Winter Forest Guardian
 One Spirit  Chesapeake Bay montage  Jedi David  Tree of Light (blue)  Unicorn |  Iditarod Dreamer  Wolf Spirit  Raven and Wolf 2   Tree of Light (red)  Night Wolf |  the Sidhe Horse  Raven and Wolf 
Sae Hrafn
Morgan
 Coomb Jelly Magic  fogbound |  Night Eyes  E.L.F. Medicine Wheel   Twilight Ride 
Wild Black Mare
 Ghost Ship |
Tradigital Illustration
I found this term, coined by a children's book illustrator, in one of my SCBWI publications. It fits this new sort of mixed media: traditional illustration techniques combined with digital media like Photoshop and digital photography. I work mainly in watercolor, Photoshop (layering traditional pieces or painting directly on Photoshop with my Wacom Graphyre tablet), and using my own photographs, digital or otherwise.
In the two book cover designs: I began with traditional watercolors (horse, Elf in winter wood... dogteam). "Winter Forest Guardian" is simply two watercolors layered, plus a border. The Iditarod cover is more complex: I drew and watercolored the team from a photo. The mountains are part of the Iditarod Trail, a photo shot by Hank Debruin from the sled, modified and painted over on Photoshop. The wolf is a drawing (Prismacolor) I had done earlier. The raven was painted with the airbrush tools on Photoshop from various raven reference. I also had to track down lots of pictures of northern lights; those I painted (after looking at the reference) on Photoshop. As I layered parts together, I often had to paint, mask layers, use the clone stamp, and tweak in other ways.
The medicine wheel contains: a sky shot in Tom's Cove, Chincoteague VA; Raven and the Bag of Stars (watercolor); the watercolor horse from Twilight Run (recolored on Photoshop); a sketch of my young Elven illusionist, Zan, painted on Photoshop; a photoshop painting of Brannan Hrafnson, Ravenkin; an earlier wolf sketch; a photo I took of woods; water photo shot from my kayak; Photoshop painting of Mike Shaughnessy (marine biologist, filmaker and orca shapeshifter); and a (somewhat modified) photo of me, standing in for Tas the Pooka, shot by a friend, Abe, who has a great camera eye.
Night Eyes started with the watercolor jaguar and a South American legend: Jaguar is the Guardian of the Night, his spots are the stars. The cat is from another illustration I did long ago (containing a bard, the cat, who lived with a friend, is also named Bard). the cat-eyed Elf began as a character from "Bedlam's Bard", and morphed into one of my own Elves.
Morgan and Sae Hrafn: Viking longship Sae Hrafn hangs out near Oakley, MD, the main vessel of The Longship Company (www.longshipco.org); a group of serious (and fun-loving) amateur historians of the Viking Age. I had been chasing Sae Hrafn around the creeks off the Patuxent, shooting photos from my sea kayak, Makenuk's Fin, when I saw my friend's kid lean over and stare at the water in a kind of "zen of being there" moment. The ship photo was simply adjusted on Photoshop (with a new, less cluttered sky replacing the one which has marina elements in it). Everyone was already in period costume. Part II was painted on Photoshop. I used a patch of water from the original photo, turned upside down, for the water surface in Part II. I adjusted the colors in Part 1 to match the painting. A dolphin sketch I did from dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore became the dolphin to the left. The "biggest dolphin" (orca) was sketched and painted directly on Photoshop from models and photo reference. Morgan the Merrow started with a photo of a martial artist, and Peterson's Field Guide to North Atlantic Fishes (swordfish). The red cap is a bit of ancient faerie lore (I found a reference in Brian Froud and Alan Lee's "Faeries"); merrows' red caps connect them to the sea and allow them to live there. And...hmmm...anybody remember the crew of Cousteau's calypso?... and their red watch caps? The watch cap went from a staple of sailing crews to what helmet divers used to protect and warm their heads, to Cousteau's crew of scuba divers. And they've always been red.
Tree of Light: The neighbors across the road decorated a small evergreen with lights one Christmas. The tree sat between their yard and a farmer's field, dwarfed by the giant evergreens around it, nearly hidden. Snow had fallen, like a yule card. I set up a tripod and shot a bunch of pics. I tweaked and layered them on Photoshop, as well as painting into the tree lights for the best effect. This is pretty much what it really looked like, though! Blue version below is the same piece, tweaked on Photoshop.
Wild Black Mare: The first Pride of Baltimore was referred to as "the Wild Black Mare", or, "it's like riding a wild black mare through the woods at night". British sailors of the War of 1812 spoke of "those yanks and their wild horses" when they observed our "Baltimore Clippers" or sharp built schooners. The Black Horse is Zorro's horse, Fury, the Robin Hood hero who rides by night...and so were the privateers of 1812. Sky, ship and water are three different photos. The wave horses are pulled straight up out of the water with Photoshop's smudge tool. The wild black mare was painted on Photoshop separately. The ship is 1812 era privateer 'Pride of Baltimore II' firing her cannon (I shot the photo at
Chestertown Maryland's Downrigging Weekend, from another ship).. For more about Pride, click on the helmsman (I shot that one while guest crewing aboard Pride).
