From small acorns.

When I took my leap of faith I only had a handful of book covers under my belt and, to be honest, I had no idea if I would still be doing this some years later and if I would still be enjoying myself. It's hard to remain positive in the beginning, especially when those bills arrive and you've only sold a few initial images, but the great thing about working in the creative world is that you can switch your mind off to all that outside-your-head-stuff. You can channel your energy, focus on someplace else. Eventually you start to realise that people are recognising the love and effort you've put into things and that spreads outwards and multiplies as people start buying and promoting your work.

Anyways.

That small acorn is now growing nicely and the shoots are looking healthy. I managed to pass the 200 book cover mark over the last fortnight. I reckon I can fix the first rung of the wooden ladder that will eventually lead up to the top of the tree where I'm planning a really cool, childhood-wowness, kinda house.

Something simple

I've always admired the work of Man Ray and I've always enjoyed dabbling in experimental imaging and creating contemporary photograms.
I spent some quality time getting the spare room (studio) looking tidy again and re-discovered a load of 'stuff'.
I love working with layers and textures to build an image upwards like a painting, spending hours or even days getting it just how I want it, but sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to have a change and enjoy the simple the bold and the graphic.

Broken

I found the heart lying in the gutter. It wasn't the first, or the last. It had been broken at some stage - not a great crack down the middle type of break, but a chink in the edges sort. I'm not an expert, but I guess you could fix this little fella if the missing parts could be found or replaced, and you had one of those really strong glues.
For now it rests, with the others, in a box near the fireplace...

Published work

A few more recent sales.

Photo Manipulation

Being quite an avid fan of photo manipulation and having a background in graphic design, it is always interesting to see what may become of my images once a publisher decides to use it for a book cover.

Submitting work to a photo library is not quite the same as fulfilling a specific brief - I tend to create images mainly for myself, but hope that ultimately they get picked out, bought and used by art buyers. What happens next is usually beyond my control. Will it get the whole cover? A bit of a cover? Will it be tweaked or changed to become something different? Will one image be turned into two?

I just never know, but trust in the judgement of others.

A friend joked that I should have left the island out, but I liked the sense of adventure it represented.

Published work

Received my quarterly statement from Trevillion Images and have just managed to top my recent goal by reaching 151 book covers! Hoping to hit 200 early next year.

Daydream believer

I've been practising my composite skills a lot recently, trying to use the camera as a device to take me to all sorts of fantastical places where princesses sneak away from the celebrations to sleep beyond the castle walls or rush through the ruined temples of some foreign land. Where Red Riding Hood begins her journey into the ominous woodland where grandma lives or the Fairy Queen makes her nightly journey to consult with her loyal subjects...