Over the last week or so I’ve gone back to my roots and started to paint digitally again rather than using 3D models. I enjoy creating 3D models and producing art with them but I felt like a change. I love the freedom and spontaneity of painting in Photoshop and get great satisfaction from creating something unique from nothing.

Many years ago, long before the home computer, I created art with oil paints on canvas and spent every spare moment honing my technique and style. Little did I know back then (1975) that the future would allow me to make art with no mess and with the ability to work in layers. Digital art has many advantages over traditional painting,  I can try out various techniques, colours and composition without worrying about messing up my work, a luxury that traditional artists do not have.

Digital painting can be categorised under the following headings: painting, speed painting, concept and photo-realistic. I have added a new gallery to the website called ‘Concept’ and this gallery will contain all of the previously mentioned art types no matter the genre, It will also contain art produced from scanned in sketches. Older gallery images using these methods of creation have already been moved to this category.

There are many books available for those artists wishing to have a go at digital painting and I have found that the following publications are an excellent place to start: ‘Digital Painting Techniques Vol1 and Vol2′. Both of these books are published by 3Dtotal and are available from Amazon.

I will of course continue to create images using 3D models but having a short break helps to keep me fresh and as they say ‘A change is as good as a rest’ So far the response to my paintings on the Renderosity gallery has been a positive one and I thank everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment.

Tony Hayes