For the Eyes

For the Eyes

So I've been having too much fun on the computer lately, and I thought I might share a bit of my art online. (This is what happens when the information age allows too much cheap webspace). Below are thumbnails of a few things I put together in Photoshop. Usually I keep it simple, sticking to Christmas Cards and the like, but sometimes I happen across something interesting. Lately I've been experimenting with different gradients, but it's challenging. Usually, I'm not quite sure what the result will be when I click the mouse, so I have to hit "undo" quite a bit.

If you have any effects you'd like to see done, let me know - I like to experiment, and new ideas are always welcome. In the future, I might make holiday and birthday cards on request.

"The Nebula"

I 'm a big fan of nebulae. One of these days I want to get myself a good telescope so I can hook up a camera and get some good nebula pictures of my own. In the meantime, Photoshop does allow a decent imitation. This background image comes from three layers of gradients with some blending. I think of it as the "soothing nebula." The pinks and periwinkles are soft, dependable colors. But here and there we see hints of gray - life, at it's best, is still somewhat dark.

**Some Samples**
	"Big Fish On Approach"	This is the kind of artwork I normally try to avoid in the museums. It's large, complicated, and stylized. The fish looks boxy and predatory, something akin to the IRS during an audit.
	"Shadow of the Hours"	I love shadows. The most interesting things in life always seem to occur in shadow, mired in mystery and perhaps deceit. And time can be the worst shadow of all, overpowering all other considerations with questions from the past and uncertainty for the future.
	"The Shadowlands"	Where do the spirits go? What sunless domain do they inhabit? And what of the depressed, the mourning, the lost? Their dawn brings no sun, and their night, I'll wager, leaves no darkness. They reside in a twilight netherworld where the denizens, already shadows, cast none of their own.
	"Mining the Sun"	We command the Earth, the Sky, and even parts of the Oceans. Someday, perhaps, we'll spread to the stars, mining the Sun itself for those precious gases we need for intersteller journeys. At least, I'm sure that's the line the promoters will use, and they'll post sleek, shiny drawings - like this one - of an installation to fuel human expansion for centuries. Never mind the exhaust plume off to the left there.
	"Copper Brushweave"	Is it a keyring? Is it woven copper? Or could it be the evil eye, pupil removed?
	"Moon Rings"	This photo of the moon was taken by a friend of mine - a layer of gradients, and then you get some eerie effects.