Time, Space and Duncan Long

Duncan Long has been working for 20-some years as a writer/illustrator, landing some of his first work simply because he was able to deliver both pictures and text to publishers needing technical books. "I started out with pen and ink, discovering that I could speed up the process with cut and paste methods -- real cut and paste using a Xerox of my work which I rubber cemented on a sheet and then made alterations to basic design by inking in or White-Outing the changes," he adds with a laugh.

"When computer graphics came along, I gradually headed that direction. One day, after computers had finally started to get fast enough to really do serious graphics work, I realized my pen and ink equipment had been laid aside and never used. I finally boxed up all the pens, straight edges, curves and other tools, took them down to the basement, and have never used them since - sort of strange when you think about it."

Over the last few years, Long has branched out, illustrating book covers for Byron Press/ibooks, Delirium Books, Seattle Books, and several magazines. One of his illustrations was selected for the cover of Harper Collins' Digital Art for the 21st Century (with his work used on the back cover and as inner illustrations, too).

Long began working with 3D programs as a way to reduce his work load when creating complex digital layouts, figuring it made sense to let the computer do the "heavy lifting" in shadowing and detail work. "I started with Bryce 2 -- and still use it from time to time since it is quick and does a nice job with metallic finishes."

"To the consternation of art editors worldwide, I work on the Windows platform -- mainly because I was originally using it for word processing, but also because it offers more programs to choose from. Maybe I'm a bit of a rebel, too," he adds.

Programs he uses regularly include Terragen, Poser, and PhotoPaint 8. "I use a lot of freeware and also older versions of programs which I find often run faster and are a lot cheaper to buy. After trying out all sorts of 3D editors, the only one I've found to date that I like is MetasequoiaLE -- a freeware program that actually works in a logical fashion without the need to dig through menus to find what you want to do next."

In addition to the illustrations here, Long has an extensive collection of his digital artwork online at http://duncanlong.com/art.html