I began using photorealistic techniques with the airbrush as a temporary means to improve my compositions and to teach myself to "see better." I was frustrated with my inability to paint convincing illusions of realism and liked the results achieved by the photorealists. As I scrutinized my subjects closely, I improved my understanding of the effects of light and shadow, and I became infatuated with these techniques. An infinite world of details I had never noticed suddenly became obvious to me. I mention these things not just to give a personal history of my working methods, but also to stress the importance of finding your own passion or vision when it comes to using photos or producing a photorealistic look to your work.

The following is an explanation of techniques I've used in my work, accompanied by two step-by-step demonstrations. Hopefully, these examples and tips will save you some frustration and inspire your own ideas for working with photorealistic subjects.

Four Approaches

The simplest method is to project an image, do a detailed drawing, and paint freehand (without any shields or masking), using the slides or photos as maps. Although it takes practice to work close to the surface, and the paint consistency and air pressure must be regulated to eliminate "spiders" and sputtering, this technique has proven to work best for me. It challenges me to stretch my freehanding skills. I used this process for "Splash," and "Parking Discord in 50's America." Another artist who does spectacular, large paintings with these methods is Don Coen (see Airbrush Action 8/92).

Juxtaposing a photorealistic image with a contrived or imagined one can provide a different, surreal look. I began integrating diverse subjects many years ago, when I was using photography to accomplish convincing illusions of realism. The painting "Bound & Free" is a good example of using a soft-edged, freehand image with hard-edged, contrived ones to enhance the illusion of depth and portray subjects that seem convincingly real together, but also convey an unnatural, ethereal feeling because of shadows and abnormal placement.

Adding a trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye) border utilizes the juxtaposition of hard and soft edges to enhance three-dimensionality, and provides a distinctive separation between the two "styles" of realism. Giving greater attention to the size and details of the hard-edged images can fool the viewer into believing the objects are authentic, rather than painted. I've had people ask why I "ripped the mat board" and even caught some trying to remove fake tape from my canvas! Although it can be disturbing to have people question your honesty when explaining that the objects are not real, it is a flattering testimony to the eye-fooling illusions you have created! These methods are exemplified in "Cabin Fever Contrivance" and the step-by-step demo shots of "Non-Reversible." I rarely use slides or photos to do the trompe l'oeil areas of the composition. Instead I rely on having the actual objects nearby, giving me more visual information.

The final technique uses only hard-edged objects in the trompe l'oeil fashion, similar to the "eye-fooling" art of the late nineteenth century. My "Chiquita Dinner Theater" is an example. This method, however, is best exemplified in a contemporary context by the artist Keung Szeto (see Airbrush Action issues 4/86, 4/87, and 2/89). Objects with shallow depth make the most convincing illusions of realism (e.g. postcards, bugs, ribbons), because the eye is not likely to be fooled by images larger or smaller than the actual size. Hence, a painting of a train going through a tunnel may be a good subject for photorealism, but not trompe l'oeil. Photos can be used as a reference, but the actual objects are more effective for achieving highly-detailed, realistic results. The finished product is so refined, it temporarily fools viewers into believing they see the actual three-dimensional objects.

Photorealism Tips

1. For highly detailed paintings, use subjects you enjoy looking at for long periods of time. Otherwise, it will be a slow, boring process rather than a slow, stimulating one.
2. Whatever method of photo reference you use, be sure to have clear, in-focus and, if possible, high-contrast images. Use a good projector with quality lenses and optics to provide a sharp, bright image.
3. If you use slides, sandwich them temporarily in a glass slide mount to project and draw so they remain flat rather than warping from the heat. A box of glass mounts is relatively inexpensive insurance to protect your film.
4. As often as possible, do your own photography with a good 35mm camera. It will help improve your ability to compose images and personalize the vision you want to share in your artwork.
5. Study your images before starting to paint, especially those pesky shadows, which often have more color than you notice at first. Getting them wrong or too dark will make a realistic painting look phony and unconvincing. Use black sparingly for shadows.
6. Make logical use of hard and soft edges, to enhance depth and focus. The sharper an image appears, the more it should be in the foreground and vice-versa.
7. Make sure your paint, air pressure, and airbrush work well together. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to get a consistent, fine line only to have problems with clogging and sputtering every few minutes.
8. Try to juxtapose or overlap opposite, incompatible images. Giving yourself problems to solve is a good way to inspire creative thought. For example, try a series of deep vs. shallow subjects to explore focus and depth in a photorealistic way.
9. View photos or slides through a piece of red acetate to reduce the colors to values. It will be easier to focus on the contrast and helpful for spotting "weak" areas in the composition.
10. Try to rough in your original drawing from the photo references as quickly as possible, and make necessary changes before painting. When drawing a long bumper curve or straight edge, I put a few marks intermittently along the line to act as a guide when I re-draw. It beats constantly having to make changes and erasures in the dark!
11. Try to enjoy the drawing process, rather than seeing it as a means to an end. Good drawing skills make or break the final product, no matter how you intend to work.
12. I've learned, after many ruined photos, to use one or two 500-watt photoflood lights, and a Cokin (or another brand compatible to your camera) 80B blue filter. This combination allows the use of regular daylight film (slides or prints) for shooting still-lifes indoors.

