Fashion Gal with Cool Pooch

My posting has been less than daily lately... I have been working diligently on commercial assignments. Since January I have been writing a book about Acrylic paints and painting techniques, to be published and distributed in stores in October 2011. It's a very time consuming endeavor - but quite enjoyable as well. Truth be known, I am a bit behind schedule, so the daily painting takes a hit till I get caught up.

I'm also producing a line of posters and prints for a large art publisher / distributor to mass market retail stores like Bed Bath Beyond, Target, Pier 1, etc. One of the series we are working on is "Pet Fashion". This is a digital illustration I completed yesterday, an entirely different style than the Fast, Loose, Bold style I normally paint in. It's art, and it's done daily - so I'm posting it! All in all, there are about 25 paintings, mostly acrylics, a few digital, included in the collection. To see the line of prints and posters, check your local "big box" store this summer...

Fashion Gal with Cool Pooch

Digital Illustration

Bandana Dog

Not all of the artwork I create is done traditionally, with paint and brushes, altho 99% of it is. Here is one piece of a series of pet fashion posters I have designed that will be going to press next week. I "drew" and "painted" the images with a Wacom tablet using a pressure sensitive stylus pen. The awesome thing about working digitally is that there are so many layers, literally, of safety nets built in. You can try anything - colors, different brush strokes, certain effects, etc. and if you don't like what you did, just hit the good old Command Z keystroke (or Edit>Undo). And poof - its gone, simple as that.

If only it were so easy with traditional painting. I can't tell you how many times I have put down a big thickly loaded brushstroke that just happened to totally be the wrong color, value or shape and immediately in my mind screamed, "command Z!!!" Those command Z moments are lessons learned the hard way, which is - unfortunately - the best way. Digital artwork is clean, efficient, fast and precise. I don't end up with splotches of Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Blue smeared across my face like war paint. It has it's plusses for sure, but my heart will always be in the down and dirty tactile world of messy, drippy paints - with no safety nets allowed.

Bandana Dog

Digital Image for Commercial Usage