Thursday, December 31, 2015

My Most Popular Digital Design: "The Orange Sail"



I was rummaging through the chaotic piles of papers that my mother had accumulated. She rarely filed anything, mostly keeping financial papers and check stubs going back more than 30 years. Other stuff, she threw in a pile. If I wanted Mother to see anything I had painted, I had to print it out for her because she never really learned to use a computer. I found this design in one of the piles. It is from 1991 and it comes from the first computer, printer, and graphics software I ever used. A cobbled-together PC, an HP PaintJet, and CorelDraw 2. I've upgraded a bit since I did this digital work. The HP PaintJet, as you can see, has a very rough, dot-matrix-style texture. 

I had forgotten that this design started out in these colors. It is much better known by my fans as the original design for "The Orange Sail," which is my most popular painting as measured by uses in graphic design, print editions, and sales. I re-colored the image and chose these summery, seaside colors:


And this digital version later became, in 2005, 14 years later, "The Orange Sail" painted in acrylic.


Everybody loves this picture. I had it nicely framed and I still own the original.

"The Orange Sail" is acrylic on illustration board, 22" x 18", October 2005.

2 comments:

Mike (Altus) said...

While the geometry is the same, it's interesting to see how the change in colour shifts the mood of the piece. I'm reminded of re-mastered music. ;)

Tristan Alexander said...

Love the finished version, isn't it funny how everyone loves it but no one buys it? I have that happen sometimes, very frustrating!