Q: Your digital artwork available online primarily features wild animals for the World Wildlife Fund Conservation Stamp Collection and other stamp illustrations. What other type of work have you done?
A: As I now work almost exclusively for the WWF Stamp Collection, most of my work is of natural history subjects. However, some time ago , I did an issue of stamps featuring ships the New Zealand Navy for the Tokelau Philatelic Bureau. Once again, painting these ships digitally was made much easier using the Wacom tablet and Painter, than it would have been, using traditional media, mainly because I was able to zoom in and work on tiny areas which would have been impossible to do otherwise.

Q: Any subjects that you prefer to work on?
A: Not really. There is such variety in nature that there are always new challenges, like: how to paint fur, hide, whiskers, scales, feathers, etc.

Q: How long does it take you to create these illustrations?
A: On average it takes around 12-15 hours to paint them, depending on how complex the composition is and how many layers are involved. I use a resolution of 300 dpi.

Q: When do you choose to create artwork using traditional methods and tools?
A: Only if someone commissions me to create something 'on canvas', like a portrait. But I really don't enjoy using traditional media any more, having become used to the flexibilty and freedom working digitally provides, and so increasingly, I try to persuade them to allow me to create it digitally, and then have it printed out as a high quality 'Giclee' print. This not only gives them a high quality signed art print, but they are able to have further copies made for friends or relatives, especially in the case of family portraits for example. They can also use the artwork to make greetings cards etc, so they get much better value than if I just create one painting.

Q: Which project was your most difficult? Which was the easiest.
A: The hardest? I painted a fish recently called a Napoleon Wrasse (the top picture). This fish has an amazing pattern on it's body. At first I had no idea how I could replicate this, but after employing a little 'lateral thinking' I came up with a very effective solution. Once I had figured it out, it was quite easy to do. Thinking it out was that hard part! Once again, had I been working with traditional media, I would not have been able to use this 'solution'
and it would have taken many hours of close work to paint and probably wouldn't have ended up looking as good as the digital result, which actually looked better than the photographic reference I was working from! The easiest? None are really 'easy'. All subjects, be they natural history, ships or anything else, require very close observation. It's true to say however, that once I have worked out a method for painting fur, for example, then animals with fur become easier each time I paint them. But again, all fur is different. The fur on a squirrel is not the same as the fur on a bear or a big cat. Once again, close observation is the key.

Q: Any current projects that you would like to share?
A: The 3d animated tv series I have been developing in various forms for over 10 years. I only began modelling the characters in 3d using 3d Studio Max about 5 years ago, but it is totally engrossing and great fun to do.
Unlike most modellers, I don't use a mouse, but another Wacom Intuos tablet and stylus. I find it much easier and quicker to manipulate the models using the tablet. Holding a mouse for long periods of time ( I sometimes model for 15-20 hours in one sitting) can lead to rsi, which is something I never have a problem with using the stylus as it's just like holding a 'real' pen.