The Saleswoman

by | Dec 8, 2008 | beauty, blue eyes, brunette, eyelashes, face, lips, nose, portrait, pretty, retro, vintage, woman

She was the saleswoman at the Vintage Clothing Store who was also a photographer and an artist and knew about the cool show at the Center for Creative Photography and she was right, it was great.

‘The Saleswoman’

I loved her great retro style with the bobbed hairdo and the ‘little house on the prairie’ dress. Her face was serious but not morose, filled with intelligence and just a bit of world weariness. She was a student and had a lot of study on her plate.

The Hostess

by | Nov 3, 2008 | beauty, black and white, california, del mar, eyebrows, eyes, face, girl, pores, san diego, skin, teen, texture

Often I will just play with an image just to keep in practice regarding my Photoshop skills. I spent about 2 hours on this one, just trying different things, not having a particular agenda since it wasn’t commissioned. I like having some time to do that and it is essential for any artist to spend time just ‘goofing’ off so to speak. Without it your work can become so stale and uninspiring that you cease to do it any more.

‘The Hostess’

Sketchbook With Voices – Something So Beautiful it Hurts

by | Apr 24, 2008 | armoir, art, beauty, burning woman, crucifix, lingerie, negligee, nude, pain, photo-collage, photographs, sketchbook, wardrobe

The idea when I took the photos making up this collage was to get my client up against
one of her favorite pieces of furniture, a large armoire / wardrobe closet. Later, when I
cut up the proof sheet into pieces to do a mock up of the piece I realized how
crucifix-like the pose was. This led me to this page and it’s challenge to think about
beauty and pain/hurt together.

The Jeweler Who Didn’t Like the First One

by | Feb 28, 2008 | art, beauty, eye, face, girl, hair, jewel, jeweler, lips, mouth, nose, photo-collage, photograph, portrait, skin, stare, woman

Seeing Straight #2

I went into a jewelry store in Tulsa looking for something specific for my wife. I didn’t find it but had a great salesperson help me. She was informative and thoughtful. The whole front of the store was facing south with big windows and it was winter time so the sun was streaming in. It bounced off the floor and glass cases and landed on her in a wonderful way. I asked her if I could take some photos of her and she obliged me.

I did a collage and showed it to her a few days later. She was upset about how it looked, thinking I had made her look rather ugly. I didn’t think it did, but I didn’t post it out of respect for her discomfort. I did this one later, working with less manipulation and distortion and I think she was happier with it.

I love this piece because of how I got the hair and the line of her face to match up. She is the same top to bottom but then a second look obviously shows something isn’t as it should be. Just a bit of a skewed perspective on the portrait.

The Stranger Juxtaposition #6

by | Jan 27, 2008 | avocado, beauty, california, chest, cleavage, collage, eyes, face, necklace, photograph, san francisco, shoehorn, smile, stranger, teeth

 

In the sunset district of San Francisco, October, 2007. The gallery employee (I am imaging this but she probably isn’t, more likely a student or maybe a….no, I think I am right, a gallery something or other is likely) in the restaurant that I waited outside of while my wife went to the little girls room with the shoehorn (which wasn’t really in the restaurant, but a few doors down in the shoe store on a bench just sitting there by itself with a great reflection and I said it wrong, she didn’t go in the girl’s room with the shoehorn and the girls room did not have the shoehorn in it, just in case you got confused by my bad writing style) and the Avocados (which were in the market bin next to the tomatoes that were too red to put in the collage even though the photo had them in it and I liked how the red of the tomatoes brought out the red in the shoehorn, still it was too distracting) and the cleavage (which didn’t really belong to her, but to a woman on a bench in the bookstore at the magazine rack who I happened to walk by and noticed her necklace that was just a tad bit too far down her chest but it made me notice her) did it.