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AN
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL GRAPHIC ART & ARTISTS OF
ZENTAO
Like the electric guitar is
sometimes considered to be the "illegitimate
child" among classicists, so is the digital
graphic artist often relegated to the ranks of
"technician" and, at worst,
"pretender" in many artistic circles.
Having worked in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pencil,
pastel, charcoal and chalk, colored pencil, and pen
& ink as well as having sculpted in stone and
clay, as the main graphic artist of zentao, I am now
turned firmly toward the digital medium which I find
(at least at the moment) much more
creatively satisfying than any other, save, perhaps,
sculpting. That some consider me now a
"non-artist" is their problem, not mine. My
art, my vision, speaks for itself, and is rendered
more freely, more trued to my inner vision than ever
before now that I use electrons as my brush.
Bringing my inner vision to
manifested reality is a very personally rewarding
avocation. Being a graphic artists as a vocation,
however, is often times frustrating to the point
that, I am sorry to say, my fist approaches monitor
at high speed in best Shaolin form, stopping just
short of impact.
My best art "just
happens" - happy "accidents"
that leave me in awe of the universe and how
it works. These occur when, putting aside all
rational mind, I enter zen immersion and
"let it."
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"Worst art" happens when
I have a recalcitrant customer who, having insisted
that there is no other artist who they can possibly
use except me, proceeds to despise everything I come
up with, insisting on a style of graphics that I
abhor...like "cutesy" or something in
screaming, contrasting primary and secondary colors.
Needless to say, I am very selective about what
projects I will take.
ABOUT THE ART
DISPLAYED HERE
Having somewhere in the
neighborhood of 15 gigabytes of graphics hanging
around on floppies, CD-ROMS, and hard-drives, not
including the stuff only available on paper, canvas,
stone, clay, and wood, the art featured here is an
incomplete sampling of what I do.
A lot of my best artwork isn't
displayed.
Why?
Because it is work that will be
used commercially on web sites, soon-to-be-released
CD's, books yet to be published....
Because it is to be proprietary, I can't
show it.
ABOUT THE WATERMARKS
"Why is 'ZENTAO' plastered all
over the images," you ask?
Because there is no way to truly
protect artistic work from copying and use by
someone, be it a company that sells, en-mass, images
to consumers on CD-ROM, or an individual. The
watermark we apply is digitally embedded, not in
layers, but into the actual compressed image you see,
and it is very hard to remove because of the way we
set them in. If we find someone using them, then it
is very probable, despite their best efforts to
remove the watermark, that upon close examination
under high magnification, identifiable traces of our
watermarked signature will be there. Won't our
intellectual properties lawyer have fun then!
IS IT FOR SALE
Yes. Sometimes. If you see
something here you like, feel free to ask about it. If
you see something similar to something you would like
to have created or you think my style of artwork
might suit your needs, feel free to contact us with
your idea.
WHAT ABOUT PRICES?
Digital Graphic Art by Zentao is
not expensive...unless you want exclusive copyright.
Then we're about on par with other artists. For
pricing, click
here.
WHAT ABOUT PRO BONO WORK & DO WE TRADE?
Trades come in many forms. Suggest
something and we will consider it. Web sites wanting
artwork but whose owners don't have the money to pay
can usually secure artwork in exchange for quality
links and advertising. Musicians and authors needing
CD covers and book covers can usually negotiate a
reasonable royalty deal. See particulars
here.
As to Pro Bono work, of course we
do it...for worthy causes or under the right, proven
circumstances. See qualifiers here
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