Additional Background Information

Additional background information about how we got started:

When the oldest of my 3 children was still in the crib, I had a cute shot of her in an old-fashioned nightcap and matching nightgown. She was asleep on her side and I did a pen and ink drawing that I added a little watercolor to in my first convert picture to painting attempt. I was hooked. That led to other portraits and I quickly discovered that it was much more satisfactory to paint small children and pets from photos than from life. My schedule was a part of the issue as well as the fact that they just don't sit still for very long! As friends and family saw my convert picture to painting efforts hanging on the wall, they commissioned me to do their children also. At this point, these were all original watercolors done in a very tightly rendered style.

I joined both the Jacksonville Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society and started entering juried competitions. Not just doing portraits, but subjects of all kinds. I both admired and studied under Stephen Scott Young, who taught the unique style of watercolor painting using only the 3 primary colors and only staining pigments, built up in very subtly layered washes. I won the Distinguished Artist Award in the annual juried show the second year I entered and was eventually asked to be a guest judge at other juried shows.

As digital imaging software continued to be developed and I used that in my profession as an art director, the convert picture to painting idea took hold in my head as a way of speeding up the process (my originals were taking an average of 25-30 hours each!) and I evolved my own technique that mimicked my hand-done style. The convert picture to painting advantage when done by computer is the ability to show what the painting will look like before it is produced, a win-win situation because the client feels comfortable and the artist has invested far less time. When we convert picture to painting for the average customer, we can offer a variety of approaches to the painting style from degrees of realism to background manipulation and retouching, both minor and major. I have trained others to follow a procedure that guarantees a positive convert picture to painting outcome....so much so that we literally guarantee satisfaction with the artwork or your money is refunded. There is also a quality control procedure in place so that every convert picture to painting effort meets the standards of our first originals.

We currently use Epson Canvas and Epson Inks (the 8 color system comprising Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta, Yellow, Black, Light Black and Light Light Black). The canvas rolls are produced on the Epson 9800 printer with micro-piezo printhead technology. The only computers we have ever used are Apple MacIntosh and Adobe PhotoShop.

While there is always a place for truly original art, there is also now a place for this new form of 'hybrid' and collaborative artwork as well. Just as Paul Bunyan had to concede that the old way wasn't necessarily the only way or even the best way, we have embraced this newer style of art using the foundation of good design and execution that help elevate your photographs into something very special that you will treasure for years to come.