Monday, August 5, 2013

Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby

A series of blog entries in which I discuss the process I am using to create an over-sized portrait

The Modified Image Based on the Original Still Shot From the Motion Picture



I played with the original still photo as shown in the blog entry, Monday, July 29, 2013, choosing a vertical format that included DiCaprio’s right eye, nose and mouth. Next I put that image into Adobe Photoshop and manipulated the exposure, contrast and color to arrive at an image with colors reminiscent of the Post Impressionist era. I have squared this image into six pieces. Each piece will be enlarged to 30 by 30 inches to make a painting that will be 5 feet wide by 7 and ½ feet high. I have also paired each piece with one other piece and squared each piece to form a grid 4 squares by 4 squares.



I have squared each 30-inch panel with 4 rows of 4 squares, each 7.5 inches. I have also sketched Leo’s right eye and eyebrow into the first square and begun painting. In the next blog entry I will discuss the technique used to paint this first square and the method through which I will match colors to the 5 other squares in the over-sized portrait.

2 comments:

Will said...

But you also flipped the image, which you don't explain. Is the idea that the viewer never sees the "real" Jay Gatsby, only a kind of one or two remove image of him, the kind of image Gatsby wants us to see?

This is an intriguing process.

Anonymous A said...

We could get into all kinds of theory on removal, the eye of the viewer versus the artist's eye, image reversal, and meaning, Will. And you are correct - that is the way a person educated in the arts and literature will probably read "Gatsby." However, I enlarged a small portion of the original image, reversed it, and altered the colors in order to remove it as far from the original photograph as possible.