Ron Crabb applies his Hollywood-honed talents to a classic Bainbridge tableau.

Most digital artists are working on the next hot video game.

Ron Crabb is recreating history.

His latest work, “Milltown Morning,” is a digital reconstruction of the historic lumber mill town at Bainbridge Island’s Port Blakely, circa 1905.

Crabb applied digital tools to fine artistry and rebuilt the town three-dimensionally on his computer. He employed the cinematic method of “matte painting” to achieve accuracy matched only by the vintage photographs hanging in the Bainbridge Island Museum.

“I hope that people enjoy this, and that it makes them feel attached to the history of the island,” Crabb said.

Crabb perfected his digital art skills while working in film and television. He never intended to work in those industries, but landed there after a fortuitous chain of events.

Originally from Illinois, Crabb ditched school because he was “bored to tears,” and headed west.

“I sold my motorcycle and just left for sunny southern California,” he said.

His innate talents in fine arts, illustration and design were quickly detected and snatched up by ABC television network. He earned several awards, including an Emmy, for his work with computer-generated imagery in motion graphics design and animation.

Crabb then moved from television into matte painting for feature films.

Matte painting is the art of creating scenes for film or video that are too expensive to build as a set, or would be impossible – like panoramic historical, science fiction and surreal scenes.

Crabb’s goal was to create a background that looks as realistic as it would have had the scene actually existed and been captured on film.

He worked near his Hollywood clients until advancements in the field allowed him to do his job from any location. Having already fallen in love with Bainbridge Island during yearly visits, he relocated with his wife, Christina, and their children, Lilly and Aiden.

Down time in film work made room for Crabb to begin a new fine arts project.

“I love history, always have,” he said. “I tend to just dive into the history of where I am.”

Crabb dove into Andrew Price’s book, “Port Blakely: The Town that Captain Renton Built,” and its stories fueled Crabb’s imagination.

“It was a slap in the face – I’ve got these skills in fine art, photo-realism, 3-D motion graphics work, and matte painting,” he said. “What I had always been looking for with fine art was something that intrigued me enough, something I can relate to. Now that I live in a place with a rich history, it seemed logical.”

Crabb’s decision to recreate Port Blakely was simple; the execution was complex. But he was an accomplished time traveler well before he revisited Port Blakely with “Milltown Morning.”

Recreating Tokyo circa 1876 for “The Last Samurai” was one of Crabb’s favorite film jobs. He loved researching the old photos for the project.

“That was my test in matte painting and it really gave me a taste for recreating history,” Crabb said. “I just applied that to Port Blakely, and it just felt right.”

His first step involved thorough research of all the vintage photographs, maps, blueprints and books about Port Blakely that Crabb could get his hands on. He gathered details, including the intricacies of tall ship rigging.

The second step entailed creating a digital 3-D model of Port Blakely. By recreating every building and ship in three dimensions, he could move his computer’s “camera” around the town. The imagery allowed Crabb to find the best angle for the “Milltown Morning” still scene.

“When I started moving the camera around to get different angles, it was an eerie feeling,” he said.

“I got a feel for what it would look like if I put myself on the porch of the Port Blakely Hotel to see if that would make a good shot. What are the vantage points to see Port Blakely from, and can I go there?”

Yes. Crabb went there, and plans to visit different Port Blakely perspectives in a series of paintings to follow “Milltown Morning.” The 3-D model will ensure the accuracy of each succeeding image.

“It’s interesting because it’s new technology, and (it) allows me to (go) much broader in scope than I have ever tried before,” he said. “I’m looking forward to diving into that 3-D program and walking around the town, so to speak, figuring out the next angle.”

Despite the historic accuracy, Crabb breathes his own aesthetic vision into the artwork. The third step, “painting” with the computer program Adobe Photoshop, “took it out of the cold technical realm.”

Most of “Milltown Morning” is handpainted, not literally with oils, but by a very similar process with digital colors and paint. He compares his approach to a photographer taking the perfect picture.

“It’s like moving a camera around and taking photographs, and then painting on top of those,” Crabb said. “That’s what’s making it fun – it’s a new way of doing art.”

As he brings the image to life he asks himself, “What angle, what light? Is it foggy, or is there sunlight? Is it autumn, or summer? What time of day is it?”

He answers those questions by awakening Port Blakely with color.

“Vintage photos get you a long way, but there is a limit. Now it’s the next step – recreating from that, and having these angles that people haven’t seen for 100 years,” Crabb said. “I hope it’s close enough that someone who time-traveled forward would say, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty much it.’”

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Step into the past

Ron Crabb’s limited edition prints of “Milltown Morning” are available for viewing and purchase at www.crabbdigital.com. The artist can be contacted by calling 855-9275, or by emailing ron@crabbdigital.com.