Some of my first photomontages

These are some of my very first experiments with photomontages.


This is a photograph of a ricefield near Basiglio, Italy that I used as a basis for these images.


I made two copies of the image, resized them and positioned the images over the original.


Here I placed a negative image over the original.


Four copies of a photograph of a tomato was used here.


Here is a white eggplant which makes an interesting image. These photomontages were all created with Photoshop 5.0.

From brush sketch to color art

Here is a sketch of a Brussels street scene done with a bristle brush in ink. This drawing is from my book DRAWING IN INK, although out of print, copies can be found in used book stores and on the internet. This is an example of how you can take a drawing that was done using traditional mediums and then color it on the computer using Photoshop.


I begin by scanning the drawing into the computer. I decide to color the drawing in dark blue using the paint Bucket Tool. I then add a light orange to the sky.


I add more tones to the buildings and the lamppost.


I add a few bright tones to the buildings and a neutral tone to the sidewalk area, finishing the scene. This is not a realistic study but it makes an interesting picture. I could easily try several color versions of this scene, two more are shown below.


This is a great way to experiment with digital art techniques.

ART ATTACK coming up this weekend !

Simple color and design exercises

A great way to hone your color and design skills is to draw a few shapes on the computer, assemble them in a design form and then color them.


Here I have drawn a circle, triangle and square, all done in line on the computer. You could also draw freehand shapes instead of mechanical ones.


Above I have assembled them into a design, shown are four different possibilities, although many more could be created.


I add colors using the Paint Bucket Tool.


Countless variations are possible, just have fun.





Here I have pulled the designs together by just adding a black background. This is an interesting way to experiment with design and color.

Designing a logo for LET'S VENT AMERICA

I was asked by a friend if I would design a logo for a new website letsventamerica.com. It sounded like an interesting project so I accepted.


It naturally takes a good bit of thought to get an idea to gel. I always keep a piece of paper in my pocket so I can jot down notes and ideas that might come while I'm on the run. These first thoughts were done while I was having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. The top two depict stars and stripes with the lettering integrated. Not too interesting, but a start. The next one shows people yelling at Uncle Sam, not bad. The fourth rough shows people yelling at an elephant and donkey, symbols of our political parties, I thought that this idea had possibilities.


When I got home, another idea occurred to me, people opening the capital dome and yelling at congress, this was it, it told the whole story with a simple graphic.


I developed the idea with a more detailed sketch, it looked like this idea would make a great visual symbol.


Several further developmental sketches were drawn as I worked out the idea.


A few sketches of heads were drawn until I developed one that worked well.

A drawing of the capitol building was done next.


I assembled everything on the computer where I also added the lettering, finishing the design. Be sure to check out this site at letsventamerica.com and put in your two cents worth.