Dave's Cafeteria D'Art

how to draw in one easy step

2012-02-11T17:53:00.001-06:00

quote for the... till next time

2011-12-02T19:51:00.001-06:00

"What am I in the eyes of most people - a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person - somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then - even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion."

Vincent van Gogh, writing to Theo van Gogh, July 1882

quote for the day

2011-09-21T17:07:00.002-05:00

"As for the Japanese man, who never stops photographing the world: what does he see? He doesn't even see the two elements he is trying to capture, his traveling companion and the monument that the companion is blocking out. The Eiffel Tower is there to show that this guy spent a day in Paris. But by cracking the same wide, impersonal smile in front of every monument on the face of the Earth, he is destroying the intimate nature of the moment. The Japanese man becomes as timeless as the tower itself. You'd think that the Eiffel Tower was being photographed as a backdrop for a smiling Japanese guy."

Dany Lafferriere

how cool is this?

2011-09-10T19:22:00.000-05:00

Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Mona Lisa' reduced & remixed down into 140 exact circles of colour. Makes no sense close up. Makes every sense from the other side of the room.

(via)

once upon a time...

2011-09-02T08:12:00.002-05:00

Years ago, I had this idea that the best way to photograph a scene like a wheatfield was to use a moving image. Unfortunately, at the time, there was only movie film, and the fledgling video camera.
Nowadays, my dream has been made available. Click on the above photo to see an example (since blogger didnt cooperate here), then go to the main site for more.

career counselling

2011-08-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

- So you think you want to be a war photographer?

a little test

2011-08-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

So, abstract art. Is it just a bunch of crap, a silly waste of time, scrawlings which a child could do just as well at, a brilliant scam on the art world? Hell if I know. This test wont answer the question either, but why not take it anyway?

via

funny

2011-08-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

"statement"

2011-08-01T05:40:00.004-05:00

My work explores the relationship between new class identities and life as perfomance.

With influences as diverse as Nietzsche and Andy Warhol, new synergies are generated from both traditional and modern textures.

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by the theoretical limits of relationships. What starts out as vision soon becomes debased into a hegemony of power, leaving only a sense of chaos and the chance of a new beginning.

As spatial impressions become frozen through boundaried and critical practice, the viewer is left with a statement of the possibilities of our condition.

Like it? If creating an artistic statement is an excercise in time and heartache for you, then give the Arty Bollocks Generator a try.

(h/t)

new rules

2011-07-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

78 Photography Rules For Idiots

picture for the day

2011-07-14T12:33:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, this is a real photo, and it has not been manipulated in any way*. No, it's not mine, though I wish it were.

* Except, presumably, in the usual making-a-decent-looking-print way.

Rare FSA/OWI color photographs from the Great Depression

2011-07-04T12:27:00.002-05:00

There are more here.

today's lesson:

2011-06-05T19:57:00.002-05:00

Contemporary Figurative Painters

View more presentations from Jacques de Beaufort

via Steven LaRose

notice

2011-04-08T21:14:00.001-05:00

The 24th of April is Worldwide Pinhole Photography day.

Get ready, Fool!!!

saturday matinee

2010-12-18T16:18:00.000-06:00

I love stop motion from chloe fleury on Vimeo.

video-time!

2010-10-27T17:48:00.000-05:00

Like a little slice of art school.

street art

2010-09-11T12:45:00.000-05:00

Stephen says I dont post enough - and he's right!

my idea for a digital camera

2010-05-19T15:36:00.002-05:00

So, I had this idea, and I've been playing with it in my head all day. Here it is:

Kodak (or someone) needs to sell a square format "waist-level" viewfinder digital camera. Really, when you think about how most people use digital cameras, looking at a two-inch (or so) screen rather than through a tiny viewfinder, it makes a certain amount of sense. Look, here's an old Kodak Brownie Starflex.

