Impressive Illustrator

Donato Giancola considers himself to be a fine artist who happens to make a living doing illustration. While many illustrators welcome the way their art is included in a book design, he has a tendency to cringe if the book's title covers some important part of the painting.

His trademark talents include painting metallic, reflective surfaces, and creating massive groups of figures. He must have a loyal group of models, because in one painting he may have 20 individually rendered figures.

Giancola's process allows for this level of detail. Instead of transferring his drawing onto the canvas with a projector, he draws on paper and affixes the paper to the canvas. He paints on the paper, not the canvas. That way, he draws once, not twice.