I released a new set of Photoshop brushes today. “Paisley” elements, basically… which was a request from the feedback/requests page on my website. Working on a “Holidays” set, as well. Hopefully I can finish that up soon, because I need to start Christmas shopping!

  Go Now to the Downloads Page!  Only been working on the current painting on and off. Haven’t always felt up to it this week, since I’ve had a cold. But, I plan on doing some more tomorrow, hopefully. I don’t think that it’ll be very obvious what this painting is all about until I get to the very end. You probably can’t even tell that it’s a woman and her reflection yet! That’s going to make it tough, since I have to make sure it looks like the same woman in the end, just from a different angle. This one will be one of those “emotive” type pieces, though… much like “Lonely, Not Alone” in some ways. I have one more idea for a similar type, but that one will be a while before I paint it. After this, I want to get back into some fantasy stuff again. And I have a book cover that I need to start working on after the first of the year, as well. That will be fantasy, with dragons and everything! And finally will be something more than a portrait, which seems like it’s all I’ve been doing recently.Well, just wanted to announce the brush set and updates on the “in process” painting, no huge thoughts for today. But they’ll come! I think I’ll try to announce any new paintings or brush sets here, that way people that don’t want to subscribe to the mailing list can always set up an RSS feed for this blog, and see when new things come out that way!

I added a section on the right column where you can see whatever painting I am currently working on, as I paint it. Not brushstroke by brushstroke, mind you, but I’ll be uploading it in various stages as I go. So, for any of you that are reading this because you’re even slightly interested in my artwork and how I go about making it, this should interest you!

I’m trying a new way of going about painting this time. We’ll see how it works out. Generally, I paint entirely in color as I go. I’ve looked at a few tutorials, however, where people tend to start out in black & white to make sure that their shadows/highlights are as precise as possible (without letting all that color get in the way), and THEN colorize it. So, I’m giving it a go.

As you’ll see, the painting is in its very early stages right now. Just some blocks of highlights/shadows on one of the faces to start defining how she’ll look. More to come tomorrow, hopefully, after my eye appt.

And on that subject, here’s to hoping that I walk in tomorrow and the Dr. looks at my eyes and says “Oh yes, LASIK will end up working well for you, I think!” I went to a seminar on it last week, watched the videos, etc… and got all excited about having LASIK done. I’d kind of made up my mind to do it, I guess… after having virtually every eye doctor that I’ve ever seen tell me repeatedly “Hey, have you ever considered LASIK? Because it would be great for you!” Anyway, after the seminar I talked to the doctor that I’m seeing tomorrow, and he said “Oh, you’re about a -8 in each eye, you say? You should consider ICL instead.” And I’m thinking “Oh great. I get my heart set on LASIK and now you’re telling me that it’s not for me?”

Most people know what LASIK is. It actually goes in there and reshapes your cornea, fixing minor imperfections in the eye. Effectively tailoring each operation just for you and your eyes. And, well, because of that you can end up with better vision than you could with glasses/contacts. And 98% of the people that have it, end up with 20/20 vision or better. ICL is an actual lens, like a contact lens, that they implant into your eye to correct your vision. Now, call me crazy, but it just makes SO much more sense to me to FIX the problem (if possible) rather than to put in an implant that temporarily fixes it (and if I ever get cataracts, that baby would have to come out). My father’s eyes were very close to how bad mine are, and he had LASIK done very successfully. I’ve also researched quite a bit, and other clinics will do LASIK up to -15 or so, or so they claim.

So, I’m hoping that after the actual appointment and after this guy looks into my eyes, he’ll say that LASIK will still work for me. I don’t want to rule out ICL, but man… LASIK just makes so much more sense, logistically. And I’ll explain all this to him and see what he says. So, here’s to hoping!