Non-Reversible

"Non-Reversible" was derived from a still-life I set up and photographed. I had to make a few minor changes (like the angle and shadow of the feather), but needed only one slide to get the visual information for the composition. Since this piece was to use trompe l'oeil border, I began by masking off the faux mat border and projecting the slide at the proper distance to fit within the center. The slide was then drawn out and changes were made before I started to paint.

I start freehanding the background, as tightly as possible around the edges of the foreground objects to keep overspray at a minimum. The mat's inside edge is first taped off with 1/16" 3M Fine Line tape, which will appear as a beveled edge when the border and center are complete.

Working upside-down (just for a change in perspective), I begin painting the oven lid. When working with mottled, inconsistent details like rust, I load three HP-C's with colors like a warm neutral, cool neutral ultramarine blue and burnt umber variations, and a pure burnt umber. This allows me to paint faster and avoid frequent color changes.

The tightest freehand image is the feather. I paint as close to the surface as possible, so it will be the most "in focus," and in front of the other center objects. This provides a good illusion of depth in reference to the rest of the composition.

I mask off the completed freehand area. The trompe l'oeil images that will appear on the border are cut from pieces of frisket and positioned. I can now start stippling the earthtone colors with an Iwata RG-2 to add texture to the fake mat. (An airbrush would work here, but the larger gun does it more evenly, in less time.)

The border and center are uncovered, and work begins on the trompe l'oeil details. The torn mat's ragged edge is textured with Berol prismacolor pencils, an X-Acto knife, and the airbrush for fine shadows of the paper fibers. Notice the clean lines, representing the mat's beveled edge, that are left after the 1/16" tape is removed.

I begin working on the egg shells, using the airbrush for the light washes of color and shadow, and colored pencils for intricate details like shell edges and cracks. I have switched to harder color pencils (Berol Verithin), because they keep a sharper edge and are better for blending.

When the egg shells and shadows are finished, the oven lid spike is unmasked. The spike shadow is put in before the area is exposed, because it is sometimes easier to paint shadows while the frisket is in place and in one piece, than trying to replace it after it has been cut up.

With the frisket "negative" and paper masking in place around the spike, I begin by lightly roughing in some of the lines with colored pencil. I use HP-C airbrushes to paint the base colors of rust and shadows.

Instead of piecing in the small frisket sections, I do most of the finish work and hard edges with card stock and thin plastic shields specifically made for airbrushing. The shields make it easier to paint edges without the hassle of cutting every shape from the frisket positive.

This close-up shows some of the intricate details that enhance trompe l'oeil illusions. The faux masking tape was airbrushed on and, while keeping the surrounding frisket negative in place, I use a beat-up acrylic "hair" brush to add a thin coat of gel medium. This little trick makes it appear glossy and "wrinkled," like real tape. The fine shadows are added with Berol pencils.

Parking Discord in 50’s America

This painting came from several hundred slides I've shot at hot rod meets and custom car shows. I like merging images to create unique compositions, so I started this piece as I usually do, finding interesting matches by overlapping and moving slides around on a light table. I look for enhanced lines, movement, and color changes, while trying to create some kind of overall harmony within the images. These two looked good together when I overlapped them. The combination of the white '58 Chevy and the red '51 Ford truck produced a dichotomy of Chevy/Ford, car/truck, and light/dark and had lines that seemed to flow together. Both appeared to have "angry-looking" grilles from these angles, so I decided to merge them as if competing for the same spot or "parking space." Also, I liked the dominant red, white, and blue colors that made for a logical, underlying "American" theme.

