Is it a Photograph? Is it a Painting? Is it a Print? 
The answer to the question above is yes to all three, but no to each one individually. Digital Natural Media is a process that involves photography, computer imaging effects, digital painting, and finally printing onto paper or canvas. Although it utilizes all three methods, no one of them defines it. 

It isn’t a Photograph? 
Although photographs play an integral part in my work, I do not consider myself a digital photographer. This is due in large part because the final artwork significantly transcends the boundaries of traditional photography and my intent is not to have the viewer see it as a photographic piece, but instead to judge it’s merits as a painting. Just as both a sculptor and potter utilize clay as a starting point, they cannot be legitimately lumped together because they start with the same substance to create their work. In my case, photographs are merely the clay for further artistic exploration.

Does the computer make the image? 
The computer doesn’t make the image anymore than the camera makes a photograph or a potters wheel makes a pot. The computer software is use allows me simulate many forms of traditional artistic media and it permits me to “play” with an image in a variety of different directions. It is by no means push-button art work! Much more is work is involved which includes blending together elements from multiple renditions, creating and utilizing custom fills and brushes, and hand working each image using a digital stylus that acts as my “brushes”.

So is it Painting? 
The artistic look that I strive for encompasses the exact same artistic elements and artistic decisions of painting and should be viewed and judged on the same merits you would a painting. I utilize a pressure sensitive digital stylus in my work that electronically mimics many forms of traditional artistic mediums, and I apply it in the same manner as a traditional artist would apply paint or pastel. I also apply effects such as depth, and textures to complete the illusion.

So it’s a form of print making? 
The printing process completes the image and requires as much skill and expertise as print making in any other medium. I utilize a variety of different papers, and canvases to bring out the fine details of a finished image. Each image is carefully crafted and printed on archival materials in small limited editions.

Where is the Original? 
The “original” so to speak consists of bits-and-bytes; hardly something that would look good on a wall. All of my work must be printed in order to be complete just as a photograph must be printed in order to take its final form. Each print is individually printed either by myself or under my direction (when I have to have larger sizes printed). Some works I choose to print only a single copy, or make variations on each image. Usually, however, I print a small edition of each work. 

What is it then? 
I like to use the term “Digital Natural Media” to describe it. It is a union of camera, computer, digital “paint brush”, paper, and printer. But more importantly it is a union of realistic imagery (photography) and artistic interpretation. By balancing elements of realism and abstractionism, I achieve an effect that “plays” with the viewer’s eye and imagination. Digital Natural Media offers me a tremendous amount of artistic freedom. For one thing it frees me from being bound to a single style or medium. It also permits me a lot of room to experiment using a photographic original image as a template for many different artistic interpretations. One thing I've always envied with the traditional artistic media is the ability to lend different interpretations to a scene using color, abstraction, and the mediums themselves. Coming from a photography background I've honed an appreciation of light and composition. The camera is my way of capturing what I see in the world. The computer offers me new ways to interpret it. 
  
About My Work
All of the images are done completely by me. I use only my own photographs in my work. None of the work is mass produced. It is all printed either directly by me or under my direct supervision in limited editions or one of a kind.