Now, imagine that instead of a viewfinder window, that top lens was for a flash instead.
Oh, wait, maybe you've never seen a Brownie Starlet...
Okay, the Starlet was an old Kodak camera. It was built for the masses. It was cheap and easy to use. It shot photos in a square format. The lower lens exposed the film while the top lens bounced off a mirror and onto a viewing window in the top of the camera (which popped open, see below). If you've never used a waist level viewfinder, it's kind of nice (and you didnt have to use it at waist level, it worked just as well at chin level). I would suggest replacing the mirror/viewfinder arrangement with a simple screen showing what the lens sees, just like on any decent digital camera.

Really, I'm kind of surprised that someone hasnt come up with this idea already (well, someone has, sort of, but not for real use), because digital cameras as they are currently designed are kind of awkward, being a viewfinder-style design with a screen on the backside, forcing you to hold the thing in front of you (often rather precariously) while trying to compose your shot through the glare. A Starlet-style camera (with it's hood shading the screen from glare) would make more sense. If you really needed to have the screen visible from behind the camera, it seems like a easy job to simply make the screen pop up, rather like the hood does.
I think that if you marketed this thing right (say, first going after the retro crowd and old people) you could have a real winner on your hands. And the square format is terrific (ask anyone who loves their Hipstamatic app), especially for portraits and family photos. Find professionals who shot with medium format and hand out a few for free and watch the praise begin.
Yes, you can shoot with a regular camera and crop square, but it really is not the same. Believe me, I've done both.
Listen, Kodak needs this. They were once the kings of photography, but they've been beaten out by Fuji, by Canon, and by HP. This could be their chance to regain the consumer photography crown.
Bring Back The Brownie!

see this

2010-05-09T10:12:00.001-05:00

Ken Murphy's 'A History of the Sky' enables the viewer to appreciate the rhythms of weather, the lengthening and shortening of days, and other atmospheric events on an immediate aesthetic level: the clouds, fog, wind, and rain form a rich visual texture, and sunrises and sunsets cascade across the screen.

An image of the sky is being captured every 10 seconds from a camera installed on the roof of the Exploratorium, on the edge of San Francisco Bay. The images collected over each 24-hour period are assembled into a 6 minute movie.

Ken Murphy's website.

stolen from Presurfer.

Through the Viewfinder no. 1

2010-04-30T15:58:00.005-05:00

I found an interesting way to shoot photos. Using an old waist-level medium format camera, focus your digital camera on the ground glass viewing window, and shoot a photo of that. Voila! Old-timey funkiness!
Sure it's a gimmick, and it's not as easy as it sounds, but it's fun. And there's a Flickr group.

This is my first test attempt. The camera I used for the viewfinder isnt a particularly good one, but all I could find were Yashicamats, which dont quite create the look I'm seeking*.

* I dont think so, anyway. More testing is in order.

go see this: Vivian Maier

2010-04-09T16:21:00.001-05:00

Check out this blog of photographs by a woman named Vivian Maier, who was unknown until John Maloof bought her work at an auction after her death. She was an awesome street photographer.

accidental face

2010-04-03T08:41:00.003-05:00

In my decrepitude, I find that I must take off my glasses to see things up close. This image resulted. It was not planned, merely me recognizing a serendipitous shot when I see one.

domestic still-life no. 28

2010-02-24T04:58:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 27

2010-02-18T07:57:00.001-06:00

people no. 34

2010-02-15T07:56:00.000-06:00

multiframe no. 32

2010-02-12T07:54:00.000-06:00

for my parent's wedding anniversary

2010-02-09T13:50:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 26

2010-02-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

people no. 33

2010-02-05T07:49:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 25

2010-02-02T20:38:00.001-06:00

multiframe no. 31

2010-01-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

Remember when Taco Bueno looked like a Mexican restaurant?

domestic still-life no. 24

2010-01-29T00:08:00.000-06:00

people no. 32

2010-01-26T00:09:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 23, revisited

2010-01-24T13:04:00.000-06:00

I discovered, belatedly, a third frame that I had somehow missed when assembling the image ( I had one I thought was the third frame, and it didnt fit right, because it was not the third frame). I've added it to the piece, you can compare with the first version and decide which is better.

