The Process

All of my images begin life as one or more photographs that I have taken. I now shoot mostly digitally, but the majority of the images on this site were captured on film. After the image is captured, I make a digital painting of the photograph using a Wacom tablet and pen.

The Wacom tablet and pen is somewhat like a mouse except that it is pressure sensitive. Much like pencil and paper, if I use the pen and tablet and press really hard, it makes a thick, dark mark on the computer screen. Conversely, if I press lightly, it makes a thin, light line.

Corel Painter is the software that lets me use the pen and tablet to make this digital painting. The tools in Painter simulate assorted paintbrushes, chalks, watercolors, et cetera. While working in Painter, I can choose the type of brush and the color to paint; much like an artist using traditional media. The difference is I can paint, draw, erase and redo as many times as I like and never make a mess or have to cleanup.

Once the digital painting is finished, I sometimes add tiny bits of the original photograph back into the image I created. Early on, my work was mostly photographic with only small painted or drawn elements. In my more recent work, there are frequently few or no photographic elements.

Finally, I do my printing on an Epson Stylus Pro 9800 with Epson UltraChrome K3 inks. I print exclusively on Epson fine art paper and canvas. I have created custom color profiles for each of the papers to ensure that the colors I see on my monitor are the same as the colors actually printed on the page. After printing, the prints on paper are coated with PremierART Print Shield. The prints on canvas are coated with PremierART ECO Print Shield. This combination of ink, paper, and coating is the industry standard for durability and longevity.

For those of you who are interested, I use the following cameras and computer equipment:<

• Voigtlander 35mm Bessa-L with15mm lens
• Canon EOS-1D Mark II
• Canon EOS 5D
• Dell XPS 600 computer (2 gigs of ram)
• Wacom Intuos tablet and pen
• Apple 23-in Cinema Display
• MonacoOPTIX-XR Colorimeter (display calibration)
• Solux 4700K lamps (for print viewing and color matching)
• Adobe Photoshop CS3
• Corel Painter X
• Epson Stylus Pro 9800

Feel free to contact me (randy@randygay.com) if you have any questions or comments Randy Gay