Victoria Hutson, LSC Art Instructor

 A Muse
by Victoria Hutson

It is truly amazing what can be done today with digital drawing and painting programs! And it definitely helps to have a Wacom pen tablet! 

The tablet I recommend for my Digital Drawing and Painting students is the “Bamboo Fun” tablet.  It comes with both Photoshop Elements 5, and Painter Essentials 3 software.  Basically, everything you need to start creating digital art work–and it costs less than $100! The LSC Bookstore will have some in stock starting Fall 2008! 

It took me about two hours to draw this picture using Photoshop CS3.  If you click on the link below the drawing you can view a speeded-up three minute video showing the entire process.

  Click on this drawing-video  link to view the three minute speeded up version!

Digital Painting:

Starting fall semester, 2008, I will be teaching a Digital Drawing and Painting course online at LSC.  Below is a painting I created using Painter X software. 

Recently I purchased a Canon EF 70-300mm IS lens for my Digital Rebel XT and it has provided me with the ability to photograph scenes I couldn’t reach before.  Here are two photos I took last month at Como Zoo in St. Paul. 

Viewing these animals up close through the lens was a very powerful experience.  In a way I felt like an intruder invading their space. The eye-contact I made with the bored orangutan was harmless enough.  However, seeing the anger and unhappiness in the young gorilla’s face as he glared at the spectators watching him, was much more unsettling.  

Digital Photography:  Looking Back  Three years ago I started the digital photography program at LSC.  Since then, I have had the privilege of working with over 425 digital photography students.  The program continues to grow and recently other instructors have been hired to help teach some of the beginning level courses.  

This summer I attended Duluth photographer Michael Furtman’s one-credit “Digital Photography of the Natural World” course.  This course was part of the LSC Summer Science Institute one-credit offerings.   Twenty-two student photographs from that course are on display at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth.  The show will be moved to LSC for the Grand Opening of the new building in late September, 2007.

 
Lake Superior Feet
(c) Victoria Hutson

Digital Drawing and Painting:  Looking Forward

Imagine. . . painting with oils without the smell of turpentine filling the air; drawing with charcoal without getting your hands, or your house dirty; switching from airbrush to conte crayon with the click of a button; or best yet, never running out of art supplies!

I am currently creating a “Digital Drawing and Painting” course that does all this and more!  Students will learn how to use  graphic tablets and computer software to create digital drawings and paintings.   The potential for expression is beyond anything I have dealt with in the past.  Art and technology work well together!  I will post some of my work as I complete it.