Develop The Secrets of my New Technique

1. rough sketch
2. paint and capture images
3. scan and transfer images
4. compose
5. print

After sketching, I create my images with photography and painting. To photograph my subjects I use one or more cameras: a 35 mm, a medium format 2¼”x 2¼”, a large format 4”x5”, and/or a digital camera. I also use a high-resolution scanner. If I shoot in the studio I use natural as well as artificial light. I love to work with windows, so I sometimes use a natural light for photographing objects that will be used over my painted windows. To paint, I use oil and acrylic on canvas, and pastels and watercolor on paper. Every image has to be produced (photography or painting), with the same lighting and the same tonal range, this way, the final image, will look “real”, although, it is a creation.

The next step is to transfer all the images into a digital format, so I scan negatives, slides and paintings, then transfer the digital photographs to the computer. All of these pictures must have the exact resolution for the size in which they will be printed.

The computer is my canvas, the mouse is my brush, and my paintings and photographs are my paints to create my artwork. I use photoshop to combine, paint, and mix; it is a delicate work where sometimes I need to go pixel by pixel in order to obtain the perfection.  No filters, templates or any kind of pre-built effects are used and the final work might use up to 50 different single images from straight shots.

 At last, the images are printed in a museum quality paper using state-of-the-art archival pigmented inks.

This is photograph of a plant we call the "borrachero" in Colombia, it was my inspiration piece.

Then  I drew a rough sketch, and transfer the photograph of the flowers to the computer.

 
 

I painted the flowers with acrylics on a canvas, photographed the table, the curtains and transfered everything to the computer.

Then I painted the glass window in photoshop to obtain the transparency, and assemble everything.

This is the final image.  "The artist's studio"
Photography, acrylic and digital art.
© 2004