My sketchbook/journal is both digital and 'conventional' because I work in both media. This was an experiment using two different sets of tools. The bird of paradise photo was a quick reference shot taken in my garden this week. I have a two monitor setup so I put the photo on the right monitor and painted in Corel Painter 8 for the Mac on the left monitor. The foliage background was painted on a separate layer. I used a "chalk" brush to lay in the color, then used a blender to smooth the color. Later, using blue, red and yellow transparent inks I painted the bottom bird on bristol board. I may try the same item again in colored pencil and in acrylic.