In the two book cover designs: I began with traditional watercolors (horse, Elf in winter wood... dogteam). "Winter Forest Guardian" is simply two watercolors layered, plus a border. The Iditarod cover is more complex: I drew and watercolored the team from a photo. The mountains are part of the Iditarod Trail, a photo shot by Hank Debruin from the sled, modified and painted over on Photoshop. The wolf is a drawing (Prismacolor) I had done earlier. The raven was painted with the airbrush tools on Photoshop from various raven reference. I also had to track down lots of pictures of northern lights; those I painted (after looking at the reference) on Photoshop. As I layered parts together, I often had to paint, mask layers, use the clone stamp, and tweak in other ways.
The medicine wheel contains: a sky shot in Tom's Cove, Chincoteague VA; Raven and the Bag of Stars (watercolor); the watercolor horse from Twilight Run (recolored on Photoshop); a sketch of my young Elven illusionist, Zan, painted on Photoshop; a photoshop painting of Brannan Hrafnson, Ravenkin; an earlier wolf sketch; a photo I took of woods; water photo shot from my kayak; Photoshop painting of Mike Shaughnessy (marine biologist, filmaker and orca shapeshifter); and a (somewhat modified) photo of me, standing in for Tas the Pooka, shot by a friend, Abe, who has a great camera eye.
Night Eyes started with the watercolor jaguar and a South American legend: Jaguar is the Guardian of the Night, his spots are the stars. The cat is from another illustration I did long ago (containing a bard, the cat, who lived with a friend, is also named Bard). the cat-eyed Elf began as a character from "Bedlam's Bard", and morphed into one of my own Elves.
Morgan and Sae Hrafn: Viking longship Sae Hrafn hangs out near Oakley, MD, the main vessel of The Longship Company (www.longshipco.org); a group of serious (and fun-loving) amateur historians of the Viking Age. I had been chasing Sae Hrafn around the creeks off the Patuxent, shooting photos from my sea kayak, Makenuk's Fin, when I saw my friend's kid lean over and stare at the water in a kind of "zen of being there" moment. The ship photo was simply adjusted on Photoshop (with a new, less cluttered sky replacing the one which has marina elements in it). Everyone was already in period costume. Part II was painted on Photoshop. I used a patch of water from the original photo, turned upside down, for the water surface in Part II. I adjusted the colors in Part 1 to match the painting. A dolphin sketch I did from dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore became the dolphin to the left. The "biggest dolphin" (orca) was sketched and painted directly on Photoshop from models and photo reference. Morgan the Merrow started with a photo of a martial artist, and Peterson's Field Guide to North Atlantic Fishes (swordfish). The red cap is a bit of ancient faerie lore (I found a reference in Brian Froud and Alan Lee's "Faeries"); merrows' red caps connect them to the sea and allow them to live there. And...hmmm...anybody remember the crew of Cousteau's calypso?... and their red watch caps? The watch cap went from a staple of sailing crews to what helmet divers used to protect and warm their heads, to Cousteau's crew of scuba divers. And they've always been red.
Tree of Light: The neighbors across the road decorated a small evergreen with lights one Christmas. The tree sat between their yard and a farmer's field, dwarfed by the giant evergreens around it, nearly hidden. Snow had fallen, like a yule card. I set up a tripod and shot a bunch of pics. I tweaked and layered them on Photoshop, as well as painting into the tree lights for the best effect. This is pretty much what it really looked like, though! Blue version below is the same piece, tweaked on Photoshop.
Wild Black Mare: The first Pride of Baltimore was referred to as "the Wild Black Mare", or, "it's like riding a wild black mare through the woods at night". British sailors of the War of 1812 spoke of "those yanks and their wild horses" when they observed our "Baltimore Clippers" or sharp built schooners. The Black Horse is Zorro's horse, Fury, the Robin Hood hero who rides by night...and so were the privateers of 1812. Sky, ship and water are three different photos. The wave horses are pulled straight up out of the water with Photoshop's smudge tool. The wild black mare was painted on Photoshop separately. The ship is 1812 era privateer 'Pride of Baltimore II' firing her cannon (I shot the photo at
Chestertown Maryland's Downrigging Weekend, from another ship).. For more about Pride, click on the helmsman (I shot that one while guest crewing aboard Pride).
Raven and Wolf: in biology, Wolf and Raven have an association. Ravens lead wolves to potential prey items and are tolerated at the kill (which feast the ravens share). My Raven and Wolf are an Elvish raven shapeshifter and a Human with a wolf totem (I've known a few of those). I'm fascinated by "buddy teams", heroes of a tale who are usually opposites in character. This is a two page sketch from my sketchbook, scanned and painted on Photoshop, with my photos (sky, my first sled team) added. Raven carrying the bag of stars (a north American native legend) is an early watercolor I did.
The Sidhe Horse is a Prismacolor pencil drawing with a watercolor overlaid on it. Wolf Spirit is a sketch with a Photoshop painting (airbrush tool) of the leaping wolf overlaid. Ghost Ship began as Delaware's 1600's colonial vessel Kalmar Nyckel shot through "psychodelic sunglasses" at SailVirginia in 2007... then mutated on Photoshop (difference and exclusion work weird wonders).
Coomb jelly magic: a young friend at Solomon's Island observing coomb jellies. Grape size to lemon sized, coomb jellies don't sting, have cool rainbow glittery lines of cilia (like tiny paddles) dancing down their sides. They eat oyster spat, but sea nettles eat coomb jellies. So sea nettles (which do sting) help keep the balance, and the Bay clean (oysters filter the water).
