My Art Creation Process

Many years ago, I decided I wanted to be an artist.  I was five years old at the time. :)  So I drew.  I painted.  I played.  A lot.  Then I decided I wanted to make jewelry.  For many years, I did that, and I became one of the top three sellers of vintage jewelry on Ebay for a long, long time.  {I used a combination of broken vintage jewelry, along with rhinestones and seed beads, to create my handmade jewelry, but I also had quite a collection of "good jewelry" to sell off!}  Later in life, I decided I wanted to be a photographer, specifically, a wildlife and nature photographer.  I bought all the right equipment, and learned how to photograph the things I loved.  And I thought I'd found my true passion, finally.

But I missed painting.

In the early 2000's, I resumed painting, mostly abstracts.  I sold several of those on Ebay as well {that was back when Ebay was a good place for independent artists}.   In 2013, I had an idea to blend some of my abstract backgrounds with my photos.  And in 2014, after numerous requests for my backgrounds, I started The Daily Texture, where I create backgrounds for others to use with their photos.

Then I Discovered Painting On The Ipad, With Procreate

I spent the last several years creating a painting process which works well for me, and involves all the things I love to do.  So here's a visual step by step on how I create. :) 

First, I take my photos. I love this part, as I love being in nature with the birds and wildlife.

Then I blend my photo with my textures and backgrounds. I also use an auto painting program on some of my images to give the entire image a painterly look to start with - this is called the UNDERPAINTING, and it's at this stage that I decide if I wish to move forward with this art as a painting.

Then I paint the entire blended image in Procreate on the iPad using my own custom brushstrokes I actually painted in my studio.

Here's a close up of the photo...

...and a close up of the underpainting.

...and finally a close up of the finished painting, painted on the iPad using Procreate.

I paint my own strokes in my studio, photograph them, and import them as my custom brushes into Procreate. This way, each painting I create has MY brush marks, created with MY hand. That's important to me.

Some brush marks I paint on paper...some on canvas. Some are painted with a brush, some with a palette knife, and some with other tools. It all depends on how much end texture I wish the stroke to have.

I load my base photo art I created with the textures as the bottom layer. Then I duplicate that layer, and begin basically repainting my entire image, using my custom brushes. I will often add new colors using my brushes at this stage as well. I usually have multiple layers in my paintings by the time I'm finished.

I add my custom brush marks one at a time on new layers on top.

I choose the color I want for each mark, whether it be from my custom color palette, or as in this case, a color pulled from the image itself.

After placing the mark, I then blend it using one of my custom paint brushes I created. This helps the mark become a part of the painting below. I keep adding marks until I'm satisfied.

When I'm satisfied, I add a final layer on top and sign my painting with a custom brush I use only for my signature. Then I send the painting to the Cloud, where I then retrieve it on my desktop computer and do final editing before publishing.

So back to the Cardinal...this is a super close up of his photo.

And this is a super close up after blending his photo with textures and creating the underpainting.

And finally, this is a super close up of his finished painting, after I painted the entire image using my custom brushes.

After a slight touch of editing for contrast and sharpness, his painting is ready to publish.

And that, my friends, is how I create. :) 

--jai johnson