Digital not a double click quick art fix

By Shaun Inguanzo
DIGITAL art is not easy – just ask artist Steve Hunt.
Mr Hunt, whose work features in Dandenong’s Walker Street Gallery’s latest exhibition, says creating a digital painting can take weeks of labour, contrary to the misconception by many that it is easy.
The Pictures in my Mind exhibit is featuring at the gallery until the end of April, and was launched last week to a curious crowd of onlookers.
Mr Hunt’s artwork is arousing to say the least, with gallery coordinator Cathy van Ee telling Star that curious onlookers found the art intriguing because of its ability to take a scene from the real world yet appear as though it is a memory, or dream.
Mr Hunt said that was partly his intention, but he also hoped each work would take the viewer back to a childhood memory or experience.
“Rather than illustrate or represent real life, I try to take real life as an inspiration and then include people’s memories or emotional feelings as to what they have seen in a landscape or situation,” he said.
The artwork is done using a computer, but it is far from just pressing a button, Mr Hunt said.
“The process is far longer than traditional media. There is a real misconception out there with digital media – one, that it is quick, and two, the process.
“People don’t understand the process in that they think the computer is doing the work and you just press the button.
“But the truth is it is so much different to that.
“Most images are small ones, but I average three to four weeks of work in each of those.”
The results are then printed onto a variety of surfaces, from canvas to silk, or even Mr Hunt’s surfboard, which features in the exhibit.
The art on display is for sale at prices between $150 and $500.
Pictures in my Mind will be on display at the Walker Street Gallery until the end of April.