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Pete Revonkorpi: About the Artist
I have been drawing my whole life but, professionally, I started to paint quite late — at around the age of 22.

I have always wanted to be a writer and tell stories. When I realized that the kinds of stories I wanted to tell were what people call “children's stories,” I also realized that I would need illustrations. So I decided to learn how to illustrate — to learn how to tell stories through pictures. Since then, my works have been published in numerous Finnish newspapers and magazines. I have also created other illustrated works, such as CD cover art.

In 2009, I started working with a musician to produce what we call “living and singing paintings.” They combine live digital painting with live music to tell a story without words. At this point, we have only performed here in Finland, but we hope to take our performances abroad in the future.

Studio
Software: Painter
Hardware: Wacom Intuos 4

Contact
Pete Revonkorpi
Jyväskylä, Finland
peterevonkorpi@hotmail.com
http://peterevonkorpi.daportfolio.com

Artist's Statement
I adore simplicity, and I try not to put anything extra in my paintings — only what is absolutely necessary. I try to strip my thoughts and emotions completely naked. Although I often use clever concepts in my paintings, they are not really what the painting is all about. It is all about the emotion the painting evokes — or doesn't evoke. For example, I can use the color blue to create a sad feeling in the painting, but I can also use a sad concept to do that. The concept of a painting is really just another one of its colors.

Influences
Anything can be inspirational. As long as you can see the invisible side of things, there is magic everywhere.

Techniques
Step-by-Step Tutorial: Smoothing
I don't do a lot tricks with Painter — I just paint. One thing that I do often is what I call smoothing. After I have painted something, I take the Thick Wet Oil 30 Brush and reduce its opacity to almost 0 (usually 4x6). I then pick a color that I have used a lot in the painting and just paint all over it. This smoothes the image and gives it a soft and painted look that I like a lot. I usually do this separately to different sections and objects in the painting while I work.

         1.         In Figure 10.1, the edges of the woman’s hair and her dress are clear to see. I use the Oils, Thick Wet Oils 30 Brush and reduce its opacity to 6. I choose a color that I have already used to paint with in the section that I want to smooth (in this case, green for the hair and orange for the dress) and paint carelessly all over it.

         2.         The result is a much softer image, with a much more painterly look. I use this smoothing technique in practically every one of my paintings to give them a soft and dreamlike quality.

I use Painter pretty much the same way I would paint in real life: I just pick up a brush and start painting. This is exactly why I like Painter so much — it allows my personal style to come through naturally.