Paying attention -

"She Was A Dark Haired Beauty"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I can't remember how often, if at all, I've discussed my working method. All of my digital images are comprised of many layers, the initial handful being straight cut & paste in, of all places, MS Paint as a bitmap file. Once these early layers are satisfactory, the final image is then sent to a variety of photo editors, filters and manipulating software plug-ins. The first task is to blend and soften edges, or define a few if necessary, preparing things for the final round of manipulation. At this point it all becomes playtime as I add and layer one effect after another. The editors and plug-ins that I use are way beyond the push-button type and every single one of them has a long list of graphic, pattern and stylistic choices - although, from time to time, one of the old single click, preset filters is just what I might need or want. In addition to the array of effects, every editor also has anywhere from a dozen to scores of other settings - brightness, saturation, direction, line thickness and too many more to mention - each one with a gradation of choices in themselves. So, creating digitally is really no different than drawing or painting, one just needs to use and master a different set of tools. Did I just say master? Well, I'm working on that!