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The Artwork
In this section I’ll try and explain a little about the production of the artwork
through to the finished print.
The first thing to decide is what or who am I going
to paint? Then I look around for photographs to give me the basis for the picture. If
we directly use a photographer’s image, we have to ask permission and pay a fee. At
this point I generally use the computer to change and manipulate the image until
I’m happy with the way it looks. Obviously as the artwork progresses I change things
as I go along - the photo is just a guide. Whether it’s a pencil or an airbrushed
picture, I start with a pencil sketch. This will take a day or so to produce and
will start to include more and more detail as I progress. Up until a few years ago,
I always used to use a super smooth drawing board called CS10. Unfortunately it is
no longer produced so now I use Schoellershammer 4G from Germany. Not as suitable
as the CS10 but pretty good – although it’s taken a couple of years to get used to
it! These boards are approximately 30 x 20 inches.
For a pencil drawing, I generally start at the top left and work down and to the
right to avoid resting on what I’ve already drawn. However, the nature of pencil
means I’m forever cleaning the picture as I go along. My main pencils are Staedtler
propelling pencils with Staedtler leads. From the hardest at 6H right up to 9B and
in all sizes from 0.3 to 0.9. Plus a host of other types of ordinary sketching pencils. My
main tools are 0.3 2H and 2B and 0.5 HB and 2B. When I’ve looked into my tray next
to the picture when it’s finished, I’ve generally used about 30 different pencils. Included
in the “tool kit” are dozens of different types of erasers and scalpel blades.
For
an airbrushed picture, I still start with the pencil sketch. There is no set pattern
on where I start, it depends on the picture and the colours involved. More time is
spent masking and cutting with scalpel blades than actually spraying! Equipment
wise I use mainly Iwata airbrushes. My main tool is an Iwata Custom Micron B. It
has been in constant use for about 6 years and never misses a beat. I also use an
Iwata Custom Micron C, Iwata HP B plus and a Harder Steenbeck Infinity 2 in 1. Occasionally
my old Devilbiss 63A, Devilbiss 93A, Devilbiss Sprite and Devilbiss Sprite Major
come out to play, but very rarely these days – the Iwata’s do it all! I also use
an Iwata LPH 50 spray gun (for applying lacquer to Helmets and any big stuff). I
have 2 compressors, a small one indoors for all the detailed stuff and the larger
one in the garage for the spray gun.I use Frisk masking film and dozens of scalpel
blades. My main paints are Comart, Createx, FW and Magic Colour with some Liqutex
and other types thrown it. So long as its acrylic airbrush paint I’ll try anything. At
the last count I have about 300 different colours.
Each picture usually takes between 4 and 6 weeks to produce.
In the early days,
when I’d finished the picture, it would be sent to the printers. They would “drum”
scan it and then produce the prints all in one go as lithographs. This meant that
I would have no control over the finished article…….times have changed. Now when
the picture is finished, I scan it and load it into the computer at a very high resolution
– the file size will be somewhere between 150 – 200 Mbit/s. From that point on
I am able to use the graphics tablet to retouch any blemishes and generally tidy
the image up. It’s at this time I would also add the border around the edge of the
image and other stuff like, title, copyright info, etc. Then I start to do some test
prints to make sure all the colours and other details are correct – this process
usually takes a few days. This is the Master file from which all the printing is
done.
Each print takes about 15 to 20 minutes to pass through the printer. This type of
digital printing is a much larger and more complex version of your standard ink jet
printer. The prints are referred to as “giclée” (pron; gee clay) which is a French
word meaning “to spray”. We use 3 large format machines which take rolls of paper
or canvass that are 24, 44, or 64 inches wide and use 9 colours. The paper and canvas
we use is the best you can buy and the inks are guaranteed lightfast for 75 years. The
printing is generally done at KNK Gallery in Nottingham where I and Kap have learnt
how to control this process over the last 7 or 8 years – it’s not just a case of
pushing a button!
All our pictures are limited editions (unless it states otherwise). Each
print is numbered and signed by me, and we keep a record so when all the numbers
in the edition are used up, that’s it, no more get printed! All the framing and canvas
varnishing and stretching is done by the gallery using the best materials. Because
we do everything “in house”, if you want a picture a different size or framed in
a particular way to that quoted on the web site………….ask us, we can usually do it
for you. If you accidentally damage a piece of our art that you have bought in
the past, or you decide you’d rather have it on canvas than the print you bought,
well, you “own” the number, so we can re-print it for you……….just ask. If you own
one of my prints (especially from an edition that has sold out) and you want to sell
it, let us know, chances are we will buy it back from you.
So what of the future? Well
these days there are fewer and fewer commercial artists still using the airbrush
- or any type of paint for that matter. The graphics tablet and the computer have
all but taken over. As I mentioned earlier, I use the graphics tablet quite a lot,
and I do have a digital airbrush which can produce some amazing results. So at
some point in the not too distant future, I will try my hand at a purely digital
piece of art. The downside of that is that there is no “original” to sell! A pencil
image will always have to be done in pencil though. Whatever the media that it used,
the end result will only be as good as the artist.
One thing you can be sure
of, and that is that everyone involved in the production and selling of our artwork
will do everything we can to ensure that you get the best service possible. The
web site will try and give you as much information as possible, but if you have any
queries, please get in touch.
Steve Whyman
| The Company |
| The Artist |
| The Artwork |
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