Floating Figure

This final artwork resulted from one many photographs I began with 5 years ago, of water scenes, be it with or without a figure in the water, from swimming pools to a river and ocean beach side, of close ups of waves. Much is inspired in travels to tropical places. I photographed in Miami, Florida, people in swimming pools as this artwork came out of that experience. My other art piece, called 'Wishing You Were Here', which doesn't have any figure was shot at same time as this, while at a hotel. The obsession with water has been much about shapes, textures, to colour relationships The photo I took of this woman floating in a large outdoor pool wasn't a great shot, but no matter, as I photograph more as a means to an end, be it a painting or print inspiration to work from, plus my imagination. So to simply say, I input the photo into my computer. With a week off and on manipulating with hi-tech art tools, what I did was to minimize detail. The rest making many colour changes, thus using bright bold arbitrary colours that worked best together. I used a ripple effect and created a better gradation of colour, providing more contrast from darker lower area to lighter in most of the top area. I didn't want to have her head shown, since I wanted her figure, to immerse and blend with the surrounding water, thus creating one whole concept, which diminished a focal point I didn't want to stand out. There's a bit of mystery in my figures in water, as with this, and other figures in water, which has been my subconscious mind at work, also, of course.