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SOARING INTO DIGITAL ART
The Star, In.Tech, April 15, 2003
WHY walk when you can fly? That is the question that artist Long Thien
Shih posed.
It was a Wednesday morning and he looked like he had just woken up.
Fresh and wide-eyed, he welcomed this reporter into his humble yet
spacious bungalow tucked away in Petaling Jaya.
As the interview began it was obvious that Long was excited about his
new discovery. He was like a little kid in Disneyland, except it wasn't
the rides and the cotton candy that he was eager to tell In.Tech
about. It was digital art on his home PC.
For an artist who had been working with the paintbrush and canvas for
more than 40 years, it was like somebody had just taken off his blindfold.
He was viewing the art world from a whole new perspective.
After about 40 years of painting on canvas and paper, Long had decided
to try out digital art on the computer.
He is not a new artist. He is not a youngster. He does not need to
prove anything. His name is familiar in the local art circles.
What then would possess Long to venture into unknown territory?
"If you want to, you can walk to England," he explains. "That's fine
if your intention is to enjoy your journey along the way. But if you just
want to get to England to do something it will be better to take a flight.
It is just how you look at things. The question is what you want to show,
not how you do it.
"Basically, in the last 10 years or so we have been bombarded by
information technology. It makes you realise the computer is a wonderful
thing; how it can affect our lives!"
Citing the example of animation, Long explains how animators used to
have to draw everything out by hand and this took a long time, compared
with the animation scene now where technology has helped speed up the
process.
Long has had a firsthand and view of the endless possibilities
available to artists through digital media thanks to his friend Mohd
Nazrin Shukri Mohd Ghazal who is a graphic designer.
"Even though I didn't know how to use the computer I knew the
potential of the tool. So, I thought why not try this new tool or this new
'toy' to see whether it could do something for me."
Instead of being viewed as a "dinosaur," Long decided to see
"whether this old monkey can learn something new."
The "dreaded" machine arrived in September last year.
After a friend helped introduce him to the basics and set it up with
all the software he would need, Long was all set to start his journey into
the world of digital art.
Fear of the unknown
Wary and fearful of the computer, Long was cautious when trying it out
initially. His fears were exacerbated by the strange "events" that
followed. One wrong click and the whole image turned black. Fearing the
worst, Long shut down his PC for the day.
In another incident, he saved an image and couldn't find it the next
day because he couldn't remember where he had saved it.
"(Using the computer) was so complicated. I was very frustrated when I
started using it. You may know English but you still don't understand what
the computer is asking you," explains Long.
He kept at it though, and his persistence paid off when one day
everything just sort of fell into place.
Using a scanned photo of a Sabahan woman that a friend had sent him,
Long used Photoshop to turn the image into a work of art. He completed it
in three days.
"The moment I did that it was like I was on a rocket cruise," he says
gesturing excitedly. "The moment you get there (when everything falls
into place) you know this is a completely new world. Had I not bought the
computer never would I have imagined that I would come up with images like
this."
So, you can teach an old dog … or monkey … new tricks. How difficult is
it to adapt from having paint under the fingernails to having to click
through every stroke and colour, though?
"First you have to accept the computer," he says. "The mouse is not
the paintbrush and the monitor is not your canvas. If I wanted to do a big
painting I can't imagine working on the monitor because the screen is so
small. You have to start knowing this is something you have never done
before and you have to treat it as a new frontier. That monitor screen is
a window that leads out.
"As artists the way you look at things more or less decides what you
paint. I am not abandoning the traditional way. I am not even hinting that
this old way is unprogressive. I am just saying that for anybody who is
involved in creative work this is a new world that you have to try. The
potential has not been exploited if you don't try this 'stupid box,' as it
is called."
The seasoned artist now uses Photoshop, Flash MX, Paintshop, and
Illustrator to help him create his artworks. He is still not sure what to
do with his digital artworks although he knows his options are many.
He could print the art on canvas and hold an exhibition. He could print
out cards or postcards or prints for sale. He could post the art online.
He could sell the images. Failing all that, he could just use the digital
art as sketches from which he could base his oil and acrylic paintings.
Fusion of old and new
Long does not dispute that his new endeavour will have its critics,
many of whom will accuse him of "selling out" because digital art seems
to have more commercial value. Long, however, is not perturbed by these
potential doubters and naysayers.
"Painting with a brush and paper is wonderful. I love it. I have been
doing it for 40 years. I will still be doing it that way. But I am
entering a stage where I can do different things. I am even thinking of
doing animated images on a digital painting and have visitors move
virtually in and out of my paintings. These are all new areas to try,"
says Long.
