Spectrum 20

It was a shock to receive word that this piece, "Night Upon the Mountain", was accepted into Spectrum 20.  At the beginning of this year when I decided to commit myself fully to building a fantasy/sci-fi portfolio and pursue work in that field I had no timeline for success, knowing full well that it could take me years to gain a foothold in the industry.  I was (and am) okay with this, as through editorial work and teaching I have just enough financial security to focus on growing my skills with these pieces and trying to become better with each one and to develop my personal voice through the learning process.  This was the sixth piece I made in that initial portfolio, and have since then made 28 more, almost completely replacing that initial group.  I have never had more fun working and to have a piece in Spectrum, long a dream of mine, seems totally unreal.  Thank you so much to the judges for helping me realize this dream.

Part of the process that I've developed, and that I hope brings that personal voice into this work, is that in working digitally I decided early on to rarely if ever use "stock" textures for my work.  99.9% of what I use I make myself (with acrylic paint or printing ink), or steal from previous "gallery" pieces I've done (such as the work for "Yugen", my two-man show with Edward Kinsella).  For this piece, the special sauce was a portrait of a good friend, Will Godwin, that I had done as a gift for him, using house paint, printing ink, oil paint, wax, crayons, and roofing tar.  Thanks for lending me your subliminal magnetism, Will - in person or in a photoshop layer, you have a power few can resist.