Artist Alert - Useful Google Scan App - Floral View

FLORAL VIEW
8" x 10" Birch cradle
White frame
$129 + shipping

Wow! I've just been trailing the google scan app with my iPad. I know many daily painter like me struggle to complete and post their daily painting while the light is good. aMorning outdoor light is always best, but who has their painting done by then? Therefore we are constantly searching for ways to take good images of our work under lights. Many types of acrylic and oil paint show shine which skews the image, and as for trying to photograph varnished paintings ... forget it!

So you can imagine how happy I was to find a google app which allows you to use your iPhone or iPad to "scan" paintings and then automatically processes them to remove the shine or uneven light.

The above  photo was taken quickly under a daylight lamp to have an image to use for cataloging. I knew I would need a better image for marketing, but haven't been home in the morning to take one. I used gloss gel when creating the work, which added to the problem. But then I found the google scan app and used it under the same lighting conditions to test it out. I've posted this image at the top of the blog. Wow! What a difference!

As you can see, the shine has been eliminated with no fuss. The lighting is bright and even and the colors are quite accurate. The app also automatically removes any keystoning and poor angles. It honestly only took seconds. I then tried some close ups which I'm very happy with.

There are a few downsides, so I would still recommend ordinary images or flat bed scanning to make prints. I found that the app scan is not as sharp as a regular scan and doesn't produce rich depth. If you are an impasto painter, or use iridescent paints, sometimes it is useful to show a bit of shine to see the texture and glimmer better. However, the top painting is perfectly acceptable for marketing and submissions which I'm usually scrambling to do late at night.

I can't wait now to try it with glossy varnish and photographs to see how the app performs with those most difficult images.