J Leslie Booth

Thirty-plus years in communications. Twenty-plus years in technology. BSc AgSystems Mngmnt, Purdue University. Outdoor communicator. Lifelong outdoorsman, designer, marketer, entrepreneur, heritagekeeper. Active Member OWAA (Outdoor Writers Association of America).

This assortment of images is from my OOAK Digital Gallery. OOAK was originally conceived in 1978 as an outlet for my pen&ink, watercolor, photography and wood carving projects. In 1984 I officially ‘opened’ OOAK as a studio and began offering my repertoire of work for sale only as extremely limited, hand-made editions. I did not know – nor realize – then, but I had just stepped onto the path that would lead me to develop the eLITHOGRAPHIC© process.

“No one is crueler to us than we are to ourselves.” Me

I am a Graphic Designer, not a Fine Artist. I make that distinction at the outset whenever discussing the work I do. The eLITHOGRAPH© will appear to ‘look like fine art’. It is designed to do just that.

The eLITHOGRAPHIC© process is… the result of ‘a designed technical creative process’ – not the result of a ‘fine art media interactive process’.

Thus, through the eLITHOGRAPHIC© process, I produce imagery that will ‘appear’ as works of various ‘Fine Art Media’, when in fact they are ‘creatively designed’ to appear so. Please do not replace ‘creatively designed’ with ‘engineered’ for my work is not engineered. There is no template beyond the software parameters, which I use – and even they are subject to my own technical creativity. Each image is ‘created’ to become what I visualize them to become. I just use tools that are – as yet – not recognized as ‘fine art media tools’.

One day eLITHOGRAPHY© may be held in the same regard as fine art, but it will need to grow to that point. No doubt the process will follow along similar lines of the infamous – and still on-going in some circles – art feud… photography vs. fine art. Let’s hope, that as we all move along this path, we can equally bask in the rare, tranquil and healing light radiating from the power of the creative process.

I’m fine with this mission.