Mark Coffey

Mark Coffey has lived most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area with a career in architecture, construction management and real estate development. Several years ago, he decided to try something a little different and began publishing an informational magazine aimed at the design, construction and real estate industries. During that time, he became interested in digital design which led to a specific interest in digital painting.

Mark has developed his style and technique from instruction by some of the leaders in digital painting, including Bert Monroy, John Derry, Marilyn Sholin, Ron Crabb and others. Through the use of computer hardware and software, he adapts traditional painting techniques, mediums of traditional painting such as acrylic paint, ink, oils and watercolor, and applies the color pigment to traditional media like canvas or watercolor paper. His toolbox contains an unlimited number of colors as well as countless paint brushes, pastel sticks, sprays, pens and pencils.

Some mistakenly believe that digital painting is a computer creation. In reality, the computer and its software are just tools the artist uses to create a painting. Words were once written on parchment using a pen dipped in ink. Later, words were applied to paper using a typewriter. Today, we use a computer with word processing software and an inkjet or laser printer. The technique has changed, but the creative process has remained much the same. So it is with digital painting.