It is difficult, (I didn’t take notes) in remembering the names of each computer and the drawing programs as they steadily improved in such a short time.
One of my first experiences of drawing on a screen, was on a small pc (personal computer) as a house guest. It was just suggested that we hold the little “mouse” and see what it and we could do.
Luckily our host also had a printer connected, so we were able to have this first copy, after all of these years.
The first, below, shows the very “pixeled” art. The areas of tone could only be added when the outline of that area was completely enclosed. Then patterns could be moved to the area, and when tapped, it would fill that area.
The second example shows the additional shading possible and the ability to copy the face and reverse it in the mirror. (This and all that follow, was with the new Apple computer that we set up at home.)
I tested to see if this fine line art could be used when I worked at a medical ad agency.
More practice needed with heavier lines and more tones. In this huge sequence of exploring the possibilities, I could see that the year was 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. (The background tone actually looks like building bricks.) “Uncle Sam” shows a more confident stroke of bold lines. Then I show a photos in the example in 1991, where I used this photo print as a “thank you” to to Petrographics (a digital type shop in San Francisco) for the sweatshirt that they gave as a holiday gift. Lastly, just having fun with any subject that came to mind.
When computers entered the ad agencies, there were pcs in the offices, but soon the art departments had to have “Apples”! (the Apple Macintosh line of computers were perfect for graphics!). Mac, short for Macintosh, an actual name of a variety of an (eating) apple.
A lot of my agency work at this time, was still, for me on large layout paper. (The computer art was limited to the size that could easily be printed-out.) Coloring a large layout was fast and easy for my presentations. Also storyboards were mostly presented on sheets taken from a printed storyboard tablet, where markers and pencils were the appropriate tools.
Being a freelancer, we had a small Apple IIGS at home and we were practicing on it, (The graphic artists that were employed in the agencies’ art departments were being instructed on the use of this wonderful graphic tool!) Here is a collection to show the variety and my growth in switching to “digital art”:
First, using photographs to achieve new effects. Next, line art, but so very different for me. Then achieving strong color an effects that I couldn’t achieve on paper. It was so unusual to be able to create fine lines on a black background. There was no end to the ‘backgrounds” available. Then an example of drawing with and embossed line. Lots of choices of line widths and colors. The look of 3‑D, dimensional drawing. Finding unusual backgrounds, here I had scanned my knit sweater for a country-side look. There was no end to the possibilities — -playful to sophisticated.
Next, is a series of suggested branding ideas. I met (at our local farmer’s market) a seller of products (skin treatment creams, lotions, body mists, and oils) using lavender. She said that she wanted and identity image for her products. The ideas that I present to her were not accepted. I didn’t mind, they show the wide and quick variations that could be made by a single person with a scanner, a printer and a Mac. It took very little time making these examples;
For a work assignment, I would always revert to making pencil sketches of my ideas before accomplishing the finished computer artwork.
Ann Thompson
These two pages were illustrated for Apple Computer, Inc. by Dick Moore, showing the difference in the four early Apple models.
A.T.