My images often begin with discarded 19th and early 20th century photographic portraits, scavenged from old family albums and flea markets. I collect portraits of family members and people that I find intriguing, ambiguous or mysterious. I then scan the images – often of poor quality – at a very high resolution, and begin the laborious task of altering the portrait.
I play with the characters as if sprites on a stage. I experiment with different backdrops and settings, using my photographs or paintings, which I collage and reassemble. My characters go through weeks of revisions, as I move them through many worlds, playing with narrative and composition.
Occasionally, I’ll create paintings for background textures. But in general, I do not use ordinary paint or brushes: I substitute the mouse and stylus for brushes, light for my palette, the tablet and monitor for a canvas, and photographic paper for the finished canvas.
The final images are an amalgam of photography and painting with pixels, digitally assembled. Images are then output on archival cotton rag paper, printed with archival pigment inks, taking care to maintain crisp, luminous and saturated coloration. Although printed in a limited edition at various sizes edition, each print is unique.
Fran Forman
Description
Painting with Pixels
My images often begin with discarded 19th and early 20th century photographic portraits, scavenged from old family albums and flea markets. I collect portraits of family members and people that I find intriguing, ambiguous or mysterious. I then scan the images – often of poor quality – at a very high resolution, and begin the laborious task of altering the portrait.
I play with the characters as if sprites on a stage. I experiment with different backdrops and settings, using my photographs or paintings, which I collage and reassemble. My characters go through weeks of revisions, as I move them through many worlds, playing with narrative and composition.
Occasionally, I’ll create paintings for background textures. But in general, I do not use ordinary paint or brushes: I substitute the mouse and stylus for brushes, light for my palette, the tablet and monitor for a canvas, and photographic paper for the finished canvas.
The final images are an amalgam of photography and painting with pixels, digitally assembled. Images are then output on archival cotton rag paper, printed with archival pigment inks, taking care to maintain crisp, luminous and saturated coloration. Although printed in a limited edition at various sizes edition, each print is unique.
site : http://franforman.com/site/Home.html