It is a word family the Cowboy has created to succinctly describe and refer to the creative process he is applying. The word is a combination of the illustration and photography styles which are montaged, but also alludes to the word illumination which provides reference to the enhancement or alteration to the original composition, colouring or texturing which also occurs.

As a general rule, it is most often the human detail that is "redrawn", layer by layer, and the natural textures of the original photograph are left behind but perhaps enhanced or altered in some way.

See the technique page for a more technical explanation of the process.

The word family is in the process of being trademarked, but this is by no means a technique we wish to covet and protect. We believe the more artists communicate and collaborate the better, so we are hoping to post tutorials and idea "challenges" here in the future, so please check back later to see and perhaps contribute.

There are many different digital techniques that can be applied to a photograph which will create a "painted effect". Photoshop has many filters which can create similarly interesting and stunning effects at the click of a button. Art by Cowboy is happy to use these for customers as an alternative to illumification or even just putting a photo straight onto canvas. Click on the animation below to view a comparison page of some of these filters.

Click to view effect comparison