People assume things come easily when you are “creative.” Not so.
I am on a mission to create a fine art piece for each of my children, and the first one didn’t go
as planned. I decided to start with the kid that loves being in a photo shoot AND can hold a
position for a minute. The shoot was fun. We all had a lot of laughs. We collected leaves from
the front yard, and we threw them around the room and at the model. My then four-year-old
thought this was the best part.
Unfortunately, the pictures didn’t come out well. I thought I would spend some time playing
around with the images I had, but I had to agree with my oldest, I would “have to trash it all.”
After a few hours of playing around and fixing the pictures, I had an idea. The idea worked,
but it leads me to another problem. After numerous hours, I realized it would come together,
and work, If I spent a lot more time on it all.
Moral to the story – sometimes it takes a lot of work to make something, and if I would
have given up, I wouldn’t have this piece to share.
Somethings you might be wondering:
I am asked how I create my art, and I always have to start with the preface it depends….
Some aspects of my art are created digitally.
Some aspects are painted on a canvas, and I scan in that image to add to my digital work.
Some aspects are created in Illustrator, and I bring that piece into a work.
Some aspects are painted in Photoshop.
Some aspects are painted in Corel Painter.
Some aspects are created with traditional pastels.
Some aspects are created with oil paints.
Some aspects are created with acrylic paint.
Some art pieces are a combination of a few of these techniques.
Some art pieces are a combination of all of these techniques.
I think this might be a new sense of the word Mixed Media, but I enjoy it all.
There is a misnomer that digital art is easier than traditional art. Having worked with both, I
have to say traditional media is easier. You are able to blend and paint in a simpler manner,
and it only involves learning to paint. Digital art involves learning to work with a program, which
has another set of challenges.
This video shows a tiny part of it my process.
If you would like to see some of my other art pieces for sale, you can go to:
If you have any other questions, please post them below, and I will gladly answer them.
Morgan
This is beautiful. Can I ask how long it took to make?
L.A. James
Thanks, Morgan. This took me about forty hours to make, which included the photo shoot. I had a lot of problems with the top torso as well as the noise within the pictures. These things caused a lot of problems when I went to paint the image.
Cheryl Ellis
I saw your colorful fox painting in the painter community and I truly appreciate your description of your process. It really helps me to know that you have used so many mediums to create your images. I have been doing Photoshop and illustrator for a long time but I am really having trouble with Corel Painter. I think with your example showing that I can combine many mediums to create my image will help me feel I can work more freely using whatever works best and combine it with Painter. Thank you for sharing your process.
L.A. James
I don’t know how I missed to comment here. Shesh. I guess it was because I commented in another area to you. Nevertheless, I’m sorry, Cheryl that I didn’t comment here too!
I appreciate your comment, and I am glad this helped you. It is always more fun combining things, and you probably have a lot of assets that you can already use. I, usually, combine images in PS. It is easier. Frankly, Painter is a hard program to learn. It lives in a bubble and finding quality instruction is difficult until you know where to look. I know you are in a good place though. You will learn a lot in the community.