| Project: A-Kon - Saturday
- Brian Stelfreeze |
 Is a hair
dryer the secret to Brian Stelfreeze's cover art? The noted artist made
heavy use of the dryer when he demonstrated his painting style for a group
of Project A-Kon fans, but there's a lot more than the dryer to Stelfreeze's
work. The dryer just helps prepare the painting's surface for the next
layer of color. The use of color and the way people and printers perceive
color are the keys to what Stelfreeze does. |
 Even with
the watercolors that Stelfreeze used in this demonstration, it's possible
to give a picture some texture which turns it from illustration to art.
"It's the difference between having something that looks like it was made
by a machine, and something that looks like a painter did it," he said.
One trick: an overwash of light grey paint that was applied to the surface
before the rest of the color was added. |
 The color
serves to draw attention to the figure's face and hair, the heart of the
composition. The background green and blue here will fade in the viewer's
eye when the woman is drawn in. "You can see only one bright color at a
time. That's how you do a painting - you're capturing a single instant,"
said Stelfreeze. "I like to do paintings that are shades of grey and then
- bam! There's color right there." |
 As the colors
call attention to the figure in the foreground, the details in the Stelfreeze
painting also call attention to the heart of the artwork. "I don't try
to do details all over the place," he said. "I'll put details where people
will see them." |
|
|
