  ▶Your website has limited edition prints for sale. Do you sell any original paintings? ▶Now that you're retired, do you plan to paint more watercolors? I hope to. At present, I'm only doing digital painting and helping others learn the art of digital painting in two on-line art groups, so it may be a while before I get back into watercolor painting. However, when I do, new watercolors will be added to this website, along with my latest digital paintings. ▶You have a digital painting gallery here on your website. What exactly is digital painting? There are many forms of digital art. Some artists make photo montages and do other forms of art using software such as Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and others. Some manipulate and enhance photography with filters. Others create works of art utilizing 3D rendering software such as Poser and Bryce. The list is endless when it comes to methods for making digital art. ▶Is there a difference in digital art and digital painting? Yes, There is difference. Digital art is a broad subject. Any form of computer-generated art can be called digital art. I call what I do "digital painting" because I am painting on a computer exactly the same as I would paint on canvas or watercolor paper. I use no filters, manipulations or anything that requires a computer to get the end result. ▶Explain what you mean by "painting on a computer." I use Corel Painter software and a Wacom Intous tablet with a pressure sensitive pen. The more pressure I apply, the broader the stroke. With less pressure, the pen makes a more narrow stroke, so the pen works very much like a real brush in my hand. Digital paint flow can be be adjusted to simulate real brush strokes. Corel Painter opens a whole new world for the artist. All traditional forms of art can be done in Painter; oil paint, pastel, watercolor, pencil, pen and ink, woodcut and scratchboard, even magic markers and crayons. Working in Painter simulates an artist painting in an art supply store with an endless supply of completely free art materials. ▶There are 5 galleries on your website. Why? How are they different? The first two, the Watercolor Gallery and the Digital Gallery, are where signed and numbered, limited edition prints of these two forms of painting are offered for sale. The other three galleries; Illustration, Caricature and Cartoon are showcases for my illustration techniques. These galleries are where potential clients for my illustrations can view the different styles of my work. ▶When someone buys one of your prints, how do they go about it? Do you take credit cards? Complete information is on the Order Page of the website and there are handy order forms that can be filled out and mailed to me. At present, I don't accept credit cards. It would probably help sales, but the cost of e-commerce and credit card acceptance makes it prohibitive for a very small business such as mine. The monthly fees for credit card processing go on whether you're selling anything or not. It's sort of like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first? If I had the sales volume to justify the cost, I would accept credit cards. Currently, I'm asking people who want to buy one or more of my prints to fill out their choice of forms, either Digital or Watercolor, and mail it to me with a check. ▶What about the quality of the prints? Good question. The prints are museum quality, archival prints on acid-free paper and should have an extremely long life span. As with any fine art print, it is best not to expose them to direct sunlight for long periods of time. Some of my prints have been framed and hanging on the walls of my home for many years and they still look great. The makers of the papers and inks I use claim an expected life-span of 100 to 150 years without fading. This has been determined in accelerated light exposure tests. Giclée prints are relatively new and no one has actually had one for 100 years or more to attest to these claims, so we can only go on what lab tests have shown. I will say they are truly beautiful and the color and detail fidelity to the original is amazing. I personally oversee each print run to ensure the highest quality possible with the very latest, up-to-date technology. ▶What exactly is a giclée print? Giclée is a French word for "spray," or to be "sprayed on." In recent years, artists and printmakers have adopted the word, giclée for high quality ink jet prints. Many major art museums in the U. S. A. have accepted giclée prints as a true art form and are now having exhibits and permanent collections of giclée prints. I feel fortunate to be one of the pioneers in this new and emerging technology! ▶What about the big "circle c" copyright mark on your prints in the galleries? Does that appear on the final prints? No. The copyright mark is not on my final prints. I wish it didn't have to be on the images in the galleries, but some of my art has been copied from the web and used for commercial items to be sold without my permission. That is not only immoral, it's illegal. Those who steal art will always find ways to do it. I hope superimposing a copyright mark over each piece of art will at least deter thieves who would download and use my art without consent or payment. |