• Notes on my digital paintings - some answers to the How, Why and When questions that I'm often asked.
  
  
• Before and After Snapshots - examples of how I sketch out the initial composition for a digital painting directly in the computer. The image may go through many changes from start to finish.
  
  
• Progression Sketch Snapshots - series of step-by-step snapshots taken as I worked on digital images, frozen at pivotal moments in their creation.

Last but not least, I wanted to talk a little about my philosophies and approach towards my artwork.

Throughout all of my artwork, regardless of the media used, people have been able to recognize a consistent style. Many times, my paintings are very 'quiet' in their look and feel. I attribute this to nature itself often being very quiet and subdued, as I do spend a great deal of time capturing images true to nature.

I greatly enjoy painting on location, and in those times when I'm trying to catch a certain lighting effect as the day moves on, speed is of the utmost importance. Of course, when I work on the computer, I cannot take it directly outside with me. Sometimes I can rely on the view of nature outside my window, and other times I bring nature inside. I will frequently bring in flowers or tree sprigs from my garden, and place them in a vase by my computer or easel. When painting from life inside, I'm careful to keep the objects in natural light from the window for the most accurate colors.

At other times, when I do not have the opportunity to sit and paint a scene as it sits right in front of me, I will wait until I return home and then paint it from memory. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about my traditional artist media such as watercolors or my computer, I treat these as one and the same when it comes to my fine artistic tools. My computer art is just as individual and personal to me as any of my other art, they are all a pleasure to work with and I take them all very seriously.

In my history as a fine artist, I long ago made the personal decision not to scan or project images onto my paper. While I do sometimes look to reference images (typically my own sketches, notes or photographs), they always stay off to one side as I work. These references are for me to look at as needed, not to copy. I have kept this same philosophy with my computer art. I don't use a scanner to put an image on the screen for me, and I don't manipulate pre-existing imagery. All of my art is sketched out freehand, designed, colored, and personally detailed as I work on it with my background in fine art techniques. I'm doing all of the work, the computer isn't rendering anything for me.

I felt the need to explain these concepts further, as I've run across some individuals who felt convinced that I was not being wholly honest on the subject. I once had a man call me on the phone, he had seen some digital art prints I had placed in a local gallery. He was extremely angry, wanting to know what kind of 'trick' I was trying to pull on everyone. There are no tricks, I hope I was able to explain this as well as is possible. The main ingredients in all of my art are training, imagination, and years of practice.