He stresses the importance of understanding each medium. "They are
totally different mediums but they can give you the same kind of
purpose."
That purpose would be to share his art with a wider audience.
"It might take me three months to paint using oil and acrylic," he
explains. "If the painting is bought by one person, it is confined to the
buyer's house because there is only one copy of that painting. However, if
I did this on a digital format and put it on a CD the print shop would be
able to print 1,000 copies. It is like print-making. It does not restrict
you to just one copy. You can have multiple copies.
"What is interesting here is that this technology may change the whole
business of ownership of art work. Maybe in 20 to 50 years time artists
will be able to sell you a package of images on a CD-ROM. You would just
pay the artist for the CD. From that CD, you can print any or all of the
images onto canvas or paper. You can print them at whatever size you want.
"I think there is an opportunity for something like that to happen. It
offers the potential for something new to take place. A person with
average income can buy art which used to be reserved for those with higher
incomes. It would be like owning a music CD," he says enthusiastically.
Wouldn't this lessen the value of each artwork?
"That is up to the collectors and their motive for buying. That's not
my problem. I don't even want to think about the price," says Long
adamantly.
Right now Long still has not made up his mind which direction his
digital art will take. He has experimented with a few pieces done on the
computer, printed onto canvas (printing done by inkjet print shops), then
touched it up again by hand using paint.
He excitedly brings out pieces of canvas with a mishmash of images
printed on them. Long explains that he is experimenting on dye-based and
pigment-based prints to determine which gives better vibrant colours while
staying true to the original colours and which is the more durable.
It is still too early to say, he informs as he scrutinises the canvas
bits.
One of his early experiments has already been exhibited. Night Dive
hangs proudly on the wall in his house. Looking at it, it is hard to
determine if the artwork was painted by hand or printed. This reporter had
a difficult time scrutinising the work for proof of print or hand
painting. Except for the non-existent oil textures, there are no other
telling signs.
As it turns out, Night Dive was originally a painting which Long had
photographed and turned into digital format. The image was then tweaked
and adjusted on the computer (by Mohd Nazrin under Long's directions). The
final image was printed on canvas at a print shop.
Then Long added the final touches by painting over it again.
Those waiting to witness firsthand Long's fusion works will have to
wait a while. Long says he has a tendency to "hide" his new works/ideas.
"I want to make sure that I have fully digested this new experience
before I share it with the world. I am doing this now as a learning
process. I want to wait a few more years when I can do more with it then I
will think of an exhibition. Or maybe a joint exhibition with others who
are already doing this.
"Exhibitions are just a way for artists to connect with their
audience. With technology, you no longer have to go to an art gallery or
hold an exhibition to talk to your audience. Now, to establish that first
contact you can just go to the Internet."
Fearing nothing
Long is full of praise for the PC and the digital world of art.
"This is a wonderful thing," he says. "I think we should not be
scared of technology. We should not be resistant to it. We should embrace
it with a bit of cautious approach because you know technology is supposed
to help human civilisation to make things better but it is also a
double-edged sword. It can connect you and it can kill you. Technology
should not be used in a destructive way. We should just exploit technology
to make our lives better.
"For the last six months it has made my life better. It has given me a
mental stimulant."
According to Long, his friend Mohd Nazrin is helping him build his own
website. "This technology is fantastic. I am going to have so much fun
connecting with people who surf to my website. It could be somebody from
Siberia or Africa. You could connect with people of such different
backgrounds and cultures. We have come that far.
"I am glad I am still 58," he adds with a cheeky grin.
Long is eager to get in touch with other artists who create digital
art. He can be e-mailed at
paklong3@lycos.com.
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
ALSO:
Malaysian solution for Beijing hospital, March 28, 2006
Go online for retro decoration, September 6, 2005
Mobile apps developers show the way, August 25, 2005
Renting a book on the Net, August 9, 2005
The business of blogging, July 21, 2005
Still waiting for the smarthome, July 19, 2005
Appealing to old and young alike, June 23, 2005
Debunking the geek myth, June 16, 2005
What's cool, man?, June 16, 2005
Tech Doors Opening to the Blind, Oct 14 , 2004
Learning The PC Starts At 60, June 10, 2004
The HTML's On The Blackboard, May 25, 2004
New Technology, Old Methods,Dec 04, 2003
Santa Goes High-Tech, Dec 24, 2002
Bringing Art Home, Oct 01, 2002
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