PSU Magazine Fall 1988

A palette full of pixels Computers are changing the way artists create. By Ko.thryn Kirkland L ast fall, curious onlookers pressed their faces against the windows of Room 246 Neuberger Hall . Ob– viously something special was going on inside as Emily Young, associate profes– sor of art, brushed, smeared and wove color, often unbelievably fast, on the computer terminal at her finger tips. The windows are now papered over - the fish bowl effect was just too much - but the colors are still swirling and the wonder of faculty, students and invited guests has not ceased . Computer art has come of age and Portland State University is getting a glimpse of it through a newly acquired system and Young's experti se. Opening up a painting program, Young picks a brush, chooses her palette, takes an electronic light pen in hand and begins drawing on a gridded tablet. She never glances at the point of drawing in her lap; her eyes are glued to the color screen as a fantastic red ribbon of color appears, now drifting to lighter reds, pinks, and purples. A startling underbelly of blue is revealed as she loops over to change directions. 'Tm painting with light now instead of pig– ment ," says Young, "yet, I'm still painting because the action is very similar." Reproduc1ion from a color print of Oregon 's Mt. Jefferson by Emily Young (1988). The choices in this particular program seem limitless to the novice. On its elec– tronic menu is a pencil , a selection of brushes (or you can make your own) , a paint bucket for pouring, a spray can, shading, even a command for creating a three dimensional look. Some of Young's finished prints look like pastels, achieved through the computer's ability to smear colors together. "The programmer has put into the soft– ware a way of taking a red pixel and white pixel and smearing them together to make the pinks. That was a big break– through," says Young. Pixels are the dots of light that make up the computer screen . The tablet and pen Young uses for manipulating images replaces the "mouse" many Apple Computer users are familiar with. The tablet dimensions match the dimensions of the screen. As the artist marks on the tablet the identical mark appears in the same place on the screen . "At first it is a little like rubbing your stomach and patting your head , but then you get used to it," says Young. "This is a natural for art people because we are used to holding pens and pencils." Young has been teaching in various capacities at Portland State for several years. She currently teaches basic design and art education - the latter being a natural because of her many years teaching in the Portland Public Schools. And of course she is also a profess ional artist. Emily Young " I've done it all , but my medium is painting," says Young. She sees the com– puter as an electronic art tool that sits beside the traditional tool of brushes, pens and the like. Computer art happens to be her current medium of choice. But it is not one she takes lightly. Learning about computers, acquiring a system and putting pen to light has been a decade– long task for Young. Her interest started in 1978 when Young was attending a National Art Education Association conference in San Francisco. Ohio State University brought a roomful of computer and video equipment and gave art demonstrations. "They put Ringling Brothers to shame," remembers Young. Because the equipment was bulky and expensive, Young realized it was unattainable unless she used it through an institution. She waited and read everything, took workshops and was ready these last years when microcom– puters hit the market. Still , the computers are not cheap and at this point the PSU Art Department has only been able to afford one sophisticated PSU 9