Impressive Railroad Art

Wow, that is really good, especially for Lehigh Valley fans.

Yes, very sharp.  Thanks for that, electroliner.

Giclee is a form of printing.  Does not necessarily mean the individual producing the original (to be reproduced as a giclee print) was using a photograph.

Well, however it's made it is impressive.  (How do you pronounce "giclee"?)

Giclee "Gee-Clay" is French for "Spray". It's a method of ink jet printing using 4 color archival UV resistant inks. It is currently the most accurate way to reproduce any medium photos or any kind of flatwork. I use it on heavy German watercolor paper for best results of my oils.

Erik

Some of my oil on board work

16"x20" oil on Masonite -Society of Illustrators winner 2007 exhibited MET New York 2009.

See my reply further down for select railroad art.

Howard Fogg did great railroad artwork with a nearly photographic quality. 

 

 

If the original is oil, it most certainly will have WAY more "pop" than a print.
 

We have an artist out here on the West Coast named Diane Rodriguez.  She does railroad paintings in water color.  They are not "photographic" but I enjoy her train art.  I bought a print of her painting of the SP 2472 and gave it to a friend for his birthday.  She signed the print.  Matt

Another example...The level of detail on this example of a Virginian Railway Class AG 2-6-6-6 is just nothing short of amazing...Ill have to save my pennies. My reaction at first was "Who is this guy and why haven't I heard of him?" If you look at the larger image on his website, I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into his brushes and paint.

 

 

http://www.markkarvon.com/blueridge.html

Here is his home page:

http://www.markkarvon.com/

 

Greg

That is some really nice stuff.  Here is what I have done, obviously not to anywhere close to the detail in the pictures you guys have posted.

I will try this again.. I am not certain why my site will not allow me to repost on other sites.. funny. Probably a security measure to prevent theft.

Unlike Karvon's work I do everything straight to board and canvas; you might say "free-hand". I do not rework photos in digital environment. Digital is a nice medium and works well in commercial assignments where speed is important. I do like his colorization techniques; the tightness in detail in digital is not limited to brush size but he can start in a digital canvas with 3200x4500 pixels and zoom in and retouch or sharpen the work. 

In todays digital world you might say I am a "Anolag Artist" I first with a wood pencil draw the subject and block in the subject with my oils with a brush- then glazing and other technique I work out the material to completion, or is a piece of art ever finished? Like Fogg he was also a traditional artist; Rose, and Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell just the same.

Interesting work; digital is not my thing.

Some samples of my portfolio

This piece "Shop Time" was cover feature on the Narrow Gauge & Shortline Gazette June/2010. Also used as a cover to a book. It was hung at the MET in New York for 3 months in the Society of Illustrators annual 2011 event. 16"x20" on Masonite.

"Misty Morn" was an assignment for a publisher in the Narrow Gauge community. 16"x20" oil on masonite

25"x36" oil on canvas "Snow-Fighter" was also used as a cover for the Gazette in 2011. And used for a book in 2012.

I reproduce my work as Giclee's also and run only 250 per image once if I decide to reproduce them.

Hey Mike that's good stuff. All art is wonderful. Matt, beautiful piece. She's got it! The color use and brush work is beautiful.

Eric

Snow fighter looks as if water color was the medium and all of your work posted here is simply wonderful, which brings to mind my favorite artist which is Ted Rose for whom I wrote a short obituary for via a letter to the editor of Trains Magazine remarking on both Ted's and DP Morgan's shared sense of wanderlust  and in return I received a nice letter from his widow. Do you render other railroad subjects and do you have a website? One of my many favorites of Ted's work..

 

 

Bruce

BTW, in my professional photo printing, I do giclee printing. Most folks do not know what that is. Giclee is French, "to spurt" and does not refer to types of ink or anything other than DPI. A giclee print is done regardless of medium at 2800 DPI. It could be photo paper, matte paper, and other types of media. Giclee is the most often abused, misunderstood term in art.

 

The most common phrase one hears when looking at art is to have the seller say, "this is a giclee print." If it is not done on professional printing ink jet application printer, it is not a giclee.

 

Eliot

Elliot,

This is my publisher:

http://www.reedphoto.com/resou...n-water-color-paper/





       

You guys are awesome! Some really nice work posted here.

 

I also love Ted Rose's work.

 

Here's my humble entry (and no, the date info ins't part of the actual artwork!):

 

Photo realistic art can be truly amazing. As a photographer, there is often an incredibly thin line between a photo that is turned into "oil like" rendering using sophisticated software and professional printers printing on canvas and a lithograph or print on canvas from an oil original. My first experience with print on canvas using Epson Ultrachrome X ink was a work by Wiliwm Acheff, famous native art painter. I thought the work was oil on canvas. I sometimes take one of my photos and apply software rendering and then print on canvas with pro grade printers using Ultrachrome X. Oil painters will approach me at an art show and ask how I got the light rIght. They are amazed when I tell them it is not oil. All I did was apply various coats of clear acrylic using varied brush strokes to the piece. Folks rarely know the difference. I could easily fool them into buying something other than a photo if I was devious.

 

Eliot

I adore Rose's work. Good guy also! A true friend in the art community. I miss him.



       

Eric,

Thanks for the link. In essence, the site says everything I said except for the ink pigments relating to the longevity issue. In reality, the latest interpretation of giclee has to do with the "impression" of longevity as defined by ink pigment and fading. Of course, this does not take into account so many other factors. Beyond the ink pigments, there are issues of medium, quality of medium, acid/acid free papers, mounting procedures, types of mounting materials, location and storage, on and on. All of that does not even consider the colors, types of scanning and conversion, CYMK versus RGB, calibration and so forth.

