This one went thru quite a metamorphosis, it started out as a digital sketch:
Made w/ this neg:
and a Nevada landscape.
I printed this (as a sandwich), scanned it, and then went to work on it digitally:
Then i did an about-face, and combined the fortune wheel w/ another neg., a cactus close-up:
Once again, a darkroom sandwich. It's got a mysterious shimmering quality to it, the viewer is focused on two things simultaneously, each struggle to command our attention.
Yes, i did some detail coloring before i went full tilt into digital color overall.
Here's where you can go to see the screen shot larger, and download a small PSD file, this one is not complicated at all:
Why do i like the fortune wheel?
..... i like thinking about the questions on the wheel, and the answers to them.
"What is my main talent?
What will my wife be like?
How will I get rich?
Will I be happy in marriage?
Will I have a family??"
And contrasted against a vast barren desert landscape?
Life is a blank slate, it can be harsh and unforgiving... or it can be rich, varied, and sometimes hard to decipher, as the second cactus sandwich image is - 'now you see it, now you don't'...
Are you ready for 'more than a few words on the difference between digital coloring and good ol' cotton balls and Q'tips?'
There now, i have already tipped my hand, haven't I?
I have found plenty of images that work... well... pretty well digitally.
And there's the balance that just don't/wouldn't.
Digital is just pixels, 'information' delivered as RGB (red green blue) channels.
Seems to me like the old stuff has a much more subtle palette.
I can't get anything like umber, sienna, ochre, alizarin crimson... out of RGB.
But that won't stop me from tryin' :-)
And every once in a while, I'll search thru the stacks of prints i have, and choose a few to hit with Q-tips and cotton balls.
After many years of making darkroom photomontage (since the late 80's), and not being able to get arrested for it except for a few appearances in competitive group shows, and some assignment illustrations in various magazines ....I am designing & publishing books I make at Blurb with 'Bookify' - two of them are on Amazon, one is at Blurb.
'California Beach Trip':
On Amazon:
'Desert Trip'
On Amazon:
'Seeking the Vibe'
On Blurb:
Previews of all at:
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