Digital Paintings of People

Fran 6
16 x 20

This is a photo of my girlfriend Francene. I love the tender expression, which expresses so much of her inner beauty. While working with this photo, I found that I could focus the viewer's attention on her brilliant smile by making it area of pure white in a photo full of dark and medium tones. I think the off-white stripe crossing her breast helps accentuate the white smile; but because it is off-white, it does not overpower it.

The Dagger
8 x 12

I based this work on a photo of a friend named Laura who posed for me a few times when I was learning photography in the early 90s. She chose the poses and was exceptionally creative in doing so; she was a budding photographer's dream model. I love the dramatic tension in this work as if Laura is trying to decide between crimes or between murder or suicide.

With this work I tried to make her body a painterly, impressionistic effect, so that it seems slightly blurry, emphasizing the sharpness and clarity of the knife edge, which I retained as a photo and sharpened as much as I could.

Laura Z.
24 x 36

Another photo of Laura (with the dagger above) and another pose she chose. The cloth around her is a lace tablecloth she pulled from a nearby table in a moment of inspiration.

With this work I wanted to experiment with color and with focusing the viewer's attention on her face and especially on her right eye, so that the viewer is confronted with the dramatic tension of being about to be swept up in a moment of passion.

These are a sampling of my current works. More will be added soon. Clicking on any will take you to a site offering a larger image and where prints or merchandise utilizing these works may be purchased. Measurements are in inches and reflect the largest print size available.

Show Pub Brave
8 x 12

This is a composite of three photos: one I took of a pub in Tokyo; one (the woman's face) I downloaded from the Internet, reversed and distorted so that it bears no resemblance to the original; and the last (the woman's body) is a photo of a local statue I turned into a silhouette.

With this work I wanted to intimate the apprehension one experiences of being about to enter a dingy bar in a foreign land, where one does not know what to expect, but into which one nonetheless feels enticed by some unknown dark force. In effect, the feeling I want to communicate is that of being about to take that first step into the "dark side" of existence.

Death Calls the Tune
9 x 12

Here I wanted to create something ironic and puzzling, yet with a sense of truth to it that one recognizes, but cannot express. Is Death enjoying playing the violin? Are there souls out of sight that enjoy dancing to it or are they experiencing another form of torment? What tune is he playing? This work can perhaps evoke a hundred questions.

I based it on a photo I took of someone at a Renaissance festival years ago.