i-m-a-g-i-n-efx-august

Traditional Artist Workshops
Oils
Acrylics
depict emotion
in Science Fiction
Journey with Donato Giancola and discover the painting and storytelling
secrets behind the latest addition to his Empathetic Robots series…
Game of Mind is a private
commission illustrating
a George RR Martin
sci-fi novel, The Glass
Flower. This story was a
perfect fit with my ongoing
explorations in robots and their
blossoming emotional intelligence.
The chance to work with a worldclass
talent like Martin, and the lack
of any commercial pressures, makes
for one of the most pleasurable
experiences of being an illustrator.
Deadlines aren’t critical and my
clients are interested in the quality of
what I create, not when I deliver it.
My obsession with producing
impassioned artworks of narrative
imagery is the reason I continue to
be an oil painter. I not only create
images of the fantastic, but tap into
the motivations of what it means to
be human, with characters grounded
in moments you or I may experience,
regardless whether they’re human or
not. Like this woman embracing
another intelligence, you and I have
likely felt the need to comfort
another or bend to their will. It’s this
merging of the real and surreal that
excites me project after project!
The teenage fan of Tolkien,
D&D and Star Wars is still
inside of Donato, driving him
to produce deeply impassioned
oil paintings. See www.donatoart.com.
Step-by-step: React to the painting as it develops on the canvas
Setting the Stage
1 Once a final composition is roughed
out, extensive references of models and
machinery enable me to create a preliminary
drawing before moving on to colour. The
value structure is established at this phase
and precise anatomical issues with the robot
and human are resolved for a seamless
integration with the environment.
in the MoMent
2 With the composition established,
I explore colour options, letting the painting
talk back to me. I keep this acrylic layer thin,
allowing for fast drying times and quick layer
build up, while retaining the precision of the
underlying drawing. It’s here that the overall
colour harmonies are developed which will
inform the oil layers.
See the Future
3 Knowing where your painting results are
heading can make for more efficient choices
in rendering and visual development. Tattoos
are much easier to add after the flesh has
been illusionistically lit and rendered. Slowing
down to recognise that some layers and
choices need to proceed before others is
part of an evolving professional discipline.
106 August 2017