Return to Hub   Over the years, I've grown to enjoy making visual art of all kinds. Of course I use the term "Art" loosely here. I've made everything from postcards to wallpaper, web graphics and comic art. This site is full of my little photo-editing masterpieces (i.e. the icons) that I created using (mostly) renaissance paintings for that "cheesy yet pretentious" appeal.

In case you're interested, the pictures I started with came from a CD from Corel that's chock-full of low-res images that have been compressed using ungodly means. In fact they have all the beauty of a velvet painting of Elvis that's been through a mosh pit. So maybe that gives you an idea of what I've been working with here. I recently bought a crappy (and I mean crappy) digital camera, so I may get some cool 100% original stuff on here soon.

So anyway, here is some more of my art that you may find interesting. I'd very much appreciate any comments you may have, since I spent a lot of time putting this together. You can use the contact page to reach me.

So for now, enjoy...

 

All of the materials on this page -- written, graphical or intellectual -- are Copyright Taylor Bastien and should not be reproduced in any way, shape or form. E-mail for more info. This is one thing about which I am very serious. 

 

First off, here are a couple of my comic drawings. Since I don't have a scanner, there's little I can do to put more online. In fact, these are about three years old.

Shameful, isn't it?

This was one of my very first original comic book characters, The World's Greatest Paperboy. He was drawn with colouring pencils and India ink. Superspy was my first ever finished inked drawing. I was more than pleased with how he turned out, but now I know I can do better.  

Now we come to my photo-editing stuff. Read the mouse-over comments for the details about each of the pics. I made most of them just the right size to be used as desktop wallpaper (centered, not tiled), just in case someone other than me actually likes 'em. To create most of the pics, I used photos from the Corel Gallery Magic CD and a whole lot of patience. I just hope you like them, 'cause I think they're cool.

This is my first ever wacky photo edit. I made it right after I bought Corel Draw 8, using some free clip-art right off the CD. I was actually going to build a wole parody site using the President SPAM persona. That one didn't make it far.   I made this from two low-res photos, one of a road and one of a bird. You can't even tell that the bird was inserted digitally, can you? I find this picture kinda funny, in a strange kind of way... I just keep thinking of oncoming traffic.
  This is an album cover I did for a guy I never met. He didn't use it, though I thought it was *way* better than what he ended up with. It's all good, I'll just use it for my first album. I got the file right handy...  
This is a composite of three photos. It's supposed to invoke the ideal of the great lost American road, or something. I challenge you to identify the cars pictured. I couldn't.   Recently I received some disappointing news. Just days later, I read this message (on a Quaker Oatmeal Package, no joke) and it really spoke to me. I then thought how well it would go on an "uplifting" poster. So here it is. (P.S. Yes, I am a romantic. So sue me.)
  This was a picture I pieced together just for fun using Paintshop Pro. It's actually myself and my brother and was meant to look like an album cover. Although my brother is in the middle, it isn't actually his hand (it's mine). Weird, huh?  
This was a collage of a fractal, a bitmap of a daisy and a sonic visualization.   This Windows Background is supposed to evoke the feeling of liquid art... Always changing, always new.
  This is another picture made from a photo of a daisy. It's techno-inspired.  

Now who said all art had to be visual? Well you're in for a treat (yeah right) 'cause I have uploaded an original song I wrote using my trusty computer. Now if you're not into electronica, you might as well pass on it, but it's worth a listen if you are. Keep in mind that it was my first song using this software, so I had to struggle with the computer to get it out. I'll only get better at it.

CitriC [2.9 MB MP3] was written on January 2nd, 2001. It was created using an algorithmic music generating program. In other words, the computer generates sequences that I control in real-time. I call it cheating... but it still isn't easy to get a good sound, you really have to work at it. Once the file was generated, I mastered it using a wave editor, et voilą!

That's it for now, come back soon and I'll hopefully have more eye-candy for you.