S: Yes, I’ve boldly gone where I’ve not been before – namely REAL paint. My new work now is a synthesis of digital and oil painting. There were several reasons for doing this. First of all I got really tired of constantly being classed in with Digital Photography. No matter how hard I tried to inform people the difference between Digital Art and Digital photography or “manipulated photography”, a term I simply abhor, it seemed to fall on deaf ears. So at least now I can truly be classified as mixed media if not painting – as I intend the art works to be viewed as. Secondly, while my work has always strived to look as much like real painting as possible, I found that there were just some places that digital paint just could not go. I’ve been extremely fortunate over the past two years to have been mentored by some very talented oil painters who have really helped me refine my vision and understanding of the finer points of seeing things as a painter and not a photographer. From this, I have been able to really improve my work, but still needed to actually get in there with paints and brushes to really get it. In the art group I belong to, we often speak about “seeing the coyote”. This refers to viewing one of the Magic Eye® prints, that when you finally see it, you see a 3D coyote. When you can do this it means that your brain is functioning exclusively on the right side. This is the side of the brain that allows you to intuitively see and express things in a more creative manner. I found that I’ve been able to do that and see beyond what I presently have created and greatly enhance the artistic interpretation of the piece.
I: So I take it you are not simply painting over the digital “brush strokes” on the original.
S: Quite true! Its really bringing into it a whole new dimension of colors and details and textures that makes it a completely different work of art from the original digital version. It's actually quite a new and creative experience!
I: What was the hardest part of this transition to painting?
S: Learning to mix colors not based on the RBG model, but complimentary color mixing to alter the hues and tonality. Once I got the hang of this, I found I was able to use the colors on the printed image as my guide. Also I'm still pretty new to real brushes vs. digital ones.
I: So are you re-painting on a blank canvas or painting on top of the print of the digital one?
S: Right now I’m re-painting on top of the digital print. I tried starting from a blank canvas and ran into the same frustrations that I had when I first attempted painting – mainly, I still can’t draw nearly to the level I need to in order to create the complex images I paint digitally. By working with the Digital print as a starting matrix, I can focus on really enhancing my original vision. Perhaps someday, I’ll improve my skills enough to be able to create the same caliber of work on a blank canvas. I guess I consider this my painting-on-training-wheels-phase.
I: You’ve chosen to use oil paints, and you’re painting on top of the paper prints, was there any particular reason for this choice?
S: I originally experimented with a number of different mediums and substrates. Let me start with my choice of substrate first. I chose to print on paper primarily for economic reasons. To begin with my HP130 readily allowed me to print larger sized images onto paper based substrates, but really did not like canvas. After blowing out a set of print heads experimenting with this, I decided to follow the manufacturers recommendation and stick with approved substrates. Also the cost for the paper vs. canvas media was significantly less, so I could afford to make a lot of mistakes without going into the poor house. Also I found that I just could not get the same rich colors and vibrancy on prints I had done using Pigment Based inks on printed onto canvas. Lastly, I found a semi-gloss paper that worked beautifully with paint**. It allowed me to paint directly onto the surface without adversely affecting the underlying image. I found I would wipe off the whole mess with mineral spirits if I wanted and not ruin the print. It also allowed me to overlay the paint in a number of ways. The smooth semi-gloss surface made it possible to apply a very thin glaze to the image, thus preserving most of the underlying details, but adding a slight brush texture and color hue. If I wanted to get more of build up of paint I could apply it thicker in places to completely over paint the underlying image. Best of all, I found I needed much less paint than if I were to paint on canvas since the smooth surface allowed the paint to spread further. The paint dries reasonably fast too without being nearly instantaneous like acrylic paint does. Usually I’ll have a dry surface within two or three days. This also was the reason I chose oil paints vs. acrylics. Acrylic paints tended to lock onto the surface too quickly and dry almost as fast as I could put it on. This made blends and correcting mistakes a lot harder. Also I couldn’t remove it if I made mistakes without destroying the underling image. Once the painting was completed, I found I could successfully dry mount it onto foam core or gator board using low temperature dry mounting materials. Since I out-source this I couldn’t tell you the specifics. Once the paint is dry I coat it with Windsor Newton Artists' glossy varnish® to give the oil paint more of a sheen and have it blend better with the underlying surface. It also makes it pretty waterproof. I even did some tests on some pieces using a spray bottle to see what would happen. It worked!
I: How archival would you say the image is, and when you frame it do you still use glass?
S: I really don’t know for sure about the archivalness. The dye-based inks are rated for at least 50 years, and since 99% of the surface is also painted over, it should increase the longevity of the final artwork to about the same level as the oil paint itself.. But in truth I’ll have to wait and see how they fare over time. I’m no longer using glass when I frame them. I mount the finished print onto gator board using a cold mounting process that uses an acrylic adhesive film*** that is archival and does a great job of permanently adhering the print to the surface without the problem of delaminating or bubbling under humid conditions. It took a bit of experimenting to get the process just right and a few prints "ate it" before I could perfect things.
I: Anything else you like to add
S: Yes, I nearly forgot the final reason, namely, originality. At last I can legitimately state that I have an original painting and not a reproduction or print. To this end I am not doing more than one of the images that I paint onto. Because of the way the art world works, I have often been denied entry into shows because my artwork was not considered original. I can also start to ask for higher prices for my pieces since they are now originals. My biggest challenge though is trying to figure out what to call this hybrid media. I had been perfectly OK with calling my digital painting style, Digital Natural Media, a term I coined myself. Now I’ll have to come up with a new name – I suppose Digital and Oil paint, or something of that ilk. Or I could always fall back on the tried-and-true “Mixed Mediums”.
** LexJet 7 Mil High Performance Photo Satin (24 in x 100 ft Rolls)
*** Drytac SureTac adhesive film from www.drytac.com
Original Digital and Oil Paintings by Steven Friedman