Sunday, January 20, 2008


"princess.days"

My wife, Marie, has always encouraged me to paint my children - I have not. I used Alex's over-exposed eye once. I did post of a picture of my daughter, Mariana, back in April. Mariana sits with buckets on beach.

Late this summer Mariana was invited to birthday party where they wore Princess outfits and then had make up put on by mother and her eager adult sisters. She loved dressing up and make up - this picture, now fractured, was taken by Marie after the party.

I used my very basic limited Photoshop demo software. Then to Paint. Then more Paint and some Office Picture Manager, then Paint...etc. Starting point, of sorts:



There is an innocence in life that is shattered so quickly, but it is the soil beneath, from which we grow.

9 comments:

Irene said...

I see your little girl reflected several times, but I do like the way you have fragmented her to anonymity. Do your children know they end up in your digital collages like this?

You like things to be very obscure and left to be guessed at. If it weren't for the original image, we would be left in the dark many times. I suppose it is that way with my mandalas too, so I shouldn't complain.

I am not complaining! I like what you do and it seems to require endless patience. I wonder when you have reached the moment when you stop and say this is enough. Or when you backtrack and do something completely different.

Irene said...

John, I borrowed "princess.days". I hope you don't mind. If you do let me know. We are all famous poachers now and we do get around to each other's work. I love to find something colorful and intricate. I'll see what I can make of it.

John M. Mora said...

No problem, Irene. Poach, sample -thank you.

BTW, the processess I use do not require endlss patience. I have the pateince of a hungry flea (most days).

Thank you always for your input and measured pointed comments.

The Artful Eye said...

I like that you can see a portion of Mariana's face peering out. Marie-good job on the photo, without the photo there would be no princess.days... John-thanks for talking about the process here and "thanks be to soil" cuz I'd otherwise be all over the place. Now go and paint your children! *smile*

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting my blog again, John. I know about the Patriots..but since I am a 3rd generation SD native, I have to keep the faith. Have fun today!

Lucky Dip Lisa said...

Beautiful and symboilc work John. I like the last paragraph too, you illustrated it well.
It's not to busy or complicated.
Have you thought of doing the Illustration Friday themes?

Trijnie said...

this is so sweet, every girl dreams to have such dresses and feel like a pricess.
My two sons are 26 and 27 now.
I once made a drawing and silkscrean of my youngest. It's one of my favourite drawings.

Bobbie said...

I love the way you give us a little glimpse of the original, it seems to me that it adds depth to your work. Lovely what you did with your precious Mariane. What a little doll.

Kris Cahill said...

Your process is fascinating. Thank you for posting the before photo. I really like this finished piece. So rich, textured. I've often felt when looking at your work that it's in movment, almost animated. There is a static I see in many of the pieces, it's softer here. The addition of a figure is very interesting. Nice!