| The Process | |||
| How do you get started on a painting? I do a lot of drawings and spend a great deal of time in the compositional stage. In fact, I probably spend about 90 percent of my time on a painting at the drawing table. Composition is everything and if I don’t invest in this part of the process, it always shows up later in the product. I address a painting project a lot like I would approach a graphic design problem. I ask the question of what it is I’m trying to say and then set about finding the visual words.
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| Do you use photography? Yes, but not as an end, only as a means when it concerns my art. I have never worked directly from a photograph and never will. I only use photography for reference because many of my subjects are extremely small or difficult to study on location.
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| What’s the most important step? Visualizing and conceptualizing the image as it will look when it’s on display. Understanding the way it will be seen and what the desired effect is. If I can get that far, then I can begin to search for the right lines. This is where the process begins and the first physical step is usually at the rendering stage. I will often draw and redraw a composition many times before I bring color into play. The composition has to work in black and white before it will look right to me in color.
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