I work on a Mac IIci and primarily use Photoshop. I find this program to be the most versatile application for my purposes as my works are 'compilations' of images either scanned or drawn. Except for rare instances, the scans are from subjects I have photographed myself - figures, landscapes, etc., and in most cases scanned in black and white (grayscale). Nearly all the images are manipulated in some way or other - figures are often compilations of several body parts from several image sources, seamlessly 'molded' into new shapes and forms. The same is true for the landscapes, skies and other subject matter I incorporate into my work. If the work is drawn, I usually create an inked line drawing on paper or acetate and then scan it to the computer. I also use a 3-D rendering application - Alias Sketch. For example, in the original photograph of the mission church used in The Hollow Men #5, the foreground cross was much further forward and was not as symmetrical as I would have liked. I retouched the original cross out of the picture then replaced it with one I created in Alias Sketch. I placed it further back in my composition. The cactus image was then placed in front. The granite balls were also rendered in Sketch.
I prefer to scan in grayscale as I feel this gives me total control of the final image, not only in selecting colors, but I find it much easier to 'sew' the images together when working in black and white. I find this process comparable to creating 'preliminary' drawings. I also feel this procedure has been an important contributing factor to the development of my personal style. This has been the major challenge to retain the integrity of my personal vision and to create a form that is purely digital, that I can't create in paint. If I can paint it (I ask myself) why bother to create it digitally? A hard question that I'm still attempting to resolve.
Alan Falk
[View Artist's Statement]
