Touching base again with something pretty -- to let everyone know I'm still alive, basically. At least, I think I'm still alive. I was, the last time I looked in a mirror and an weird-looking, stressed-out face looked back at me. Life is being obnoxious, with a capital ob. Stuff is happening, and it just won't let up for long enough to let me get my life back together so --
Here is a real, genuine digital painting. The "canvas" was rendered in Bryce, and is simple to the point of looking like it as knocked up in plasticine. This "bottom layer" was shipped into Photoshop and ... painted. Then painted some more. Then finished off with some more painting. Looks like an island on Olympic Peninsula -- it's also uploaded at a good size, if you'd like to see it large.
I've been asked if I'll talk a little bit about how to do this work, and -- sure. It's not terribly difficult, but it's also not "intuitive" as such. It's a lot less clever than a whole lot of artists would like you to think it is, but on the other hand, your own artist's eye is very important, and you do need a few basic techniques that are basic to any kind of art, even crayons and pencils! The good news is, the techniques are also simple.
The other thing I've been asked is, would I render some of my best stuff as wallpapers ... and again, you bet. In fact, I've been asked this several times, so what I'll do, once a week, is go back through some of the old posts, take some of the best, render them up into wallpapers in the most popular or common sizes, and do a post in which a number of links are embedded. You can then download the wallpapers direct from a folder at DreamCraft, which is our own domain, so you know where they came from, and that they're "clean" of any nasty passengers, like viruses.
This is post #596, and ... what in the world am I going to put together, to mark #600?! You might recall, I went through this same searching when I was rolling up to #500. I've glimpsed a couple of ideas in my mind's eye, and I need to get my finger out and work them up, before we get there!
More soon.
Jade, September 15