The Gallery at Graphic-Design.com presents: window with chair Richard Bornemann We caught up with Richard shortly after winning the Macworld Fine Arts competition, and he related the story about how he started. ___ Richard is a graduate of the Maryland School of Architecture (1978), after which he worked designing and building large buildings in Washington, D.C. As a registered architect, he set up his own shop and began creating architectural illustrations for builders around the country. ___ His work inpresses everyone as a cross between the post realism and today's modern "hard edged" art. One can easily see the piece "Window with chair" rendered in acrylic on canvas, however Richard created it in a very different way. ___ Open the full piece in a separate browser window which can be re-sized so both windows can be viewed at once. Click to open Richard comments: My start as a digital fine artist began two years ago. At that point, I suddenly had one of those rare flashes of insight, which gave me the idea for not just one piece of art, but a whole body of work. I began working immediately on a first piece. More about this in a moment. __ When I graduated from college at the University of Maryland School of Architecture (1978) I worked designing (and building) large buildings in Washington D.C. I became a registered architect. After this, I started my own company, an art studio staffed with artists who created architectural illustrations for builders around the country. I have also worked in traditional media such as oils and graphite. In addition, I have worked as a digital illustrator, creating commercial images for companies like Agilent, Akaimai, Adero, and others. Bornemann's art is created on the Macintosh platform, using Strata StudioPro and Photoshop software as primary tools. He starts with a D model of the piece in Strata Studio Pro as one might expect a sculptor to begin working on a chunk of marble. He moves around walls, tests several different camera viewpoints for the scene, and beginstesting colors. All while in the 3D virtual world of Strata. ___ Because his images are so simple, with so few elements, every part of the scene becomes critical to it's success. Richard writes: "... in "Window with chair, " when I scaled the chair in relation to the window it became the only scale giving element in the entire picture. Depending on how big or small it is, immediately clues the viewer into the rough proportions of the space. In this piece, I felt it important to have a scale that had some monumentality to it. The space that we are viewing is fairly large, with a tall ceiling. " A contrast is set up for the viewer, and as our eye returns to the chair again and again, our inner sense of objects and space presents an intriguing visual play. ___ As he constructs the elements of the piece many details are painstakingly adjusted. The shape of the light streaming onto the floor, the size of the window, the thickness of the wall, the height of the ceiling are are modified and refined until Bornemann feels they are perfect. ___ At that point, he creates a series of "ray traced" proofs from the rendering engine within Strata. For this piece, 37 different proofs, each with fine adjustments were created. Sometimes, he will completely fill my monitor with different proofs of a piece, narrowing down choices of what he feels works best. ___ His next step is to create a high resolution final ray tracing. This is imported into Photoshop and the entire image is broken down into a series of channels. This allows each element of the piece to be retouched. "Window with chair" had about 15 different channels, such as floor, chair, window side, ceiling, etc. ___ While we can all enjoy the technical description of how the piece was crafted, the important thing to learn is what really makes this piece work. ___ Bornemann's handling of the visual form and space presents an underlying theme and message to the viewer. What is on the other side of that wall? What is happening in the scene? What will happen next? Bornemann comments: Many people have responded that my work gives them a sense of unlimited potential, of optimism and hopefullness. Others have said that they are positive and uplifting images. In April 2001, Boremann had his first show, at Rocky Mountain Digital Arts Center. Nothing sold from that show, but the response from viewers on opening night was very encouraging to him. That show was followed by a two person show at the Peck Gallery in Providence RI. After the first two weeks five pieces had sold. The show was extended through the summer, and now the gallery is representing his work, with a large show being planned for 2002. Links: #1: www.RichardBornemann.com #2: "The Peck Gallery" - www.peckgallery.com Plates: #1: "Window & Chair" by Richard Bornemann #2: "Window & Chair Detail": blow-up showing detail of chair Gallery Lobby Design & Publishing Center Lobby _/_ DT&G News Front Page Send us YOUR creations for The Gallery. You are invited to display your masterpiece in design, illustration, publishing, signs or other visual communications fields, in the in the Design & Publishing Center Gallery. ___ Contact Graphic-Design.com. We'll send you the full story on showing your design or graphic masterpieces on full display in the Gallery. We want to see your work... our visitors want to see your work... and all you have to do is do it. You are visiting The Gallery at The Design & Publishing Center -- URL: http://www.graphic-design.com/Gallery/ -- Copyright 1995, 2002 Showker Graphic Arts, for the The Design & Publishing Center, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.