Playing with Abstraction

Here's a digital illustration I did a while back for Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show.  As I drew it, I became very interested in vertical and horizontal lines and the shapes these created around the figures.  It became a sort of game in which I tried to create a realistic painting based on a more abstract composition.  Tonight I took it step further and quickly rendered the painting as a complete abstraction.  What do you think?

Isolation, revised

This is a digital painting I did several years ago for my friend, Darwin Garrison.  It's based on one of his short stories, entitled Kyrie's Gauntlet.  I happened to take a look at it the other day ended up tinkering with it in photoshop.  I made just a few minor changes.  In particular, I added a hint of green cloud forms behind Kyrie.  I think the complementary colors of the cloud and the red jumpsuit help create greater emphasis and energy.

Troubled Angel, Oil, 15"x30"

I snuck in a little painting time here and there between other projects and finally have this one close to a finish . . . or in other words, I better stop before I completely ruin it.  I've enjoyed working with black and white and examining the power of values.  I've also incorporated a lot of texture into this one, most of which isn't very evident in the photo.