I began with a detailed drawing on the surface of the museum board, projecting the slide of the Chevy with an old Minolta slide projector. Before I started, I taped the museum board to a sheet of 3/8" acid-free fome-core, which will be used as the backing board when the piece is framed. While the Rising brand museum board is pretty rigid and durable, a 40" x 60" sheet is too floppy to paint on without some type of support. I used a soft (HB) pencil and a non-abrasive eraser for corrections. That slide was removed and the Ford truck slide projected onto the same surface. I knew which parts of each vehicle I wanted to include, so I saved time by not drawing every section of both slides. I then re-drew the lines that needed it and lightened all of the lines with a kneeded eraser before starting to paint. (Using a harder, lighter pencil can dent the surface and catch overspray, so a better–albeit more time-consuming–alternative is to start with a soft, dark pencil and lighten the lines later.)

The tube acrylic paints I use are mixed very thick and transparent in plastic film containers. I combine about one part paint with 5 parts matte medium and 5 parts water, and add a few drops of Winsor & Newton acrylic flow improver. The result is a thick, transparent jar acrylic that lasts indefinitely in the film container. As I need paint, I add water to the airbrush cup, then take paint from the container with an acrylic "hair" brush and mix it in the airbrush cup until the consistency is like cream. The air pressure is set at 20-25 psi, which allows me to paint very close to the surface (about 1/2"-1"). I paint with the cap off the airbrush so I can better see what I am doing and easily clean the dried paint off the exposed needle as I work.

When the drawing is complete, I begin painting one of the darkest areas, the Chevy's wheel and tire, using a mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and dioxazine purple for a dark "cool" neutral (a transparent blackish color with a slight blue tint). Working close to the surface helps avoid overspray on adjacent areas and keeps colors added later from looking muddy.

After about ten hours of drawing and 14 hours of painting, I add color and complete this area. I create a blue, using ultramarine and cobalt for the sky's reflection in the chrome. For the landscape, a neutral brown is mixed with burnt umber, a little ultramarine and mars black. After finishing the wheel, I add the chrome side trim.

I work next on the Chevy grille and make the bumper of the truck appear behind it. You can see the softer-edged, less detailed road behind the wheel well, causing that area to recede. The rocks are suggested with various sizes of dots using the same brown as in the chrome, along with a few yellow and orangish colors. Shadows and dark values are added last to bring in the details.

I continue painting area by area around the bottom and to the left side, using the same process of establishing dark values first and adding transparent colors on top. The Chevy's headlights are roughed in with the cool neutral color before I shoot in the blue and brown chrome reflections and a few other odd reflected colors.

The headlights, shadows under the fender, and hood "eyebrows" are completed before I move on to the side chrome accents which, because of their angle to the sun and unusual shapes, don't reflect much sky. The colors are primarily muted browns without the usual bright highlights.

Now things are starting to look interesting, if not disorienting! After completing the Ford headlight, the neutral values of the top chrome "fender wing" on the Chevy are added, and I begin building up the values in the Ford's chrome grille. Transparent colors are again layered over these varying shades of cool gray.

I begin painting the Ford body color, establishing detail with the cool neutral and glazing with the naphthol and cadmium red mixture as I go. Blue 3M long-mask tape is the only kind I trust for extended periods of time on the painted surface. I remove and replace it as work progresses around the perimeter.

While working on the red hood, I shoot a light wash of ultramarine on the upper part, because I noticed that the slide had a violet tint (due to the reflected sky on the bright red). As I approach the completion of the piece, I brighten a few highlights with titanium white in spots dulled with overspray. Finally, I apply a coat of Golden matte varnish with UV inhibitors with the RG-2 gun for protection and to even out the surface gloss.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Phil Chalk lives in Loveland, Colorado with his wife, Kathy, and three children. Although he has college art degrees, he considers experimentation and "hard knocks" his most noteworty education. He has used an airbrush since 1976. He and Kathy have an art business, B/C Studios, and offer a variety of art experience in different mediums, including fine art.

TECH FILE

Airbrush: Several Iwata HP-Cs, Iwata Eclipse, Iwata RG-2, Iwata HP-B Air Source: 3/4 HP Oiless Sanborn Industrial Compressor, with insulated box to reduce noise. Paint Media: Liquitex and Winsor & Newton tube acrylics, Liquitex matte medium, Winsor & Newton acrylic flow improver Surface Media: Rising brand museum board, Strathmore Rag Bristol (5-ply, #500), Hand-primed 12-oz. cotton duck. Masking: All widths of 3M masking tape, 3M blue long mask, 3M Fine Line tapes, frisk brand frisket (matte), Transferite sign masking paper. Projector: Minolta slide projector (an antique) and Artograph opaque projector. Lighting: Warm incandescents with fluorescents and north light windows. Other: Homemade slide viewer, motorized easel, airbrush taboret.