58 artistDecember 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
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Landscape
layers
Robert Dutton explains how Royal Talens’
Amsterdam Photo Transfer Gel helped create new
exciting directions and a more abstract approach in
his mixed-media paintings
A
s an artist I find photography
an essential part of my
creative process. I often take
photos as an aide memoire
to quick field sketches with colour
notations. However, I never completely
rely on them, nor do I use them as
a short cut to gain the necessary
information for later studio works.
Principally I’m an outdoor painter. The
act of physically drawing or painting
directly in front of the subject in
actual three dimensions, makes it far
easier for me to translate what I see to
paper when creatively exploring and
evaluating my subjects.Creative message
When I was a student in the mid-1980s,
working from photographs for outdoor
subjects was an expensive and lengthy
process. It was far quicker to draw and
paint things from life and I count myself
lucky to have had that training. I was
fascinated how the abstract American
Expressionists used photography in
their work, particularly Andy Warhol and
Willem de Kooning, with their multi-
layering processes. They understood
how to get their creative messages
across – their exciting interpretations
used printed imagery such as
photographs and elements ofPhotographs by kind permission of Richard Littlewood http://www.richardlittlewood.comAmsterdam Photo Transfer Gel
is an acrylic resin dispersion that works
in perfect harmony with all water-
based media. It is available in 500ml
containers and a little goes a long way- lavish applications are
not necessary and with practice you’ll
know how much to use for a successful
image transfer.
This wonderful product has allowed
me to explore and develop new
interpretations for subjects in ways
I’m really excited by. New doors have
opened and my creative approach has
been refreshed – it’s certainly helped
to bridge the gap between painting
media, digital prints and digital
software, and I’m so glad
I have discovered it!
Royal Talens Amsterdam Photo Transfer
Gel is available from leading art stores.