In Jamaica, many see painting as 'fine art' - a sublime expression of creativity with its roots in nothing less than the human soul. The 'applied art' of illustration occupies a less prestigious position, but is commonly accepted to be a more lucrative pursuit than mounting one's work in a gallery and hoping for sales. Internationally, however, comic books sell for hundreds of thousands of good currency. Quality illustrative prints also fetch premium prices.
Andrea Haynes-Peart believes there is no delineation. "It's just art," she opines. Her work is sound proof of that.
Formally trained as an illustrator at Montreal's Concordia University, Haynes-Peart studied all the classical techniques, including egg tempera (the precursor to oil painting in Europe's Middle Ages) and cut-and-paste graphic design. She also studied computer graphics at a time when the medium was just emerging and graphic designers had to learn programming in binary code.
As an artist, Andrea moved from acrylic paints to oils, and eventually, to her latest passion - Corel Painter X. The progression through different media, she says, was as a natural part of her artistic evolution driven by a search for perfection. "It's all about the art," she says, "and just wanting to improve the work - make it better and better. So if I can improve something by changing the medium, changing the technique, I'll go after it."
Painter X
Painter X is a computer programme designed by Corel to replicate the effects of dozens of media types. Users can create their own canvases and effectively work with just about any medium available to artists in the 'real' world. Crayons, charcoal, oil paint, watercolour, airbrush and felt tip markers are just some of the available choices. The programme works best with a stylus, or digital pen, and a tablet. It is highly intuitive, responding to variation in pressure and even the tilt of the stylus.
Watercolours bleed unpredictably on paper, the airbrush spatters depending on the setting and chalk marks have all the characteristics of the real thing - without the dust. "It allows you to explore different techniques, different media, and it's more cost effective than if you were to go out there and buy the actual tools," says Haynes-Peart.
Thanks to the software, Andrea can indulge her obsession with detail by magnifying the image to use a tiny brush on a decorative belt buckle. She can experiment with all kinds of techniques and even adjust the drying time on her oil paints. A purist at heart, the painter used to 'hate' computers, but judging by her recent body of work, she's taken to this digital medium like the proverbial fish to water.
"It's like painting by remote control," she laughs, "with a very sophisticated robot."
The pieces are rendered in Andrea's characteristic style - a lyrical realism with religious attention to detail. Her work exudes a delicate sensuality whether she paints nude lovers picnicking or a bunch of star apples. In the 'real' world, the former Miss Jamaica World has work in the permanent collection of the National Gallery. At her last solo show, many of the pieces sold before the opening of the exhibit, the rest were sold that same night.
In the digital world, Andrea only gets better.
Her heroes are illustrators like Julie Bell, Boris Valejo and Hajime Sorayama. These artists all have graphic styles. Bell and Valejo design comic book covers and video game characters. Their prints, reproductions of painted originals, sell for US$5,000-12,000. Sorayama is a freelance Japanese illustrator who has been world-famous for his super realistic fantasy images since the 1970s. Husband-and-wife Bell and Valejo paint their originals, and Sorayama paints with some airbrushing. All of these artists produce illustrative prints of the highest quality that sell at 'fine art' prices.
Having mastered this new medium, Andrea sees endless possibilities for herself. A high-speed internet connection means her digital originals can be sent anywhere in the world in a matter of moments. The technology can allow her to produce work for corporate clients across the globe. And because the original pieces are digital, the reproduction quality is guaranteed perfect every time.
Value of nature
A staunch believer in the value of nature, Haynes-Peart is proud of the fact that all her work is completely 'green'. The equipment and her entire home-office are powered by solar energy. She can also be proud of the fact that she is expanding her artistic abilities while continuing to improve the quality of her product.
Her work brings two disciplines together, eliminating the idea that they were separate in the first place. Art is art and Andrea is producing images of the highest quality - by any standard. Merriam-Webster defines art as 'a picture or diagram that helps make something clear or attractive'. If that is true, then there is no difference between painter and illustrator and art is about striving for perfection.
Rather than being a destination, perfection, it seems, may well be found in the pursuit.
