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| Visitors, 16x20, oil on birch panel, available |
This past month I decided to start going through my slides again and get digital images made from the ones I might want to still paint and of course ones of family. I have some slides of my mother's that go back to the 40's, so it has been a lot of fun. Since it is not inexpensive to do this, and my stack of 'possible' paintings kept growing and I still have so many slides still to look at, I got the old trusty slide projector out, and lo and behold, it still works! I decided to try painting a few, projecting the slides onto a huge canvas I happen to have.
This is my very first painting using slides. I took a ton of slides back in the day, but I never actually painted from any of them even though that is why I took so many of them! A few times I would get photos made from the slides and use the printed image. I had always wanted to paint this scene but I never did get around to having photos made. This scene is from cross country skiing at the Moffat tunnel, dare I say, back in the 70's. It is one of two snow scenes I picked out to try painting this way.
It wasn't as hard as I anticipated, but it is still an adjustment from using a computer screen. We have it so easy these days! Even though you can get the image bigger using the projector it isn't like zooming in. And if you go up to look closer, you have to stay out of the way of the light. At least for now, I don't have to get all those slides moved to digital as I continue to play with this set up. By the same token, I am So glad that I don't have to depend on it, that is for sure!
This has been a very difficult painting to photograph. Originally I had used burnt umber as my base color but it was highly reflective even when mixed with other colors, so I had to mix my own burnt umber base, which isn't quite as dark but I don't mind that, and the gloss effect is tempered to get a better image.
When I went to finish up the second painting I have been working on from a slide, I found that the bulb had burnt out, or maybe I did something to it when I moved the projector. Amazingly, I found a bulb online for it so I ordered it. I can finish the painting without the image at this point anyway.
In my research for the bulb I found that Kodak stopped making this machine in 2003. I have had it since at least 2000 if not a bit earlier. It was old and beat up when it was given to me, so that the bulb lasted this long is amazing.
3 comments:
I really like this painting- brings back memories of cross country skiing in Montezuma. CLC
Right? Brings back memories.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece. I am glad you met the challenge of using the old school slides!
It is an inviting and comforting scene that is nonetheless playful with color and contrast. Looking through the barn wall gives the feeling that you are sharing a special secret; seeing the expanse of the forest in the background draws your focus outward and shrinks your perception of yourself as primary actor. I have learned to trust the colors on my old computer much less, but I still see amazing hues and tones of the blue/green and orange/brown. As I study the painting, my eyes go into high activity, moving from the dark foreground to the bright background. Its very nice. I am intrigued with the light play in the "peephole" on the left side. Lovely.
I'm sorry I'm only three months late seeing and responding to this; the dimension of time is strangely altered in babyland. I try not to let it take me out. LNB
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