Ruralite Cafe: Published 01/09/03

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

Local artist is showcased in new book

"Mastering Digital Printing: The Photographer's and Artist's Guide to High-Quality Digital Output," the first in-depth reference to the world of digital printing for photography and fine art, includes information about Cullowhee watercolor artist Craig Forrest and reproduces two of his paintings.

As seems fitting for a book about digital printing tools and techniques, author Harald Johnson met Forrest in cyberspace.

"I started experimenting with reproducing my paintings by scanning them in sections," said Forrest, who explained that he then had to use the computer program Photoshop to "stitch" the pieces of his pictures back together.

"I was having problems with the seams, but I was able through an email list to contact people doing the same thing," Forrest said. "They explained what I was doing wrong."

Johnson, a 25-year veteran in the field of commercial and fine-art imaging and printing, was on Forrest's email list.

"Harald had made the transition to digital printing and was in the process of compiling a book on the subject," Forrest said. "He contacted me about showcasing my work in the book."

While Johnson's book is aimed primarily at photographers, the author wanted to include artists as well, Forrest said.

"He wasn't finding many traditional artists who were doing what I was doing," Forrest said. "He calls me a 'giclee' printer because 'giclee' means reproducing art from another medium - like taking a watercolor and using this method to reproduce it. The 'giclee' distinguishes one who's reproducing art from a traditional medium."

Of the 18 digital artists Johnson included in the book's gallery, Forrest is one of only two doing reproductions of traditional art.

"(Johnson) wanted to find an artist painting in traditional fashion - representational, not abstract - who was using computer technology," Forrest said.

Forrest is also featured in the book's first chapter, titled "Navigating the Digital Landscape," which includes information on how he reproduces his paintings. When asked to describe Johnson's effort, Forrest said the book is about "the digital revolution and using new computer processes."

And it's a real "quality" book, according to Forrest.

"I was almost surprised - I didn't think it would be so nice," Forrest said. Almost 400 pages long, the book is printed on heavy paper, he said.

"The other neat thing about this book is that it's been selected as a text for what is thought to be the first digital print-making course at a major university in the U.S.," Forrest said.

"This book is about nothing less than a revolution," said author Johnson. "A revolution that, although barely a dozen years old, has enabled photographers and artists the world over to create and produce their work in a way that has never been available to them before: with high-quality digital printing."

The two paintings by Forrest that appear in the book are depictions of scenes from the greater Cullowhee area. "Broom-making" is a portrait of the late Frances Nicholson, who lived in Caney Fork's Nicholson Cove area, and "10-10-10" shows bags of fertilizer stacked in Leo and Kayce Cowan's Tuckasegee barn.

Forrest is using digital technology and a printer with pigment-based inks to produce art quality prints at his home studio.

"Prints made with pigment inks have a longevity of more than 100 years if they're properly framed," Forrest said. "I couldn't think of selling a print without longevity."

Though he pursued a studio art degree at Appalachian State Univesity, Forrest initially turned to banking as a way to earn a living and moved to the mountains when he was named branch manager of First Citizens bank in Bryson City. He began painting professionally in 1979.

"The bank wanted to transfer me to Asheville, and I didn't want to go," he said by way of explaining the career shift. His wife, Wanda, was a teacher with Jackson County schools at the time, a fact that enabled him to try painting full time.

After multiple sclerosis ended Wanda's teaching career, Forrest accepted an offer from Daniel Allison and spent 12 years working for the Sylva car dealer. When Wanda's condition worsened, he returned to his art, a vocation he could pursue at home.

Johnson's book, "Mastering Digital Printing," will soon be available at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Back to Archive: 01/09/03.