I wanted to create an image primarily in black and white because, with winter and snow and crows, these are the primary colors. So I looked at a lot of Japanese ink paintings—sumi. I took that for inspiration and decided to work in charcoal, which I don't usually use.

I did a charcoal drawing, then inverted it in Photoshop, so it was like a negative. The black became white and the white became black. I wanted the background to be dark, like a night sky. Then I added some color to give it a bit more depth.

Usually I work more realistically and tighter. I tried to make my piece in a way that I hadn't done before. It was interesting to work outside my comfort zone.