Aries Updated

My new tablet & pen arrived this week - I've moved over to the Wacom Bamboo 3, & loving it. I managed to get some detail in I just couldn't get with the pen I destroyed a week ago. Much, much happier with this version.

I also made the horn bigger which works a lot better. Moral of the story - get the best tablet you can afford, and go big on the artwork.

Aries Zodiac design

I haven't done a t-shirt design in a while.If all goes to plan I'll have the full zodiac range ready in a couple of months. Sadly my tablet pen disintegrated on me in the final stages, so I guess I'll shopping for a new version ASAP. Done in Painter V12, using the fine liner and airbrush tools for the flame work.

I might go back once I have a new pen and work on the horn a bit more; I'm not too crazy about the way it looks in the smaller version on screen.

Seascape with wreck

First painting from the Oz trip in December. Done in Painter using wet oils and turps brushes. Hopefully now that I've fed my Painting Beast, I can get on with some writing tonight.

Playing around

This is not the final version; but I did have fun with it.

The skull and hat were done in painter with the chalk brush, overlayed with daubs of watercolour wash in purples and greens. The kiss was lipstick print I photographed, imported, and used the painter burn tool and flame effect on.
Background is the pastel tool with a very low opacity, and then the lighting effect played over it.

Die Laughing Cover

This is one of my favourites so far. Image manipulation from a photo I took. Painter really does ring all my bells - my only gripe would be the text editing, which I need to do in Coreldraw to get the effects I want.

 The photo itself was pretty much a case of being in the right place at the right time. I knew as soon as I took it that the old cover I'd planned (and pretty much completed) was being replaced.

Then it was a case of playing with colour values and saturation fields. Sometimes the best stuff just falls into your lap.

Basement Blues Cover

Meant to post this a couple of months ago - tempus fugit!

The cover for Basement Blues - photo manipulation in Painter again. I added lighting and colour, plus a texture effect to get that grainy look.

The Blue moon Agency Logo was done in Corel Draw by hand; and will be on all of the series books.

Laid Hold cover

My friend and talented writer Richard Shury has finally released the e-version of Laid Hold the Dragon (I cannot say just how much I love that title), and got yours truly to play with the cover.

Although this is more image manipulation of a classic painting,  and adding textures and colour and playing with the lighting - I'm still pretty happy with this. More importantly, so is Richard.

If you'd like to grab a copy, here's a quick link to the Amazon UK site: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laid-Hold-The-Dragon-ebook/dp/B005SUMJ06 Amazon.com : http://www.amazon.com/Laid-Hold-The-Dragon-ebook/dp/B005SUMJ06 and Smashwords is : http://www2.smashwords.com/books/view/93906