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Psychedelic
art gained widespread popularity around the psychedelic music
of the 60s and 70s by such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, the
Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground, The
Doors, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd. It was often seen in
concert posters, album covers, advertising, and comic books.
Psychedelic art has now become popular as the visual component
of trance, techno and progressive dance music. It is often
scene in visuals, flyers and posters at psychedelic parties,
nightclubs and other music events.
The
artwork I create could best be described as psychedelic visionary
art. It expands wide in form by embracing mysticsm, the hippy
and mind-expanding culture of the 60s and early 70s through
to the psychedelic trance scene of today.
The
pictures are created digitally and built up rather like an
architectural structure. They start with the creation and
exploration of a fractal, which then becomes the foundation
and background of the picture. But what is a fractal? It is
a mathematical representation of chaos - well not exactly
- it is more like a computer generated tree that just keeps
branching out again and again into infinity.
Fractals
are based on mathematical equations that never end, that is,
no matter how much you enlarge the image, there is always
the same amount of detail and a repetition of mathematically
defined shapes in the enlarged image.
Upon
these backgrounds I then build the picture by creating the
foregrounds such as planets, trees, stars and people by using
layers. In most cases the picture has to move through several
programs before completion. After adding various textures
and materials to the image and applying the final touches
with some of the paint tools in Photoshop the picture is finally
complete.
My
interest in the arts began in the 70s when I attended college
and studied Graphic Design. At this time I was mainly inspired
by surrealism and many of the psychedelic record album covers
and posters. Leaving college and doing various jobs, I decided
to study once again.
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I chose my other great passion which is music and learnt to
play the classical guitar. After many hours of practice over
a number of years, I became a freelance teacher. I have also
developed other styles and now teach the guitar part-time
including classical, acoustic and electric.
Before
using the computer to create art, I painted mainly with oils
including the Bob Ross method. A wonderful man, who sadly
is no longer here in the flesh. He was very close to nature,
a fantastic landscape and seascape painter who gave me much
inspiration. He brought a unique style of oil painting to
many people in the US and many other countries through his
TV broadcasts. His techniques, brushes and paints etc, are
all available from the Bob
Ross website.
I
became interested in digital art in the late eighties and
early nineties first using an Amiga 500 computer. Although
very slow in comparison with today's machines, some of the
programs available at this time were capable of producing
some good results.
With
computer, graphic design, and some photography skills, my
interest grew where now I spend many hours creating designs
that would have been near impossible to achieve some years
ago.
I have a great passion for many forms of art, including the
great masterpieces of the past, sculpture, ceramics, photography,
some traditional art and many of the modern and contemporary
works of today.
Art
can be expressed in many different forms and with a multitude
of tools. From traditional brushes, knives, pencils, paints
etc, to modern and digital.technology such as computers, cameras,
sound equipment and video.
My
artwork is a demonstration of how creativity and technology
can come together and be used in the expression of the inner
most thoughts and imagination of the artist.
Brian
Exton
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Picturerealm
Art
Shop Galleries and Picture Messaging
