For me the computer is a perfect tool to work intuitively," says Caesar who originally got his start in film animation and builds each piece as a complete 3D environment. "Nothing is concrete and set in stone and I can change things as I need to, even if I have almost completed the image. A brush or pencil is the extension of a hand and eye, a motion of the arm and a judgment of space and negative space; the computer does this as well as any tool and in some ways I can get inside my tool."

The knock on most digital art is that it's often built from pre-existing imagery, but Maya forces Caesar to use many of the same skills needed for most traditional artwork. "The work he does, and how he builds it, you can't create that without being able to paint or draw it in the first place," says Levine. "It's an incredibly technical and time-consuming process. He's pioneered a new way of making art. His work is informed by traditional methods and styles but executed with new tools."

For the complete article, go to: 

http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=131059

Technology makes art education a bigger draw

In art, as in life at large, technology has changed everything – or, more precisely, almost everything.

In art classes at schools and universities today, new and emerging software is rendering art appreciation and even actual artistic production accessible to a far greater number of interested students and aspiring artists than ever before.

In the classic approach, talented apprentices toil under the tutelage of a highly skilled master to perfect their skills and learn the fundamentals of their art. That approach works well for the talented few but not so well for those who lack dogged desire or raw native talent. It also imposes strict limits on the number of individuals permitted to benefit from the wisdom, skill, and experience of the master.

To a remarkable degree, technology in the service of art and art education is changing all that.

To read the complete article that appeared in ESchool News, click here.

Studio 360: Jeff Lieberman, Musician, Photographer, Robotics Engineer

Jeff Lieberman is a musician, a photographer, and is getting his PhD in Robotics. He's also the host of "Time Warp" on the Discovery Channel. But years ago, when Lieberman was a teenager, he was unsure whether to choose a creative or scientific path. Then he encountered an amazing sculpture by the artist Arthur Ganson.

This Studio 360 segment was produced by Lindsay Patterson.

A New Look and New Feature

At the request of some of the readers of this blog, I've adopted a new template which is easier on the eyes.

I'll also try keeping my posts to short descriptions with links for those who want to read further.

I'm still looking for some brave souls who not only read but are willing to interact with this blog.

Who might those be?