My First (and only) digital painting! No one told me the hardest way to attempt this was on a laptop, using only the trackpad instead of a wireless mouse.... but hey, if it's not challenging, why try it?

I used two photos for reference & created it 100% with Photoshop with a lot of trial and error brush work. I thought framing it tightly around the crocodiles head would illustrate the appropriate tension, making it seem like the dragonfly has nowhere to go (Mwahahaha!). I picked orange for the background to really make the prey pop.

I ended up being very happy with the result. It gave me the desire to try out digital painting some more, though I haven't decided what my next subject matter will be yet. I think I'll stick to an animal theme for now....

Using three stock images (tiger, strawberry & wall clock) I made this kaleidoscope image by isolating each subject from it's respective background with the pen tool in Photoshop and then patterning them together in a new blank document. It was created for a contest on deviantart.com and logical reasoning for using one cat, one fruit & one clock together wasn't provided. It ended up being pen tool/compositing practice more than anything.

I'd like to try this technique again, except I'd use my own photos & a more cohesive theme like kitchen utensils or street signs.