Good luck! It deserves to win - what a gorgeous design.

Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I experimented on a new piece by adding some glazes and highlights this morning, and (to my surprise) I didn't mess it up this time. So there's hope yet!

The great whale emerges from the deep… I wanted to strike a mythical tone with this one - as if it were the picture cunjured up after overhearing a sailer’s strange tale in some firelit tavern.

I love digital painting. It's a medium I feel confident with. But I'm always frustrated that when I produce prints, they don't have that tactile aspect like a painting. So recently, I've begun a new line of pictures where I start out with a digital painting, and then I continue to work with it using acrylic and egg tempera.

I'm a big fan of medieval art, and although my style probably doesn't reflect it, I am always inspired by the time-worn textures that old paintings and murals have.

So this is stage one of a project I'm starting. Very simply, I've just textured one of my prints to bring out the light with brushstrokes. The egg tempera will begin to crackle slightly with time - which is exactly the effect I am looking for.

In time, I hope to do more than just texture the pieces. I want to be able to apply pigments and glazes. But so far, any attempt has just ruined the image underneath.

Here goes anyway. Here's a picture called "Leviathan Strikes". It started life as a pen and ink sketch, that I scanned into the computer to digitally paint it. Then I applied acrylic and egg tempera for that textural look:

Click links for pictures (I've not made 10 posts yet, so it won't let me show the pics within the body of the post):

Great Whale 1

Great Whale 2

Great Whale 3