Everywhere I go I take photos, especially when out in nature. And often I would come across a view that just needed something extra, or a rock in a clearing just asking for some creature to be perched upon it, or a hole in the ground that I wished had little eyes peering out at me. I would take picture of these places and think “I’ll Photoshop some thing fun there” but I wouldn’t make time for it. I figured I’d get to it sometime. Then came kids and I had less time. And I kept taking these photos but now I had little helpers peering into holes to see who lived there or talking about how they wanted to see a {insert anima here} on our hike.
In September, on a rare kid free trip, I was thinking about this idea again and how much I’d love to do something with all these photos I’ve taken now that the kids are older and I have a tiny bit more time. I knew it was unlikely that I would make them digitally. I’ve been dealing with increased side effects from being on screens too much. Adding in more screen time was not going to work. But paint is my media, and I’ve been trying to find more time for small scale pieces between large projects but was feeling lost on what to paint. And it all just came together.
There’s been some trial and error to get this figured out. Some reprints and some material experiments but I think I’ve got it. Plus these are just so fun to make. More painted photos to come but here’s one of the first. I feel like this mouse, ready to adventure!