I’ve been working on the printed version of the “Pig and Apple Tree” with Prismacolor, a beautiful waxed based colored pencil, since, yup, last October. I’m still working on the image, but I think that it is almost done.

Pig and Apple Tree, Printed digital image with colored pencil, © Mary Baker

The process is that I first work on the image on my computer and “paint” it in Photoshop.  The image is then printed on a beautiful acid free watercolor paper.  And after that, I take it back to my studio and work on the printed image with Prismacolor, the beautiful wax based colored pencil that I’ve used for decades as a “traditional artist.”

The original image of “Pig and Apple Tree” that I started out with.

And this is the original image that I started out with.  I hope that the image helps to explain a little bit, how much work goes into each piece in this new digital art project.

For me, it’s a lot like the painting process that I have done for decades, where I start out with a photograph that I’ve taken, which gives me a starting point for the final realistic oil painting.  And for me it’s same subject matter in a different medium, and the process is both very different on one hand, but also very similar.