Digital Art

Once upon a time I was working on a PhD in history. I got to the point of starting to write my dissertation, having finished everything else, and finally admitted to myself that I hated what I was doing. So I quit Graduate School, and bought a horse. One of my equestrian friends made money painting portraits of horses, and I had always enjoyed drawing and painting, so decided to head to the local community college and actually take some art classes. It was fun. I discovered that while I could draw, my skills as a painter left a good deal to be desired. One of my painting teachers admired my drawing style and gently but persistently suggested that I take a printmaking class. I finally did, and discovered I could apply my drawing skills to making decent prints. Indeed, I found prints, especially lithographs, to be an especially congenial form of art.

Then in 1994 I was talked into buying a computer. Two of the very first programs I got were Photoshop and Bryce. You made your art in the computer and sent it to the printer, which was ever so much easier than working on wood or stone or metal plates and running a hand press. And it turned out that digital art suits former printmakers very well indeed. Especially printmakers who are aging, more or less gracefully, and not really up to all the labor involved in hand printing. So here I am: a digital artist. Life is good.