About the Artist
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Processes
I begin a digital artwork by creating directly with the computer, or with a scan of one of my traditional paintings or drawings, or a photograph. Then I start transforming, distorting, adding, erasing, layering, digitally drawing or painting. If I can imagine it, I can find a way to do it with the computer. Sometimes I go back into a archival digital print and work on it with traditional media – whatever the art work needs. I especially like to create descendants of existing work, creating related families of images. By adding the computer as one of my tools, I can create hybrid images with layers of photographs and digital processes, using these elements like tubes of paint - some of this one here, a little of that one there. I've been working with the concept of evolution for many years now, how images can morph into other images, or start whole families with generations and siblings and cousins. In the past I've always had to provide the forces that transformed the images, (which were mostly destructive) as well as determine which would survive to the next generation. With the computer, the forces can be evolutionary. With internet, the survival-of-the-fittest decisions can be crowd-sourced, providing a more natural force to work with. Even when I work with photographs and photographic tools, my aim is to create an evocative image with the soul of a painting, richly layered and textured. The subject matter could be anything, but the real subject is the composition – the abstract shapes and colors and the relationships between them. I want the images to be compelling to look at. |
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Media
As a lifelong artist and a classically trained painter, I've tried nearly every traditional medium and have loved almost all of them. By now, though, I almost always use soft pastels (especially for live demos and portrait sittings) because of their speed, versatility and richness of color. I love using computers for the same reasons, only more so. Although I have used computers to make art since 1985, digital photography is a relatively new painting medium to me, and has opened up vast new possibilities. It has literally turned the whole world into virtual paint for me to use. Working directly with bits of the “real world” also appeals to the more scientific side of me, and ties in with my interest in underlying structure. The world is an endless source of compelling visuals, even in the most common or unlikely of places. I get great joy in finding these compositions and in transforming them into art. |
About
Nancy Freeman is a native of California who lives now in the Washington, DC area. A lifelong artist, she paints portraits and other commissions for a living, which keeps her traditional skills tuned and supports her decades-old involvement in computer art. Her paintings, prints, and photographs, especially in the digital realm, have been featured in exhibitions, galleries, university shows and museums around the world.
Freeman has been teaching for over twenty years. Currently teaching "Pastel Techniques - Painting and Drawing with Soft Pastels", and "Apps for Artists - Using Touch Screen Tablets to Create Art", she has also taught portraiture, color theory, oil pastels and other media, and various lectures, courses, and workshops on the use of computers as an art medium and tool, going back to the beginning of the computer graphics era.
Nancy Freeman is a native of California who lives now in the Washington, DC area. A lifelong artist, she paints portraits and other commissions for a living, which keeps her traditional skills tuned and supports her decades-old involvement in computer art. Her paintings, prints, and photographs, especially in the digital realm, have been featured in exhibitions, galleries, university shows and museums around the world.
Freeman has been teaching for over twenty years. Currently teaching "Pastel Techniques - Painting and Drawing with Soft Pastels", and "Apps for Artists - Using Touch Screen Tablets to Create Art", she has also taught portraiture, color theory, oil pastels and other media, and various lectures, courses, and workshops on the use of computers as an art medium and tool, going back to the beginning of the computer graphics era.