 

Finally, a giclee DOES fade. Anyone who tells you a giclee does not fade is either not knowledgeable or misleading you.

 

Lastly, to summarize, the giclee process is really the printing process which is just one, of many, parts to the procedure necessary for a "highest grade" print. There are so many things that can degrade the work of the artist between the original work and the hanging of a reproduction by way of a print that even a giclee print will degrade or not truly represent the original.

 

Eliot

For anyone who would like to see something truly amazing in railroad art and also truly different, try to find the work of Malcolm "Flash" Gordon. He worked in pen and ink. His total portfolio was probably only 5 or 6 pieces and he then disappeared.

 

Eliot

 

Two magazine covers--that's way cool. No. 473 looks like a photo.

You do gorgeous work, Erik!  NG&SLG is one of my very favorite magazines and I'm a regular subscriber.

Thanks Allan, I am honored your like the doodles. 

 

NO- I appreciate that. I need to get back to the canvas, it has been at least 2 years. Thanks to Roger Lewis and Dave Devita at Key Models they keep me doing art for ads.

 

On this ad I try to convey a "painterly" style in homage to the original ads Key did in the years past with the drawings. Loose but artistic and alive with brush strokes, intense color, "alive" like the hand built brass art these guys import.

Hello eveyone. I'm new to the forum. My name came up in a google key word alert. Thank you very much for the plug electroliner. There is some really outstanding work in this thread. I especially like Eric's F unit above. Of course Howard Fogg and Ted Rose are two acknowledged masters in the genre. Both have been inspirational to me.

 

Just to address a couple of items that have been brought up. While I do utilize photographs to build my compositions (as do most traditional media artists), my work is digitally hand painted. To call it reworked photographs is not correct. Every print I offer is printed by a professional printing company. The owner is a Master of Chemcal Engineering. He has over 30 years experience in the ink business. The color longevity of my prints, if properly cared for is at least 100 years. The giclee printing process and paper we use ensures the prints are vibrant with depth and color. Eric, you are way off in resolution. I paint at 300 dpi and the pieces are typically 10800 x 7800 pixels in dimension. This gives superior clarity and color on even the largest prints. It is far superior to the old lithograph method.

 

While my name is associated with aviation art, my first passion has been the railroad. Early in my artitic endeavours I used to work traditionally. I still have some scans of my old drawings I did for the Illinois Railroad Museum. Here is one:

 

 

The biography on my site talks about my reltionship with marine artist Charles Vickery. It was from him I learned to paint in oils. While I enjoy the process, I found the subjects I like to paint are not too popular with galleries. Before the days of the internet the gallery was pretty much the only way to get one's name out there. I slogged my work all over Chicagoland in hopes a gallery owner would pick it up. While I did have some limited success with small frame and gift shops, by and large the big gallery owners all said the same thing. Nice work but it won't sell".

 

It is very disheartening to spend a month or more on an oil painting only to have it sit on the floor in the studio. Also, until the artist makes a name for himself, it is very difficult to get a fair price for the work involved in the creation of the piece. Add to that having to support a wife and children while keeping a roof over one's head and it soon becomes apparent that painting pictures is a nice hobby but it won't pay the bills at least until one makes his name. It is possible that could never happen in a lifetime.

 

Fortunately, things have changed in our lifetime. With the advent of the internet, I am no longer dependent on the gallery owner to sell my work. I can do all my own marketing and reach the entire world. In order to be competitive in the world market I made the switch to working digital. Today I am able to make a living at creating art. While it is quicker than traditional methods it still takes me 60 hours on average of dedicated work to complete a piece.

 

I appreciate all the compliments on my work. While my focus is prmarily on aviation stuff these days I still do a few railroad pieces each year.

 

Mark Karvon

Mark

I, for one would like a heads up here if you get around to another RR subject. When I saw your work, I started counting down to Christmas. I already gave "the boss" my request. Never too early to indelibly hypnotize her to implant that suggestion for the next eight months or so. 

Bruce

Here's the correct link to Mark Karvon's website:

 

http://www.markkarvon.com/

 

And thanks for joining in, Mark!

Erik,

Your work is, simply put, magnificent.

i was remiss in not making that statement initially.

As a photographer, we have these discussions on a regular basis.

As artists, there are infinite interpretations concerning how our work should be displayed. Typically, the buyer is unaware of what goes into the work.

 

Eliot

OK, for the dummies among us, how do you digitally paint something?

TimDude, there are programs that allow for drawing and painting with a computer. I generaly use Adobe Photoshop to lay out my composition and I use Corel Painter to do the actual painting. Physically, I use a drawing tablet made by Wacom. It has a stylus/pen with which the artist "draws" on the tablet. The strokes are translated into pencil, paint, chalk or whatever medium you have selected in the program. Usually, when I paint I select the acrylics or watercolor brushes. There is also a nice set of blending tools I utilize. The programs are such that the medium you are using behaves very much like that of the actual traditional stuff. Some tablets are even sensitive to the pressure the artist puts on the pen.

 

OK, it is a stylus then, that is kind of what I figured. How long has this technique been going? Prior to this what did the artist use to achieve "picture" type art? I am referencing specifically a Stan Stokes style of work.

Hey Mark,

I love the pencil work on the Q unit! BEAUTIFUL!!!

Thanks for joining in.

Erik

I use a Wacom tablet at the office for producing a lot of the graphics we use, but I am completely humbled by the level of expertise exhibited here. Absolutely gorgeous!

 

I believe the bar may have been raised beyond my reach.

Does this count as "railroad art" ?

 

Some very nice creative and skillful studio artists are represented in this thread. Amazing work, gents... you too Steve!