Welcome to the first issue of the Digital Workshop Newsletter!

My intent is to sporadically bring you the latest news relating to my second career as a digital artist. If you do not wish to receive these mailings in the future just reply with unsubscribe in the subject field and I will remove you from the list.

New Flash Gallery Viewer

Over the past year I have been working to update much of the content on my website. I have added quite a few new images that have been created over the last few years. If you have not visited my gallery in awhile you will notice a few changes. My various photo galleries have been replaced with a single flash viewer on my gallery page that links to my galleries at www.myartspace.com. The interface is much nicer than most gallery sites. From this single window you can view slideshows of any of my various portfolios just by clicking on the popup menu to the right of the thumbnails at the bottom of the window. There are VCR-like controls for play, stop, fast forward, etc. You can also use a slider to change the time each slide is shown. The neatest feature and the primary reason I decided on the viewer is that it allows you to zoom in on images. To try it out just click on the big white box at the bottom of my gallery page.

New 3D Animated Lenticular Artwork Galleries
Another new feature on my gallery page is the addition of four new 3D lenticular galleries of 3D computer graphic images created in programs like Poser and Strata3D. I realize there is no readily available technology to view 3D images on the web but what I have done is to create animated GIFs of my 3D images. These gifs are comprised of the exact same frames used to make a 3D lenticular. It's amazing but as you view these animations you begin to perceive the spatial relationships in the scene and get a sense of the depth.

If you don't know what lenticular images are you can read several short pieces I wrote on my blog, "Notes from the Digital Workshop" called "What is 3D Lenticular Imaging?" and "How Does 3D Lenticular Printing Work?". If you still have questions feel free to shoot me an email and I'll try to answer the best I can.

I'm currently trying to figure out how I'm going to fund getting my lenticular images printed and several prototypes of my custom backlit displays built. I'm hoping that the sale of my 2D prints will create enough revenue to move on to the next step. Hopefully, you all can help me out.

My New Print and Frame Shop

With the recent recession, I'm sure business has been extremely poor for everyone. Even so I don't feel that art is a luxury item we should do without in hard times. Art should be affordable so it can bring some small joy to people even in times like these! Who can afford the prices you see in most galleries? Selling through the normal art gallery channels, an artist is forced to mark up their work significantly because the galleries will take 30% - 60% of the selling price. These days many galleries also charge you to rent the wall space, fees for printing/publicity/opening costs and then artists still have to pay for printing, matting and framing out of their remaining percentage.

Recently I discovered a cool new online service that lets me offer high quality reproduction prints and canvases of my artwork direct to you and at very reasonable prices. Fine Art America provides artists with an online gallery to upload their print ready images. Visitors to the site can select an image and choose to have a print or canvas made and shipped to them within a few days. This service only costs me a small yearly account fee so the overhead is extremely low and as a result the savings get passed on to you the buyer. I will still be offering personally signed and printed limited edition prints through the gallery channel or even better direct from the Digital Workshop.

If you have not already, I encourage you to try out my new Print & Framing Shop. After selecting the image you want you have a multitude of choices, size, paper or canvas, a number of different types of papers (I recommend the watercolor), glossy or matte canvas, matted in a variety of colors, double matted, framed, or just rolled in tube if you want only a print. The neat thing is that it gives you a preview of what the final framed print will look like as you make your different choices. The interface also lets you know how much it will cost. When you have created an image, mat and frame combination that you like just hit the checkout button. Paypal and all credit cards are accepted and the finished product is shipped directly to you.

Fine Art America also has a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee that should you be unhappy with your purchase you can simply return it within 30 days and get 100% of your money back. Recently Fine Art America began offering printed notecards of any image of your choice starting at $5.25 for one, $29.50 for ten, and $56.25 or twenty-five cards. Envelopes are included.

If you can afford it, it would greatly help me towards my goal of getting my lenticular creations funded. Thanks.

The Perfect Desk

Finally, one more new feature on my website is my new design concept for the perfect ergonomic workstation, The Perfect Desk. The sequel to my original circular Ultimate Desk this unique workstation is specifically designed to work in combination with the new zero gravity recliners like the Perfect Chair. Someday when I have a studio large enough to house it, I hope to actually build it. The desk has been featured on numerous blogs around the world.

Please feel free to pass the link to this page along to anyone you think might be interested, I would greatly appreciate it.