2009
Marker Art #4: “The Train City”
The Train City came shortly after “Lady of The Steam City” and I played with the smoke motifs, train motifs, and added in a little bit of headphones to boot.
2009
Marker Art #3: “Lady of the Steam City”
Print available on Imagekind. Lady of the Steam City was the first time I used Bic permanent markers, which give the blended colors here. Done during Christmas time 2008, I was particularly interested in the old fashioned engines.
Photography Portfolio
Photography Portfolio: Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley stretches across much of West Virginia and Virginia, bordered on the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the west by the south-eastern Appalachians. Over several visits to my father’s home in Staunton, Virginia, I have enjoyed capturing these ranges in all their seasons Read more…
2008
Marker Art #2: “City Made of Color”
Print and Card Available on Fine Art America. City Made of Color is one of my favorites, and is inspired by trotros, the colorful, sleepy city of Takoradi, and faces with a story to tell. The most important thing about this drawing, though, is that I was certain it wasn’t Read more…
2008
Marker Art #1: “Trotro Dreams”
Print on Imagekind. T-Shirt on Zazzle. Home for Thanksgiving weekend 2008, I began doodling in my sketchbook with sharpies I’d bought for a Halloween costume. I kept doodling, and things began to fit together in odd ways. I especially focused on the traffic and madness in the streets of Accra, Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #13: Rebekkah Before Nkros
Rebekkah Before Nkros This is my best and most recent painting. It is a portrait of Rebekkah, a character who appeared out of nowhere after I returned from Ghana. She had a short story to accompany her, which I wanted to also turn into a novel, but it never came Read more…
Photography Portfolio
Photography Portfolio: Objects
Objects: Various Dates These are photographs of objects, close ups, or things that generally do not rely on an exact city or country for context.
Photography Portfolio
Photography Portfolio: Ghana
Ghana: February 11 to June 14, 2008 Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan nation to claim independence from Britian, and is the oldest post-colonial state, dating back from 1957. Within Ghana, there is a plethora of history: ancient, colonial, and modern. From Kumasi, long ago capital of the Asante Empire, to Read more…
Photography Portfolio
Photography Portfolio: London
London: February 4 – 11, 2008 Before visiting Africa for the first time, I took my first stop-over in Europe. I spent almost the whole time wandering and photographing delightful architecture, crowds of people, and bus-jams.
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #12: Sundiata’s Daughter
Sundiata’s Daughter When I began sketching this, I was really looking at a way to make a statement through clothes. I wanted to use extravagant color schemes and an insane–if not garish–blend of traditional African textiles and old 19th century clothing. On top of it, I included odd and fantastical Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #11: The Swordwife Unveiled
The Swordwife Unveiled It took me several tries to get this image right, and there were many discarded paintings in my folder by the time I was finally able to say that this one was completed. I was spinning this tale around and around in my mind for months, and Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #10: Persephone
Persephone This portrait was the first image I did without an sketch to back it up. I went directly to the tutorials at Furaie by Linda Bergkvist and I started painting. Persephone is a favorite character from a novel that I just revived about an assassination plot. In the novel, Read more…
Blog
Happy Advent, Merry Christmas, and a Joyful New Year…
Christmas is a great time to purchase unique greeting cards. I encourage everyone to consider sending original art cards because it is both eccentric and meaningful. Take advantage of the many sales that Imagekind and Zazzle are offering to get some of my Madonna and Child Christmas Cards, a print of my Madonna and Child piece, Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #9: Ophelia Enthroned
Ophelia Enthroned This sketch actually dated back much farther than its painting does. I believe I first imagined this concept in 2004 with the other Ophelia paintings, but it took considerable time and rethinking to make this image work. Again, Ophelia is a character from a short story (who also Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #8: Abigael
Portrait of Abigael Still on a Serpent of Souls kick, I painted this portrait of Abigael to really work on a face–and a distinguished face at that. In the story, Abigael is the young princess–the youngest and only daughter of the King’s first wife and Queen, Phaedria. She plays games Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #7: Eilsette, 2006
Eilsette: A Portrait One of my most long-going novel projects is “Serpent of Souls” a fantasy trilogy complete with epic prophecies, immortals, apocalyptic promises, and invisible faerie worlds. Eilsette is one of the main characters from this novel, a mischievous and raucous immortal girl who follows around the prince of Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #6: “The Cowardice of the King”, 2005
The Cowardice of the King This image was drawn and painted to accompany Serpent of Souls. It depicts one of the final scenes, in which King Mazern Damien Korial of Diamond nearly kills his daughter, one of the main characters, Abigael. Artistically, the image was extremely difficult, because I was Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #5: My Reflection, 2005
My Reflection In high school, I was really, really into Victorian style clothing. I loved looking up old fashion sketches and incorporating new themes into my own dresses, designing elaborate bustles and corsets–all the delights of a wishful goth kid. This image wasn’t designed with the dress in mind though. Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #4: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe This image has always been one of my favorites. It was unconnected to a story until I really started to work on it. Since then, I did some work on scenes and ideas, but I never fully developed the world that these three Read more…
Digital Art Portfolio
Digital Painting #3: Ophelia and the Storyteller, 2004
Ophelia: The Queen and the Storyteller The character Ophelia was originally from a short story that I wrote in early 2004. Her premise, though, was taken directly from another novel-length project that I have since completed. Their stories are very similar, with perhaps a larger element of the mythical in Read more…