Portrait of a young girl with a puppy, by Anne Carter Hargrove

Anne Carter Hargrove is a psychologist who discovered the world of digital painting only a couple of years ago. She has quickly developed her own unique style, as a photographer and digital painter. Anne hand-embellishes her printed works, adding touches with acrylic paints, glazes, gold leaf, and other materials, making each of her works truly one-of-a-kind. Anne was kind enough to answer some questions for Digital Image, and we’re happy to share the interview here with you.

What art training did you have prior to learning Painter?

The majority of my training before learning Painter was in photography. I worked sorting film in a portrait studio in high school, and spent hours pouring over photography magazines. Then I set up my own darkroom and learned traditional film development.

Original photo reference for the painting above.

I was a photographer for several college publications, but then put photography and any type of art away for years to pursue a career as a psychologist. Five years ago, we had adopted 3 little girls who had no baby pictures, and I jumped back into photography. My husband bought me a digital camera (the first Digital Rebel), and it came packaged with Photoshop Elements. This opened the door to learning how to enhance photos digitally in ways that never had been possible before. I joined several different photography boards, and stumbled across a forum called “Painted Pixels” on www.ilovephotography.com. There I saw painted portraits that literally took my breath away, and I was hooked.

Where did you learn how to use Painter?

I first signed up to take a six week online course by Jill Garl on portrait painting. Since then, I’ve worked through a variety of DVD instruction including DVDs by Jeremy Sutton, Jane Conner-Ziser, Brad Buttry, Richard Ramsey, and Michael Campbell. There are some wonderful handbooks like the Painter Creativity Series and the Painter Wow series that you could spend years studying. And the monthly magazine “Painter” is always full of tutorials. I’ve found that learning to use Painter well means needing to combine the skills of the traditional art world as well as digital imaging skills, so I’ve also studied more traditional art techniques - specifically acrylics. I’ve learned a lot from the critique section at www.digitalpaintingforum.com - where other digital artists are very generous with their critiques and suggestions.

Tell us about how you began to offer photo painting to your customers

When I first began using Painter to create portraits, it really was an obsession - this is the kind of program that can keep you up til 3AM without you even knowing it. So, after a photography shoot, I would paint one of the proofs to show to the client - and they usually fell in love.

Boy Meets Frog - a painting by Anne Carter Hargrove

How popular is Painter with your customers?

I’m noticing a definite upswing in popularity of painted portraits - there’s something about a painting that’s different than a photograph. A painting has a texture and color palette of its own.

Photo reference used for the painting above.

My paintings are always a “one of a kind” work of art - embellished with gels and acrylic paint so they have the texture of a traditional painting, and this enhances their perceived value to clients.

How do you market photo paintings to your customers?

Much of my portrait marketing comes through my website - www.cahootsportraits.com. I also contribute painting commissions to charitable organizations quite frequently. In addition, I’ve published several articles on embellishing portraits in Painter Magazine, released a video on embellishing digital prints (www.cadmiumdreams.com), and teach a class on embellishment at the Digital Art Academy (www.digitalartacademy.com) These avenues have been quite helpful in developing relationships both with potential clients and with photographers who are interested in learning to use Painter for their clients. And there’s always google adwords!

What advice do you have for someone looking to learn Painter and/or include it in their product offerings?

My first advice is: if you really start using Painter, plan on getting hooked. If it’s something you really want to do, don’t get discouraged by the learning curve, and plan on taking a year or so to develop your own distinctive style. First take some basic classes on using the program (for instance, through Lynda.com), then join an online forum where you can post your paintings and get honest feedback. If you want to include paintings in your product offering, but you don’t want to do the Painter work yourself, check out the work of 3 or 4 different digital artists who offer this service, and ask lots of questions about how they work, then commission a sample painting to use as a display in your studio.

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