domestic still-life no. 23

2010-01-23T00:07:00.000-06:00

people no. 31

2010-01-20T19:19:00.001-06:00

multiframe no. 30

2010-01-17T18:59:00.000-06:00

multiframe no. 29

2010-01-14T18:58:00.000-06:00

go see this: Donna Pinckley

2010-01-12T16:45:00.004-06:00

My friend Donna has a show on the Lens Culture site.
Go see it, she's terrific.

sharptooth no. 4

2010-01-11T19:10:00.002-06:00

Dinnersaur theatre. Alas, poor Yorickasaurus...

multiframe no.28

2010-01-08T18:21:00.002-06:00

That last frame bothers me. I'm starting to wonder if the piece wouldnt be better off without it.

landscape no.22

2010-01-05T19:38:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no.22

2010-01-02T19:27:00.000-06:00

spaces no. 3

2009-12-29T22:57:00.001-06:00

I could have cleaned this up, but I actually think it works better as is.

domestic still-life no.21

2009-12-22T19:18:00.002-06:00

multiframe no. 27

2009-12-19T19:36:00.000-06:00

people no. 29

2009-12-16T19:24:00.001-06:00

multiframe no. 26

2009-12-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

spaces no. 2

2009-12-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

multiframe no. 25

2009-12-06T22:36:00.001-06:00

Addendum: Whoops! Guess what, I've posted this image before. Only, that time, it was a scan from a print, and this time it's a scan from the negatives. Interesting how different the interpretations can be, isnt it?

people no. 28

2009-12-02T22:37:00.000-06:00

multiframe no. 24

2009-11-29T22:35:00.000-06:00

photoshop no. 2

2009-09-19T03:16:00.005-05:00

I built this International Talk Like A Pirate Day inspired banner (for another blog's header) out of the image below. Not much, I'll admit, but I enjoyed myself.

early color photography

2009-09-14T07:28:00.000-05:00

Awesome color photography from the time of tsarist Russia can be seen here. Yes, that photo to the right here is nearly 100 years old. Click on the link and enjoy the wonder that is the Library of
Congress.

multiframe no. 23

2009-09-10T01:21:00.002-05:00

cool video

2009-05-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

Not sure how she does this, but it is really, really amazing.

people no. 27

2009-04-26T13:29:00.002-05:00

Been a while, I know.

wife stuff no. 2

2009-03-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

the "yard goddess"

people no. 26

2009-03-01T06:36:00.001-06:00

people no. 25

2009-02-26T08:34:00.000-06:00

people no. 24

2009-02-22T00:08:00.000-06:00

spaces no. 1

2009-02-11T13:20:00.006-06:00

I just hooked up my new scanner (the one I bought last spring), and this was the first negative I've scanned on it. Yeah, it's a bathroom. But the light was gorgeous in there. I've yet to make an image from this negative that captures the beauty from that day.
Hopefully, with the new scanner set up, I'll be posting more pictures now.

landscape no. 21

2009-01-21T14:56:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 20

2009-01-05T13:40:00.002-06:00

A winter picture. Not this winter, a past one. I havent had that metal lawn chair in a few years (never should have gotten rid of it).

landscape no. 20

2008-12-17T09:48:00.001-06:00

It actually snowed a little bit here in Dallas, so I took pictures. This one looks better when bigger (so click on it to enlarge).

domestic still-life no. 19

2008-12-07T07:38:00.000-06:00

landscape no. 19

2008-12-02T11:20:00.000-06:00

domestic still-life no. 18

2008-11-26T19:22:00.000-06:00

people no. 23

2008-11-23T07:16:00.001-06:00

A photo of the band Zeitgeist (later renamed The Reivers) taken in Austin, TX, in front of Record Exchange on the Drag, sometime in 1989 (I think).

domestic still-life no. 17

2008-11-19T07:14:00.000-06:00

wife stuff no. 1

2008-11-17T08:23:00.001-06:00

I wish this were mine, but the wife took it.

landscape no. 18

2008-11-13T08:21:00.000-06:00

I've been very bad lately. I'll try to be better.

thing one, no. 1

2008-11-09T19:56:00.000-06:00

Drawn and digitally colored by my oldest daughter.

