Every place I've ever lived has been designed for that "average American family," with lots of bedrooms, living room, dining room, family room, etc. The problem was that I was a single person, not an average family. I needed space, but for hobbies, not people. And because I'm over 6'2", bending over to use sinks designed for children was a constant frustration. Over the years, I collected a list of things I would change if I could have my dream house. As I approached retirement, I realized time was running out for that house; it was now or never.


Dreams are not always perfect, however. I could never afford my dream house, a spacious Southern California home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But I could afford a modest ranch house, with a 20-mile drive to the beach. It was a very long way from perfect, but it had potential.


This blog documents the process of turning that small average house into something that matches my lifestyle. It will be as close to my dream house as I can make it. I'm doing all the work myself to stretch my resources. By not hiring contractors, I can afford high quality materials, and I'll know the job is always done right. The remodeling will be my primary avocation for a few years, even as I try to fit in my writing and other hobbies.


It promises to be an interesting journey, and a challenging one!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Cover art

Creating cover art for my novels has definitely been a learning experience.  The first two covers were "painted" using Corel Painter 11 and then the individual parts were assembled using Adobe Photoshop Elements.  The third cover (for Dreams of the Iklax) also used both of those apps, but more with Photoshop; the spacecraft was done in Corel Painter and everything else with Photoshop.  The fourth cover (for Night Frost) was created entirely with Photoshop, using lots of layers.

The painting/brush tools in Photoshop are not as sophisticated as those in Painter, but they do the job.  The Corel app has a steep learning curve!

I've started the cover for Ripley's World, which is demanding more artistic creativity; I'm back to using Corel Painter in conjunction with Photoshop, often shifting back and forth between the two apps.  I intend to post progress on this new cover on www.telomeremedia.com after each major element is completed: ocean/sky, beach, tree, Ripley and her AI, and then the final product.

I'm using a Wacom Intuos4 graphics tablet as my primary input device with both Corel Painter and Photoshop.  It's very nice.

Thanks for visiting, Chris
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