First, I saw the image almost fully realized in my head. I tried out the idea in rough pencil sketches to test out my figure/ground relationships, my composition and symbolism. Then I went through my underwater photographs to see if I already had images which would work as part of the scenery. I didn't need to photograph any underwater stuff as I had just come home from an underwater-photo extravaganza in the Bahamas. What I did need was a good midground of waves rolling in towards shore. So I shot a couple frames of that.
Then, I asked my model to stand with a large balloon held against her hip to give her hand the right shape for the "egg" I would slip into place in the computer. I asked her to talk to her little sister, who was inside the "egg". She thought I was nuts. She was perfect, though.
The next step was to shoot the little baby. It was easy - my friend's daughter, Sophie, lying outside on a lounge chair did the deed.
Once I had the figures on film it was easy to scan the color negatives on an RS film scanner.
I started seaming foreground, midground and background elements together in Photoshop. When I had the elements the way I wanted them, I applied global color correction to get the molten-lava color. It took a bit of work to get the water at the surface to have some volume, but at last I was satisfied. The sky and volcanoes are mostly painted in using brushstrokes.
I created the tail elements and the egg pattern using Kai's Power Tools. I gave them volume using the dodge/burn tool and some white paint for highlights. The border was made with the pen tool and Kai's Gradient Designer.
Valan Evers
[View Artist's Statement]
