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Photoshop World Guru Awards


Photo Courtesy of Doug Zeliff

Back from an exhausting week at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. Without going into every little detail of the week, I’ll just say that it was well worth the trip. Took some great classes, hung out with some incredibly talented people, and went with very little sleep. Just like last year.

As posted here before, I was fortunate to be up for the Illustration category and Best of Show for The Guru Awards. I was very pleased (and surprised) to win both categories. This really was the best part of the week, especially when you consider the wealth of talent I was competing with. I am very honoured to have won these awards.


Photo Link from www.photoshopworld.com

Big thanks to all of my friends and family who posted a LOT of comments on Facebook, Twitter and the NAPP forum, not to mention all of the emails I got after the win. It was very overwhelming and appreciated.

As much as the awards themselves are great, they came with a couple of very nice prizes. For the Illustration category, I won a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet, and for the Best Of Show, I won a Wacom Cintiq 12wx.

Photo Link from Wacom.com

To quote a friend this week, “Monty finally got his Cintiq.” While I brought the Intuos4 home with me, thankfully they’re shipping the Cintiq. Couldn’t imagine how I’d get all that through customs, otherwise.

Nothing quite compares with hanging out with other creatives for a week. Everybody I met wanted to be there, and there was no shortage of inspiring experiences. Would have liked to have seen a bit more of Vegas this time around, but that’s not why I was there, so it’ll have to wait for another time. Funny thing, I didn’t take any photos, so fortunately I have a few photographer friends who were willing to share.

Back to work tomorrow, but taking it easy today.

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Wolf


Another in my Totem series, this wolf was difficult. Different types of fur and hair present different challenges and as in most of my paintings, I’m learning as I go, experimenting with different brushes and techniques.

I’ve got a few illustration projects on the go right now, one of which I want to put all my energy into, because it’s quite an exciting project if it works out the way I want it to. It’s a risk, but anything worthwhile usually is. Photoshop World is quickly approaching as well, and I’m beginning to get ready, but more on that in later post.

Why I mention all of this is that this will be my last painting in this series until mid-September. My next couple of months are booked solid and everything has to take priority over these paintings right now, even though I enjoy them so much. But, taking a break is usually a good thing creatively, because I’ll come back to it fresh and hungry, which has always ended up bringing out my best work.