stock art Archives - Author K. Williams

May 2018 Art Feature

May 7, 2018 By Captain Maiel Leave a Comment

It’s been several months since I’ve featured any of my artistic works. It’s difficult to keep up with everything while raising an infant. Rest assured, things do eventually get done. Somehow, I think the pieces have channeled something more focused. They’re both functional and charming.

The first is an image of a cupcake I baked and the icing I piped. The flavor is pinã colada and the aesthetic of the icing, as well as the tones around it speak to this.

Next up is a photo I took last summer of my fence and the neighbor’s flower growing against it. Hollyhocks are truly lovely specimens. The tones of the shot are reflective of the season, like a raspberry sorbet on a hot summer afternoon. It’s sultry and moody.

You should be familiar with this third work. It’s a photomanipulation featuring Sadie Sue Shagbottom. It’s a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, to honor him and the play that was created in his name by Lin Manuel Miranda.

Next is a photograph of a friend’s cat sitting on my tufted chair. I really fell in love with this shot. It’s quite striking, like a black and white photograph, yet it’s full color. In my honest opinion, I don’t think I could have framed it better.

Last, I have another photomanipulation featuring Sadie Sue Shagbottom. This was a special project to honor a character and actress that I have looked up to for most of my life. Carrie Fisher is missed but never forgotten. I hope that the art I have created here does her justice (for she adored dogs and was the best princess in literature). The Shagbottom Theater that this was used for came out last month.

That’s all I have to feature for now. Check out more of my work on deviantArt.com.

If you loved this article, subscribe to the blog to get more. Donate by buying a book.

October 2017 Art Feature

October 27, 2017 By Captain Maiel Leave a Comment

The Trailokya Trilogy is the kind of book that encourages art. So naturally, at some point, a feature was due. That feature happened in September. Why wait any longer? Trailokya Fridays thus far have featured images to illustrate the topic of the articles, and in almost all cases, those pieces were created by me using photoshop. I’ve been working with Photoshop since 2007, and was lucky enough to have a week long training class in it for the job I had at the time. (Always take advantage of professional development.) In compiling that feature, I found there was quite a few more pieces that could be featured on another post.

My skills are still growing, and there are functions I need to refresh myself on, but without the class and years of practice (not to mention my tablet), this wouldn’t be possible. Authors of today really have to up their game to stay in the game. It’s costly to hire artists, but without the ability to create captivating pieces you won’t be able to do much as far as promotional material. Minimalist can be cool, depending on your genre, but powerful images really attract attention.

Below, you’ll see several more of the pieces that I felt stood out among the rest. If you want to see more, click the link to my gallery. Also, several images are housed here on the site, at the bottom of each book’s page. Let’s take a look…
(All images are copyright and the property of the stock provider and Author K. Williams. They are not for use promoting other works outside the Trailokya books.)

October 2017 Art Feature

See more and order prints at KWilliamsPhoto.deviantArt.com

This first piece is one that I am particularly proud of. It depicts Naajah and her wife. Finishes were done in Google’s filters that once existed, and which I miss dearly, on Google+ Photos.

Above is an image of one of the guardians of Gediel’s pack. This is Tybor, the Great Dane. There are subtle alterations to the original photo (pixabay.com) that include Google filters and the addition of a penannular, which lies under his collar.

This was another simple manipulation with filters and the addition of the Watcher symbol. It rally suits Burning Down.

Maiel’s second and third children are the twins: Amaiel and Chaiel. Alterations include colorations to make them ginger, and the addition of Ardhodita wings to match their hue. Google Filters, photoshop.

The above piece features and inset of Tajael, Terra Order guardian. She’s a mutli layered manipulation. The penannular is my creation. The image required finding and cutting out armor that would work, an appropriate earring to reflect her vocation, and the addition of the red ochre braids. The other braids had to be laid back over the armor. A red braid was added to the base of the ochre ones.

This graphic was constructed to show the seals of each dimension, and the movement that an atman could take to find themselves relegated to any of them. See The Seven Planes: A Primer.

This final piece is a photo-manipulation to depict a scene from the books. The ship had to be cut out of a photograph retaining the rigging, and treated with layers to make it more 3-dimensional. Water ripples, a bridge gate and toning complete the work.

Please click on the links above to see even more. You can also peruse the Online Companion that many of these pieces illustrate.

Click here to learn more about The Trailokya Trilogy, and let me know what questions you have in the comments. If you loved this article, subscribe to the blog to get more. Donate by buying a book.

September 2017 Art Feature

September 15, 2017 By Captain Maiel Leave a Comment

The Trailokya Trilogy is the kind of book that encourages art. So naturally, at some point, a feature was due. Why wait any longer? Trailokya Fridays thus far have featured images to illustrate the topic of the articles, and in almost all cases, those pieces were created by me using photoshop. I’ve been working with Photoshop since 2007, and was lucky enough to have a week long training class in it for the job I had at the time. (Always take advantage of professional development.)

Below, you’ll see some of the pieces that I felt stood out among the rest. If you want to see more, click the link to my gallery. Also, several images are housed here on the site, at the bottom of each book’s page. Let’s take a look…
(All images are copyright and the property of the stock provider and Author K. Williams. They are not for use promoting other works outside the Trailokya books.)

September 2017 Art Feature

See more and order prints at KWilliamsPhoto.deviantArt.com

Simple yet compelling. This piece is a promotional for the final book in the trilogy, The Lucent Rise, which will be sometime in 2018. The artwork here featured in The Technology of Trailokya: Mirror Gates.

It may not look like it, but this piece took a lot of fine work to get to the final product. People were in the far background and a railing of some sort marred the lower right. Then, there are layers of grunge to make the photo look old and, more importantly, like it might have been taken from Zion. This image was featured in The Trailokya Trilogy: The Cloisters.

This image is one of the first that I created for the series. It is a general backdrop representing Zion, and makes a pretty nice wallpaper, too. See the page for The Shadow Soul to see how I’ve been working with this image since it’s creation.

The above images combines several elements to represent the Order of Fenrir. With both digital illustration pieces and photographs, the sky is often the limit, if you know how to blend and have access to quality pieces.

The penannulars are an original creation taken from the narrative of the books. Above is a sample of the versions depicting the variations that indicate rank, such as the final one which is a captain’s penannular.

Trailokya may make use of myths and legends, but the product is hard to find ready stock to depict the characters. For instance, the above piece is an illustration of a doll. Dolls are the fallen, or burned down, sattva of Aghartian aliens.

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Here we have a collection of major projects. They required several layers, color changes, and all kinds of other manipulations. You can find the articles they featured in here: Moon Order, Kapalanum, and Gyuto Order.

Please click on the links above to see even more. You can also peruse the Online Companion that many of these pieces illustrate.