Karen Mitchell

For years I worked as a nature painter in alkyd, watercolour and ink, developing a photorealistic style that often required upwards of 300 hours to complete an image, and resulting in a rather sparse body of work. Because I am fascinated by the fine details of things, I bought my first DSLR camera in the fall of 2009 in order to take reference photos. I have only recently picked up a paintbrush again, in 2023. And I find that the post-processing of the image is even more fun than the photography itself. Many of my images have been substantially modified using Photoshop and other image-processing apps, and with my additional interest in CGI software, may also contain elements which did not originate in the camera. I find photography to be a liberating passion. God’s amazing creation is my primary source of inspiration. Colour, light and shade, and abstract form are often more important to me than the subject of the image. Other strong influences on my imagination have been artists and illustrators with a bent towards fantasy: Francisco de Goya, John Heartfield, Gustave Dore, Arthur Rackham, Howard Pyle, Frank Frazetta, Kelly Freas, Jack Gaughan, Richard Powers and Wally Wood.
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