(most of) The text from my interview with Wizard magazine.

What kind of art training do you have?

Little or none at all. I took art history classes in college and one sculpting class. I can't draw to save my life. This is why I have to get photos of models. Then I just fill them in.

What computer background do you have?

I've hacked around on them since the mid 80s. I'm kind of a computer geek that way. If I have an extra hour on a weekend and the wife & kids are out, I'll play around in Photoshop, Bryce, Truespace, etc. -- I just can't stay away.

What program do you do your images in?

Photoshop. Occasionally I'll render a prop I need in Truespace (a 3D modeling program). I usually do this if I need to show something from a certain angle. I almost always do Lara Croft's holster and gun this way. Then I drop it in over the model that I'm painting on.

Why did you choose that program?

Photoshop is the industry standard image editor -- period. It's the best. I really get off on how I can create a new reality out of pieces of other realities.

How did you get into photo manipulation?

I like Photoshop. I like hot women. I started out doing celebrity fakes because I liked the challenge of trying to make a faked photo look authentic. You gotta cover every detail to do it right. It never really appealed to me though -- making fakes (nudes). I didn't want it to be malicious although on some level it seemed like I was attacking the celebrity. I guess this is why I never REALLY got into it.

One day I surfed on by Hurricane Season's site. This guy was taking hot women and creating new photos with them -- but he was doing it in a classy way -- no "naughty bits" showing. The thing is, it's always easier to start with a nude model. That way you don't have to paint out clothing and stuff. The ideal model photo would be a totally nude woman in a great superhero pose against a white background. I found a few sites doing hardcore porn manipulation. This guy, Hurricane Season, was taking R-rated shots and painting costumes back over them -- and doing a damn good job at it. I mean, some of them look like the model was actually wearing the costume at the photo shoot. That's the challenge for me and why I keep doing it. I'd like to make you say, "Is that real or did he just paint that in?"

I have always been into the mainstream comics and thought this type of art would be a much more interesting challenge of my abilities. It's much more challenging to put clothes ON a model.

Do you feel that photo manipulation is a valid art form? Why or why not?

Hmmm... It's kind of a hybrid of several arts. Photography, painting, modeling... I guess in today's culture of media convergence, photo manipulation had to evolve. I look at it as honoring the models and characters.

There are quite a few sites out there now dedicated to photo manipulation. What sets yours off?

Well I don't really cover any comic characters that aren't considered mainstream. I do, however, have a few things on my site that you don't get elsewhere. I have 2 Flash animations and an animated gif (a slow pan up Abbey Chase) on there. The intent is to create more Flash animations and maybe get Cliffhanger's eye. I'd love to do an animated Web comic. I've been getting into Flash a lot more lately -- in fact I've let my photomnip "career" slide because of it.

Who are your biggest influences?

Mainly, Hurricane Season in the photomanip arena. And I guess, guys like J. Scott Campbell, Frank Miller, Al Rio.

Why did you choose the specific heroines you did?

Like I said, I'm pretty much a mainstream comic fan. Catwoman, Danger Girl, Lara Croft, Supergirl, etc. I know those characters and like to find real world matches. There's something about women with short blonde hair -- I really dig that. I guess that's why I like Abbey Chase so much. I'll take about any model with short blonde hair and paint in those blue and green pants, boots and white T.

How do you go about choosing a model?

I surf "naughty sites" when I need to "audition models". I really like to look for someone that fits the character. I try to get an original as close as possible to the way that the comic artists draw their characters. This makes it easier on me. Occasionally, I'll have to do what I call "Frankenstein a photo". I'll find a face with the perfect look and hairstyle, but it'll be cut off at the shoulders. Then I'll come across another nude in a perfect pose. I'll drop the head of the first model in over the posed body of the second and create a new model. Then I'll paint the suit in. If I do it right, you can't tell. That's what I really like.

Some characters beg a celebrity photo to be manipulated. Witchblade IS Stephanie Seymour in my book. (FYI- I "frankensteined" this Witchblade image -- it has body parts from 3 different women in it.) I also did one of Shania Twain as Sydney Savage. Someone told me that Shania likes wearing black leather in her everyday life -- I don't know if that's true. I found a shot of Shania that was fairly close to Sydney, so I couldn't resist.

Who is your favorite heroine to illustrate? Why?

Abbey Chase seems to be the one I go back to although her costume isn't that great for photomanip. Catwoman just has a certain mystique. I like Rogue and Fairchild too. They have good colorful costumes.

Who won't you do? For what reason?

I don't really like doing porno photomanip. I have a few semi-nudes in the member's area of my site. I don't really like the ones that come from hardcore porn, where Wonder Woman is going down on Superman and they paint in the costumes but leave the genitals exposed. If you're into that stuff, then go to those sites. It's not here.

What's the most difficult thing to manipulate in an image and why?

There seems to be always one little thing that doesn't look right when I'm about 90% done. On a Catwoman I did, I painted in her cowl and the model's ponytail didn't look right with the cowl in there. So I ended up having to cut out the ponytail and lower it about 20 pixels. Then I had to go back in to the background of the image and create some leaves and part of a fence to fill in where the ponytail was. A lot of work but I think it made the finished product better. Wrinkles are always something that you hear photomanipers griping about too. I wish I could do better wrinkles in the costumes. It's a tough technique to master.

I like doing photomanips but I wish I could get some of the more famous Net models to actually sanction my creations. Hey, if you're a model (hot models read Wizard don't they?) send me photos and I'll paint you.