Tag: manipulation

“Persisting Revival”
digital photo manipulation

“Present Tense”
digital photo manipulation
model: Heather Renaud

We come from the dark. One day we’ll fade back into it.

Buy a print of “Present Tense”

“Impetus Theory”
digital photo manipulation
model: Velcoity (well, most of her anyway)

I originally wanted to have Velocity’s disembodied head floating above her body. Every photo combination I tried just looked silly. When I started playing with this image and removed her head, I figured I’d start wiping out the rest of her from existence… When taken out of context, that sounds like some bizarre murder.

Buy a print of Impetus Theory

“Bare Pistol”
digital photo manipulation (Adobe Photoshop & Corel Painter)
model: Mandie Pistol

Part photograph, part drawing and digital painting. I’m happy with the results, but the effect is so subtle, you’d think I didn’t spend an entire afternoon working on it. Maybe the trick to having people think you’re talented is letting them think you barely had to work at all. *shrugs*

Buy a print of Bare Pistol

model: Illyria Jade
digital photo manipulation

From 2008. I played around with this photo one weekend using different Photoshop brushes to get a gritty, grungy look. Although I think the wings are slightly cheesy now that I see it again , I like how everything turned out.

“Inside the Walled Garden”
digital photo manipulation
model: Lacheln

The photo was going to serve as a guide for the digital painting I was planning. Then, as I was working on it, I really liked how well the painted face was getting along with the photograph. They mixed together seamlessly. So I let the final piece be a juxtaposition of my painting style with an actual photo.

You can purchase prints of “Inside the Walled Garden” from my Art & Photo Print Shop. I’m also available for original art commissions.

from 2010: “White Noiz”
photo transfer on 8″x10″ wood panel

The results of image transfers always surprise me because they seem to do whatever they want to. They do with me anyway. I prepped the wood with some gesso. I found out it wasn’t completely dry once I did the transfer though. After I pressed the inkjet transparency print, I pulled it off and it took some of the gessoed surface. It just happened to give it that wonderful weathered look you see.

“White Noiz” is currently available in my Etsy store. You can also get prints of it from my Art & Photo Print Shop.

“Silent Haven”
digital photo manipulation
model: Angela Ryan

A haven is a place of shelter and security. Everyone struggles with themselves to keep our own personal havens intact every now and then.

Before a photo shoot where one of my ideas involves creating a manipulation, I have notes written so I don’t forget about the shots I’d like to get. Sometimes it can be hard to explain to the model since the vision of what I’m trying to do only exists in my head. Although we didn’t spend long taking a series of photos for this, the images we got worked better than what I imagined and I didn’t have to spend much time picking out the pieces for the composition.

You can purchase prints of “Silent Haven” from my Art & Photo Print Shop.

from 2008: “Inside Out 1 & 2″
hand painted/drawn photo manipulations, 5″x7″ each
model: Carole Faye

I’m surprised I haven’t done more photo manipulations quite like this pair. Each photo was turned into a high contrast black and white print, then I painted and/or drew on both of them to add color and create the mid-tones. I liked the results and, looking at them again, I might look into doing more soon.

“Inside Out 1 & 2″ are currently available in my Etsy shop. Each original piece is matted, framed, and ready to be displayed in your home. You can also buy prints in my Art & Photo Print Shop.

While going through files a few days ago I stumbled upon an in-progress version of my digital photo manipulation “Affliction”. Since I bounced back and forth between Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to create it, apparently one of the programs saved a backup. I thought it would interesting to share the progress from the original photo to the finished version.

I displayed “Affliction” at a show recently. I enjoyed looking at people as they viewed it and wondered what they were seeing. The idea behind its creation was to make a seamless integration between the mask and the body. I think the effect ended up being so subtle that people have to look closely to really notice what’s been done to the image. As you can tell, it looked pretty rough in the middle of the process. I spent several hours doing digital painting. I had to pick colors that went well with the original image. Then I blended them, taking the light source into account so the shading wouldn’t look unnatural. Finally I added a texture to avoid that smooth, clean digital look. It may seem like a very straightforward and simple idea but there was quite a bit of work that went into it.

You can see the complete piece in my photo manipulations page.