I paint with photographs
Digital photography has changed everything. My pallet now consists of digital images containing rich mixtures of pattern and color. The canvas is temporarily a color monitor where the background can be turned into virtual paper, canvas or almost any other surface. A mouse, a stylus or even a finger is used to create subtle and/or profound changes in brightness, contrast, color and texture. If desired, software converts hundreds to thousands of individual stylus strokes into strokes of virtual oil paint, watercolor, chalk, or almost any other material a traditional artist applies to a flat surface. The final canvas is paper, canvas or other flat material.
The resulting images, then range from fairly traditional photorealistic representations of flowers, creatures and scenic views into more stylistic or even abstracted interpretaion of the same subjects and finally into digital paintings that no longer reveal much of their photographic origens.