Red River Pro
MARILYN SHOLIN

The Graphic Artist
Marilyn Sholin incorporates photography and digital imaging to achieve fresh and intriguing works of art that have won her worldwide professional acclaim and awards. She is a popular speaker at photographic conventions, has authored two books and conducts workshops in the U.S. and abroad where she shares her artistic techniques with others. She is active in charity work and donates her time and talent to several non-profit organizations.

The Client
A self-project intended for future sales and toward creating bodies of work.

© Marilyn Sholin

The Assignment
"The setting of the tables and the tiny details were what inspired me to create an intimate moment on the Sunset Terrace of a mountain inn."

The Execution
" I stalk the world with my camera and find events and images that I feel tell small stories. I look at all my photo references as ground work for future paintings. I take multiple images of the same subject looking
to combine them all into a photo reference that will tell a story and make a creative painting. None of my current work is directly from one image but of many put together in Photoshop to create a composition
that pleases my eye."

Post Production
"Once my photo reference is done in Photoshop I open it in Corel Painter and begin testing to see which brushes will give me the best effects. I also use a number of plug-in filters to perfect either the reference photo or the final painting. Some of the plug-ins I use are NIK, Topaz, LucisArt and AlienSkin. There are more, but basically I test to see what the effects may be and this gives me a direction in which to go.

"After that I paint in Painter using everything available to me including clone painting, quick clone painting and adding paint to the painting. When I think I have achieved all the proper painterly effects I begin printing test prints. I also take the paintings a step further and use acrylic gels and mediums and paints on the images after printing."

The Output
"Aurora Fine Art Natural paper is my favorite. It holds the ink and colors true to the colors I see on my screen and has just enough texture to add to the artwork. I love the variety of sizes it comes in so
I can have a box of paper for each project and not have to waste time cutting paper. It's all done for me! The weight of the paper feels great to the hand and shows my vibrant colors beautifully."

Contact
Marilyn's web site and blog are at: marilynsholin.com. She can be emailed at: marilynsholin@gmail.com. Other contacts for her include Facebook: Marilyn Sholin, and Twitter: @msholin and @digitalpaint