Multimedia

"Coneflowers," digital

"Coneflowers," casein on panel, 6x8

A few years ago, as an experiment in art media, I did a series of paintings of purple coneflowers outside my studio. The idea was to compare using oil, casein, watercolor and digital methods to make a painting. Here are the four paintings, each done with differing materials.

I used Sketchbook and a Wacom tablet to paint the digital coneflowers. Otherwise I used traditional media and traditional supports. Casein and watercolor are thinned with water, of course, while oils require a solvent (turpentine or oms).

The results were interesting for several reasons. First, the digital image (top) seems comparable to the other images made using traditional media. Casein and oil paint each gave results that to my eye look rich with implied depth. The watercolor, while more transparent, also gave a visually interesting background. 

Seems to me that depending on subject and the eventual use of the painting, any of these mediums is a reasonable choice.

 

"Coneflowers," oil on panel, 6x8

"Coneflowers," watercolor on paper, ~6x8