Welcome. This site showcases the work of Troy Riser. The range of my visual talent encompasses fine and commercial art and graphics design. My writing background includes technical, business, and promotional work, as well as published, award-winning fiction. I also write film reviews and conduct interviews with industry figures. My graphics design portfolio, done almost exclusively using computer software, includes corporate and organizational image, GIF and Flash animation and website development. I built this website, for example, using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, Flash MX, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe ImageReady CS2, and a wide array of other tools and utilities. As a freelancer, I offer a happy balance of creative accomplishment and technical expertise. Click here or on the painting, Soli Deo Gloria, below, and I'll show you what I can do with just some of the tools at my disposal.
life studiescommercial projectsFine Art

 Insofar as fine arts are concerned, I favor gouache, Conté crayon, and pastels for color work; pen & ink & brush for black & white line and wash. I also cut linoleum and wood. I don't wish to portray myself as a master of all media, which wouldn't be true in any case. I don't have, for example, the patience for oils and don't like the unpredictability of watercolors. But the tools I do employ—Exacto knife, Speedball graver, brush, pastels, pen & ink, computer software—are effectively extensions of my mind and hand.

Draughtsmanship, classically structured compositional clarity, and eye-catching color orchestration are my strengths.



Works included in this online portfolio best exemplify my artistic aims: beauty of line and form, harmony of color, and originality of conception. The gouache painting at left, Sun Goddess, represents a breakthrough, the culmination of many years' searching and experimenting and striving and work. As a writer, I struggled to develop an individual voice; as an artist, I struggled to achieve a plastic vision instantly, recognizably my own. I went about it by immersing myself in color studies and art history, copying those masters whom I most admire, honing my draughtsmanship via life studies and studio modeling, establishing a work schedule and keeping to it. While it is true a spark of talent is necessary, it is equally true the development of talent is a matter of study and discipline. I don't believe in the Muse, which is another word for waiting around for that magical moment of inspiration. I believe in setting realistic professional goals and attaining them by dint of work and will and desire. I believe the search for beauty is synonymous with the search for truth: find one, you find the other. Click on the painting to view my resume.


Motion graphics, specifically Flash animation, has become a preoccupation. The work itself requires painstaking, meticulous attention to detail and as much technical proficiency as artistic talent or design skill, but the rewards are tremendous. Telling a story or capturing a theme and depicting something approaching natural movement is enormously challenging, taking everything I have: all of my intellect (such as it is), all of my artistic abilities, all of my technological expertise.

From here, you can peruse the remainder of my portfolio, clicking here or on the animated GIF icon below, or you may view my resume. I have also interspersed the site with links to my short stories and poetry, some previously published, some not, if you start succumbing to something akin to museum fatigue. As an aside, my livelihood depends upon getting paid for the art I make, so I ask that you not download or print any of the images on this site without permission. Here's a strange thing: it is my religiously themed art which—according to my trusty site statistics—gets downloaded most without permission. As a protective measure, some of the works on this site (such as Sun Goddess, above) have been watermarked and copyrighted. All you need do is ask. I simply do not want my work shown inappropriately or without credit.

As an aside, I co-wrote a book, a science-fiction novella, recently published:

Clicking on the book cover graphic at left brings up its Amazon page. Buy a copy. Buy lots of copies. One can never buy enough copies of my book.

To commission work, simply click this email link. We'll talk. Thanks.

gif link to portfolio


copyright © 2007 Troy L. Riser