Donato Giancola

Donato, thank you for participating with this beautiful and stirring painting, "The Golden Rose." I must admit that when I
looked at your finely designed web site, http://www.donatoart.com <http://www.donatoart.com/> , I realized that I had seen your
work before, both inside books, and on the covers. You are obviously an artist in great demand and rightly so. I like how, on
your web pages for each painting, you include on a side bar of preparation sketches to show the evolution of your ideas and
concepts. You could have chosen many of your works to discuss, because they are generally grand in scope, amazing in color
placement, interesting in depth and perspective, realistically rendered, and contain something I like to think of as an extra
"Oomph": something one cannot put his finger on or describe, in short, they make me feel something.

Perhaps you chose "The Golden Rose" because of that same trait. When I look at it, I first see, from a birds eye view, a
strangely beautiful image. Yet my feeling is one of sadness. The scene could be mistaken as a Pre-Raphaelite painting, with its
romantic poses, costume finery, and dramatic, emotional nature. In any case, it is truly unique.

Donato, how do you describe this painting, where did the idea come from, and is this a commission or your own endeavor?

As you picked up on, inspiration for 'The Golden Rose' has echoes of the sensibilities found in the works of artists like J.W.
Waterhouse and the Pre-Raphaelite movement. I have lately been fond of tragic narratives, as they seem to sample the
boundaries of deep human emotions and produce moments which every viewer can passionately empathize with. This situation
involves a friend discovering the body of a loved one, washed up on shore after a shipwreck, and despairingly cradling her on
the beach to say good bye. The inclusion of the dead mermen accentuate the narrative that this is not a typical ship wreck - a
moment out of time - yet does not dilute the power of that emotional farewell.

The ‘The Golden Rose’ originated as a book cover assignment for Tor Books. The generous freedom and support given by art
director Irene Gallo and the writing by author Kathleen Bryan made this painting easy to get excited about. Yet, even with the
literary foothold, I found it necessary to create this moment when I found it was not included in the novel! My typical approach
to book cover illustration is to mine the manuscript, not for obvious climactic events, but rather for elusive moments and
circumstances where the true character of the protagonists and narrative reveal themselves. Reading between the lines for
these cinematic moments, I am able to both supply my clients with a compelling image and conceive a painting I am truly
passionate about as an artist. Thus while these are characters from Ms. Bryan’s story, there was a need to take the narrative
further to create a situation which illuminated their true humanity.

The most memorable moments in creating this work was painting from life (death!) two fish in the studio. This process opened
the door to the inclusion of the exposed gills on the mermen lying dead on the beach. With those fish in the studio for two days, I
had plenty incentive to work fast!

I have heard it said that an artist has to be a scientist, and a scientist has to be an artist. That seems to ring true in your work
here. Much more can go into preparing to illustrate the cover of a book than one normally expects, as you have demonstrated.
Your fish studies paid off well with a convincing rendering of the mermen. Impressive as well is the tangled, splintered, and
washing mess of the wreck at the feet of the dying one. It would be interesting to know how you prepared for that. Did you study
photos, create your own "wreck" to study, such as with the wet cloth, rope, and foaming water, or exactly what did you use for
reference? "Wetness" is something artists do not always encounter and some might find it difficult to create that effect, another
area where this work demonstrates the scientist in you. Is there an easy way to sum up how an artist creates the wet look, as in
clothing and on skin?

The wreckage was not as difficult as imagined. The memories and experience from life filled in quite nicely here, in part from
my years spent visiting the Cape Cod shoreline near my brother’s home - how waves push debris up onto the sandy shore as
well as what state that debris is in by the time it makes through the pounding waves. So while I had not photographs directly in
front of me, the knowledge I had coupled with taking time to set up a photographic shoot with models, ropes and a few other
elements made for a convincing reality. The ‘wetness’ was an easy effect to pull of at this point, a simple request that my
models get soaked and have their faces and hair spritzed with water. There is no better way to understand a lighting
effect/illusion than to recreate it as closely as possible. So many artists (and critics alike) believe art must birth raw out of the
mind or ‘spring forth’ from some ‘innocent/pure’ internalized vision for it to ring true. The reality of great figure painting cannot
be further from this absurdity, it is exactly the opposite – careful study and examination of life then allows the artist to take
greater leaps into the creative unknown.

I like to think of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies as presenting a quality that I call "beautiful" evil or darkness.
Despite the disgusting, evil creatures, beasts and characters, and the dark, brooding, treacherous sets, they, in their own way,
have a certain beauty unique to their own kinds. It is a way to show that all creation, even that which is not obviously beautiful,
has a certain property of originality that can be appreciated. This painting also demonstrates a similar "beautiful" pain or
morbidity, supported by its strong compositional structure, a very interesting perspective, and empathetic emotion. How long
does it take you, in this instance anyway, to develop such a seemingly difficult work of art from your original idea, from idea to
final sketches, not counting the painting phase?

Thank you for the compliment on the painting, I have been investigating this duality you speak of in my latest works, finding
sublime beauty in the most tragic of experiences. It is an elusive balance and not readily, nor easily, achieved in my works, I
wish it were not so!

In particular, the concept for ‘The Golden Rose’ came immediately - from my very first (and only) sketch of the general content
after reading through the novel. I got lucky and hit a home run on the first pitch! The graphic punch of the dark, wet clothing
contrasting with the pale skin of recently dead men/mermen provided the ground work upon which I built the rest of the tragic
narrative. I wanted the sublime, pale face of the dead woman cradled in the dark masses of hair and shadow of her morning
friend - a final farewell. The light and dark rhythms of waves on the beach at dawn played well into this compositional structure.
Of course the intense research and referencing I under took afterward help to realize, mold, and harden this vision, but it all
started from a very simple thumbnail drawing, which I kept referring back to during the entire painting process. In all the
preliminary drawing and final oil painting took approximately three weeks from start to finish.

Amazing. But when you say three weeks, does that pretty much include all-day sessions of work? What would your average
number or hours of work per day be for those three weeks?

The three weeks included the time for gathering references, creating the preliminary drawing, and work on the final oil painting.
Thus the actual physical act of painting took a little over two weeks, with typically 5-7 hours of studio time each day as I only
paint during daylight at this phase in my career. I have learned to be confident and knowledgeable about my paint application.

What kind of sketch or preliminary did you use to show the art buyer what your final work would look like?

I always generate a rough sketch to show my clients/buyers. Something simple, but detailed enough to communicate structure
and intent.

(SEE ROUGH SKETCH BELOW)

Just out of curiosity, what kind of music were you listening to during that effort?

I have no idea…guesses likely include National Public Radio, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and a possibly turn
of Rush.

There is an extensive FAQ page on your web site, if one wants to find out more about you and your background. Also, your bio
is very impressive. You mentioned that you were very good at mathematics as well as art. Have you ever combined art and
math to do some "illusion" art, such as the work done by M. C. Escher?

Funny that you ask. A childhood friend of mine, who was talented in mathematics like I was just solicited my advice about
creating such derivative paintings for himself. He is picking up the brush to paint after twenty years as an engineer. As for my
interest and intent in combining art and math, I have yet to express any at this time...but the future is always open!