Computer learns to mimic artists

 The actual artist drawing is on the left, the computer simulation on the right. A computer program that can mimic the abstract portrait drawings of specific artists has been built by experts at Disney Research.
Seven artists were asked to create quick sketches based on portrait photographs, taking various lengths of time to complete their work.

Each artist generated about 8,000 pen strokes for the sketches.
Individual artist preferences, such as how far apart they drew eyes, were also included in the data gathered.
That data was then used to create sketches of photographs as the computer understood each artist would have done them - even beginning with a particular feature if that had been identified as what the artist would have done.

"There's something about an artist's interpretation of a subject that people find compelling," said digital artist Moshe Mahler, from Disney Research, which is based in Pittsburgh.

"We're trying to capture that - to create a computer model of it - in a way that no-one has done before."
However Mr Mahler added that the results were limited to the practical technique rather than the individual flair of the artists used in the pilot project.

"Our approach only understands the trends of how an artist might work," she said.
Is it art? Dr Nick Lambert, lecturer in digital art at Birkbeck, University of London, and chairman of the Computer Arts Society, that Disney's idea built on non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) processes, which have been around since the 1990s.

"We think of computer graphics as trying to look like photographs, but they can equally be something more sketch-like," he said.

"This is basically modelling the effects of the artist's vision - it's an interesting piece of work, but it does build on a number of things that have been done before."

Dr Lambert added that the art world may take some convincing about the program's creative efforts.
"It's a question of whether the machine can learn and evolve from what it sees in the sketches," he said.
"And in this instance that doesn't seem to be the case.

"So the jury is still out on the art front."

Four British-Based Artists Share More Than $200,000 For Moving-Image Projects

LONDON -- Four new moving-image projects from London-based artists will take a share of more than $200,000 (£135,000) from Film London's Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN).

The British capital's movie agency has picked Mark Leckey, Simon Martin, Gail Pickering and Grace Schwindt to benefit from commissions via FLAMIN Productions, which provides artists with the opportunity to produce “ambitious and original moving image works."

FLAMIN is supported by the Arts Council England and dedicated to funding large-scale, single-screen works which represent "a significant step forward in an artist’s practice."

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To date the program has produced a range of pieces, including Ben Rivers’ feature-length project Two Years at Sea, which was released theatrically and acquired by Channel 4, Elizabeth Price’s West Hinder, which was part of an exhibition for which she won the Turner Prize in 2012, and Hilary Koob-Sassen’s Transcalar Investment Vehicles, which won the European Media Arts Festival Award in 2012.

Among this round of recipients is Leckey, who won the Turner Prize in 2008 and whose work has recently been exhibited at this year’s Venice Biennale.

His project On Pleasures Bent has been greenlighted by FLAMIN.

STORY: Film London Creates Department for Artists Looking to Make Movies

Martin, whose recent work was featured in solo shows in London, New York, Toronto and Amsterdam will make UR Feeling.

Pickering, who has exhibited her recent moving-image work across the U.K. and Europe, will mount a project named Dirty Pictures Mirror Speech.

And Schwindt, whose recent work was featured in solo shows in various cities including New York, Edinburgh and London, will make Only a Free Individual Can Create a Free Society.

Film London and the British Film Commission CEO Adrian Wootton said, "Central to Film London’s strategy is to ensure we continue to discover and nurture London’s filmmaking talent. Through FLAMIN, with crucial funding from Arts Council England, we support artist filmmakers to develop and produce interesting works which also progresses them in their careers."

Four British-Based Artists Share More Than $200,000 For Moving-Image Projects

LONDON -- Four new moving-image projects from London-based artists will take a share of more than $200,000 (£135,000) from Film London's Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN).

The British capital's movie agency has picked Mark Leckey, Simon Martin, Gail Pickering and Grace Schwindt to benefit from commissions via FLAMIN Productions, which provides artists with the opportunity to produce “ambitious and original moving image works."

FLAMIN is supported by the Arts Council England and dedicated to funding large-scale, single-screen works which represent "a significant step forward in an artist’s practice."

STORY: Mayor of London Pumps $3 Million into Film London Agency

To date the program has produced a range of pieces, including Ben Rivers’ movie-length project Two Years at Sea, which was released theatrically and acquired by Channel 4 and Elizabeth Price’s West Hinder, which was part of an exhibition for which she won the Turner Prize in 2012, and Hilary Koob-Sassen’s Transcalar Investment Vehicles, which won the European Media Arts Festival Award in 2012.

Among this round of recipients is Leckey, who won the Turner Prize in 2008 and whose work has recently been exhibited at this year’s Venice Biennale.

His project On Pleasures Bent has been greenlit by FLAMIN.

STORY: Film London Creates Department for Artists Looking to Make Movies

Martin, whose recent work was featured in solo shows in London, New York, Toronto and Amsterdam will make UR Feeling.

Pickering, who has exhibited her recent moving image work across the U.K. and Europe, will mount a project named Dirty Pictures Mirror Speech.

And Schwindt, whose recent work was featured in solo shows in various cities including New York, Edinburgh and London, will make Only a Free Individual Can Create a Free Society.

Film London and the British Film Commission CEO Adrian Wootton said, "Central to Film London’s strategy is to ensure we continue to discover and nurture London’s film-making talent. Through FLAMIN, with crucial funding from Arts Council England, we support artist film-makers to develop and produce interesting works which also progresses them in their careers."