80
MLCM
FALL/WINTER2016
“Nowadays, I think maybe that sense of texture is more important,” he says.
“All the colours are there, the lines are the same, but the eye can tell the
difference and see the human effort put in. I don’t know if a computer can
tell what that is yet
-
because everything is ones and zeros. It can recognize
human error, but maybe not human effort
-
the time and energy it takes to
actually touch the pen or brush to the paper. We don’t even recognize it all the
time, but we can tell there is something different, something that speaks to us…
That might be enough that the computerswill keep us around for awhile longer.
I hope so.”
Despite all the art-versus-machine talk, Barnes admits that with a young
family to provide for, 90 per cent of his output these days is making
computer-based illustrations for magazines like us. “Draw it, scan it, make the
changes,” he says. “Then colour it digitally and send it off. I like it though,
because everyone wants something different and the deadlines mean you
have to finish it. Deadlines create honesty. They bring a sense of rawness to
the process
-
you go to battle and then you are done.”
For
Mountain Life
, Dave Barnes has gone to battle more than 50 times over
the past 32-issue, ten-year stretch. His love of snowboarding, telemarking,
skateboarding and exploring old logging roads have guided him as he
handcrafts the exact visual aesthetic andmood we want to bring to our
readers. The warmth of human error, the value of time and effort, the
readiness to embark on a journey or wage a battle that can be completed but
perhaps never won.
Dave lifts his empty-again whiskey glass and swirls the ice next to his ear with
a swishing clink. “You hear that?” he asks. “The simplest little sound, but it
means somany things
-
minutes passing, deep conversation, and time to get
the bottle. Such an everyday sound, but how the hell could I ever draw it?”
