Digital Artist Creates Images That Are Ethereal, A Tad Creepy & Most Definitely Eye-Catching

'Frogs & Snails' from the 'Nasty Little Critters' series © Jane Long

Jane Long is an acclaimed digital artist who joined the graphic design industry over 20 years ago and to this day, digital art is still a huge passion and plays an integral part in her photography work. Completely self-taught, Jane's worked with Photoshop since 1994, both commercially and for personal work, to create images that are ethereal, a tad creepy and most definitely eye-catching. 

It was actually Jane's 'Nasty Little Critters' series that caught our eye as the series has given familiar, childhood toys a not so familiar scary twist. According to Jane, 'Nasty Little Critters' is a tongue-in-cheek reflection of childhood and parenthood: "With the passing of several family members and my children reaching adulthood I find myself reflecting both on the sweet highlights and the painful losses of family relationships. As I embark on this new chapter in my life, I’m happy to poke a little fun at my past. 

The creations in the series are filled with layers of creepy interest that are juxtaposed with fluffy rabbits, bears and dolls.  In fact, to show just how many layers were used in each of the shots, Jane's put the below layer-by-layer video together which once watched, will make you realise, and appreciate, just how much work digital artists put into their creations. 

The 'Nasty Little Critters' series actually made its UK debut at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park last week alongside pieces from the 'Dancing with Costica series Jane gained international recognition for in 2014. 

Jane's 'Dancing with Costica' series is a whimsical reworking of Romanian photographer Costica Acsinte's work. Acsinte died in 1984 and his work has since been digitised by photo enthusiast Cezar Popescu. Each photograph in the Dancing with Costica series was carefully colourised and treated to a little Photoshop magic by Jane which resulted in rather romantic reinterpretations of Acsinte's work been produced.

As well as dreamy and somewhat creepy photos, Jane's also worked on a dream-like series of images titled 'Aurora' that have been used on the album artwork for the latest offering from Norwegian singer Aurora, who shot to fame last Christmas when she covered Oasis’ “Half the World Away” for the John Lewis Christmas campaign. The fantastical scenes are simply beautiful to look at and are incredibly thought-provoking pieces of digital art.  The concepts are both haunting yet magical and it's very easy to construct a story from each of the shots in your own mind. 

You can see more from the 'Aurora' series below but do also visit Jane Long's website - www.janelong.com.au -  where you'll find more insightful tutorials as well as prints for sale. 

© Universal Music. Used with permission. The original shots of Aurora were taken by Bent René Synnevåg while the art direction, all other production and photography were the responsibility of Jane Long.

© Universal Music. Used with permission. The original shots of Aurora were taken by Bent René Synnevåg while the art direction, all other production and photography were the responsibility of Jane Long. Also, the sky in the above shot was captured by Jodie Muston. 

© Universal Music. Used with permission.