Paintings #18 - Recent paintings (and my digital art process explained)

In this quick post, I'm just going to highlight a few of my most recent paintings. These were all private commissions received before Christmas and I'm assuming they were all intended as gifts. For me, it's enjoyable to work on these, particularly because of the reactions I get from my customers when they see the final artwork - it's always so rewarding!

The Process
I work as a digital artist when I'm creating pet portraits. This means I paint on a computer. This is still a new concept for many of my customers, who are expecting a painting on canvas or paper and executed with oils or acrylics.

Although I enjoy working with actual real paints and love the feel of paint of canvas or paper, I work digitally on these commissions for two main reasons:

1. Space: My art studio is tiny. I simply don't have enough space for prepping multiple canvases or paper, or for having a series of canvases drying while I work. At least, not at this busy time of year - I'd need to be working through a number of commissions at the same time (working on one layer of one painting, while other paintings are drying).

2. Speed: On computer, I don't have to worry about waiting a week between coats (if I'm painting in oils for example), having my paints dry out on me if I'm called away, cleaning brushes, prepping paper or canvas with undercoats etc. This is important at this time of year - it means I can keep the work flow going and produce a portrait in a day or two instead of a month or two.

The advantage for my customers is that I can keep my costs down too (less time on the painting, no need to buy canvas, paints, or brushes etc) - so I can charge a little less for a digital portrait (compared to one I've painted in oils, for example)...Although this isn't always an advantage if you're trying to make a living doing this - it means I have to work harder to find more customers.

...But isn't it cheating?
It's a common misconception I get from a lot of people who aren't familiar with digital art. Some assume that you scan in a photo, press a few buttons, and the graphics package does the rest...

Well, you CAN do it that way, but the results are often rather dull. To produce good art on computer, you still need to have the right skills. Essentially, if you can't draw or paint well on paper or canvas, then you can't do it well on computer either. I still need to understand colour theory, texture, composition, proportions, anatomy, light etc. etc.

Digital painting is easier in some respects (correcting mistakes, for example, instead of having to scratch them out or paint over them), but you still need a good collection of skills and techniques to do it well.

What's so special about a Jpeg?
Once the painting is complete, it's saved as a .jpeg file. In theory I could mass-print this a multitude of times - not so great if you are wanting something special and unique, right?

When my customers pay for a commission, they don't get a jpeg file sent to them. Once they are happy with my painting, I have it sent to a fine art printer, who produces a single giclee print of the work. I check the print, and once I'm happy with the quality, I sign it and number it 1/1 (meaning it is the first print of a print run of one - in other words a unique print).

The print is produced with archival quality inks and best-in-class paper and comes with a certificate of authenticity (again, signed by me) and stamped with the Fine Art Trade Guild's stamp of approval - meaning that the print meets their high standard.

!
An older print before it was sent to their happy customers (early in 2018)

So, that's the process in a nutshell. If you're interested in a pet portrait then my instagram link is at the top of my blog page (you can see further examples of a range of my artwork there), or follow this link for more information about my pet portraits specifically.

I work from photographs - they need to me good quality (so not blurry). This helps me see enough detail of your pet in order to paint a realistic likeness of them. Prices are in the link above.

That's all for now - Hope you've all enjoyed the post!

Cheers
Adam