Painter Talk Artist of the Month
I first want to thank Karen for this fantastic opportunity, and to take a
second in time to say hello and
tell
you a tad about Annette. This
is truly an honor.
A bit about my life.
I was born in Taunton, England, and then came to the United States.
My father was in the U.S. Army, my mother in the British Army.
So I was an army brat.
Eventually I moved to Texas and met my wonderful Eldon, to whom I’ve been
married 47 years. He has
encouraged me every step of the way in whatever I’ve chosen to do.
We had three beautiful daughters and now have two perfect
grandchildren.
Tell us about how you became interested in art.
I have always been, as my family says, artsy, drawing all the time. Eldon so
encouraged me to pursue my art, that at one point he actually enrolled me in
a class! I started
painting once a week with instruction, loving it and the whole thinking
process behind it. I can
just lose myself and forget about time, painting.
What traditional media, if any, have you used in the past to create
your art? Do you still?
I started with oils, loved the feel of them and even the smell of it all.
After entering several art shows, I tired of putting paintings in the
oven (to speed the drying process) just before a show.
So next came pastels.
The colors, the strokes, the textured paper and sand paper were all
perfect for me. (No drying in
the oven.) I painted with
pastels for 14 years and had a two man show in Dallas.
I was happy – except for one thing. I needed human interaction, and
that was missing in my art life.
Professional photography filled that need plus fulfilled me
artistically for the next 23 years.
Now I combine the best of two worlds – I take beautiful images
(people involved) and then I paint them.
How, when, and where did you discover Painter?
I took a web building class (which I didn’t like) about three years ago. The
instructor mentioned Painter, and I thought,
OH?
What is this? I bought the basic
Painter with tablet and didn’t have a clue how to use either.
So I thought, If I were
painting traditionally, what would I do? I know! Pastels!
The pastel brushes in Painter acted just like I remembered, except
these pastels didn’t dry my hands out.
What a wonderful program.
I played around with it for about a year and then got semi-serious
about learning how to use it more effectively.
Now I am taking every class Karen teaches and have bought CD’s and
DVD’s to learn as much as I can. I have upgraded to Painter X and cannot
stay away from it. There is
just so much in it to do, and I love discovering just how every part works.
Who are your art heroes…
Contemporary artists? Pino
Daeni, whose beautiful paintings of women and children can be seen here:
http://www.pino-artist.com/pino-art-collections.html
His strokes, color, play of light and the wonderful stories he tells – all
draw me to his work.
Artists from history?
Mary Cassatt is one of the ladies of art whom I have always admired. She
also paints women with children. Her brush strokes and color palettes are
wonderful. Cassatt was inspired
by the French Impressionist Edgar Degas, who is also a favorite of mine.
Most Inspirational artists (s)
Probably the artist who has inspired me most, taught me, and who nearly took
a stick to beat all the art into my head was Ben Konis.
He was color blind, but this man had so much to teach – and he taught
it with vigor! One time I was taking a portrait class from him, and he
wouldn’t let me do a portrait.
Instead he gave me a picture of the Grand Canyon – ugh – which I worked on
for four days. The last day of
the class he came over and told me to go do my portrait.
It just flowed out of me, off my brushes onto the canvas, no
struggling or worrying about it at all.
The painting just evolved.
What’s in your personal pack of brushes you don’t ever want to lose?
The ones you reach for first, or can make a whole painting with?
Pastels are my wonderful brushes.
I am learning so much about the other brushes and variants, but I
always go back to pastels.
Are there other tools in Painter you consider favorites as you
create your art?
I enjoy the equalize effect Karen
taught in one of her classes; I wouldn’t want to be without it now.
Do you paint from your own photos? (What is your photo source?) Or
do you prefer to start from a blank canvas? Or both?
I mainly paint from my own photographs.
I change them up – artistic license, you know.
I use them from trips we take and any thing that stands still long
enough for me to photograph.
When I see a blank canvas, either for traditional or digital painting, I
feel challenged to paint a memory or an experience I care about – one that
people can relate to. Hopefully most of my work elicits happy feelings and
memories, from childhood onward.
How do you feel that you are paving the way for digital art to have
a real impact on the art scene?
I don’t know if I am a paver, but I do want to share with the world that you
can do digital art and enhance it traditionally, and it is a good blend of
both art forms.
I challenge myself to remember all I have learned in my
traditional painting, to combine the digital art with traditional-enhancing
and see how far I can push it.
I know Eldon supports me; how far I go is up to me.
I want people to look beyond the medium of my work to the message.
Visit Annette’s web site to see more of her beautiful paintings, both
traditional and digital:
http://www.artimagesbyannette.com
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