Red Hibiscus Artwork

I draw great inspiration for my artwork from both land and sea, as well as the plants and creatures that inhabit them. I grew up on Long Island, New York, and spent my childhood summers in a rustic cabin in the mountains of New Hampshire. I currently live in Oregon. I have been drawing and painting all my life (mostly in oils and acrylics), but my current interest is in utilizing the computer as an artistic tool. Most of my work starts out as a series of original digital photographs (anywhere from one to six), taken by myself, that are merged and/or composited into a single image. I view this as a “base coat” where elements are added, removed, rearranged, etc. Once the basic composition is established, it is then further processed using several programs, filters, and plugins (with Photoshop being my main software), and by applying a combination of digital hand painting (using a stylus and Wacom tablet), blend modes, adjustment layers, color manipulations, overlays, underlays, textures, masks, feathers, blurs, and other transformations. Although very different from traditional methods of producing art, I find it just as creative and just as rewarding. I strive for a painterly, organic feel in all my digital work, hoping to elevate the photo from a literal representation to one of emotion. The finished piece is one part photography, one part digital painting, and one part magic - expressing a vision beyond the camera’s lens.