Photoshop no. 1:a header for Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-01T06:52:00.003-05:00

Been a while, I know. This is a banner I made for another blog for use on November 1st, the Day of the Dead. Isnt Photoshop cool? My apologies to Jose Posada.

people no. 22

2008-09-14T21:31:00.001-05:00

people no. 21

2008-09-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

landscape no. 17

2008-09-01T22:08:00.001-05:00

multiframe no. 22

2008-08-24T01:38:00.001-05:00

landscape no. 16

2008-08-17T22:32:00.001-05:00

cartoon letter

2008-08-10T01:32:00.002-05:00

As promised earlier, here's the cartoon letter I once sent to my friend Alice. It was a lot of fun to make, but dont ask me toever do it again.
Sorry I dont have the pages set up to go from one to the next, but I havent had my HTML hat on in quite a while.
Page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6, page 7, page 8.

stationary

2008-08-05T01:59:00.002-05:00

Another very old drawing*, which I post in "honor" of the stifling heat wave we're enduring here these days. It was made for letters I was writing one summer when I tried to live in Austin, TX without air conditioning (I failed, by the way).

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate summer?

* yeah, it's stolen, sue me.

landscape no. 15

2008-07-27T17:40:00.000-05:00

self portrait

2008-07-23T03:44:00.003-05:00

I drew this years ago to go on the outside of an envelope for a letter I sent to a friend. The letter was in comic form, borrowing liberally from Doonesbury and Bloom County*. One of these days I'll make the letter available for viewing (when I find it).

* this is a lie, they were stolen outright.

multiframe no. 21

2008-07-16T12:48:00.001-05:00

New work! Yes, I know, another tree.
But new work!

pinhole no. 6

2008-07-13T21:04:00.003-05:00

(If you want to know more about how a pinhole photo is made, go here)
(or for a really detailed, if occassionally unsafe for children, description, go here)
(or just google it, ya' lazy, you.)

domestic still-life no. 16

2008-07-03T11:14:00.000-05:00

landscape no. 14

2008-06-30T23:12:00.001-05:00

people no. 20 (x2)

2008-06-26T14:17:00.005-05:00

Cant decide which one I like better, so I'll just put both of them out and see what the occassional passer-by (if there are any) has to say. I prefer this one (I love the gigantic glass of tea),but my daughter prefers this one.

If this had been done physically, with negatives, I wouldnt have had this choice because I would have had to cut one of the negatives to make the multi-frame. Much as I prefer optical photography, I have to admit that this is a great advantage to digital.

multi-frame no. 20

2008-06-20T15:52:00.002-05:00

landscape no. 13

2008-06-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

for father's day

2008-06-15T16:17:00.002-05:00

Been two years now since he died. Still wierd, though.

multiframe no. 19

2008-06-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

thing 2, no. 3

2008-06-01T12:08:00.002-05:00

This was drawn by my youngest, who's six years old.

multiframe no. 18

2008-05-30T07:16:00.000-05:00

multiframe no. 17

2008-05-26T20:35:00.006-05:00

This image is one of my great frustrations. I originally shot this image at Monument Valley National Park during a trip I made in '99. I had no access to either a 6cm scanner or a color darkroom at the time, but I did have a minilab and access to a flatbed scanner. So I made prints with the minilab, then scanned them on the flatbed, then assembled the image in Photoshop. This was at the same time that I made this image. Since then, at various times, I have lost the original negatives (crisp, beautiful things made with my Rolleiflex), the prints made from them, the zip disk containing the scans made of the prints, and recently, the CD containing the file of this image here. All I have left are a few rather dusty prints.

Apparently, I've got a trip west to make again.

landscape no. 12

2008-05-23T07:58:00.000-05:00

people no. 18

2008-05-20T07:05:00.000-05:00

people no. 17

2008-05-18T13:36:00.000-05:00

domestic still-life no. 15

2008-05-14T08:33:00.001-05:00

landscape no. 11

2008-05-08T06:57:00.000-05:00