Portrait manipulation from 1998 to February of 2013. Proof of the value of practice and persistence.

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1998

Take bored photo with webcam, desaturated to perfection.

2000

Discover flattering angle, increase contrast to blow out forehead. No blemishes! Nailed it.

2001

Drawn on makeup. I wasn’t good at real makeup, either.

2004

Saturating to maximum hue particles? CHECK. Applying cut-out filter? Innovative! Saving as a GIF? Nailed it.

2005

Discover working with layers.

2006

Zoom in and enhance. Enhaaaaaance.

2007

Continue practicing layers. Sweet background, Brah.

Clone my husband playing D&D with himself. My first manipulation project that took a lot of planning ahead of time in order to accomplish. Possibly also my last.

2008

Self Portrait. Introduction to adding something from nature. In this case a butterfly.

Introduction to adding elements of magic. I was frustrated a lot this year, wanting to mix magic with realism, and feeling like everything I made looked fake.

2009

Accidental success. This was the first time I made something that wowed myself. This one is special to me.

Me. I love this.

2010

The year something clicked with me, and my practice started to look less like practice and more like art.

2011

The year I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer

2012

Art helped me survive chemotherapy. I used my bald head as an opportunity for art.

I finished chemo in August and shortly after I worked with a professional model for the first time. (Her name is Stephanie Tice. She’s amazing.)

2013

I worked with her again earlier this month

Don’t give up.

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