self portrait -with a wink at Norman Rockwell

[Peter Yesis]

Chris-

Here is the posting and close ups I promised. I was surprised at the wonderful responses I received on the "new members" list.

First, I share this with eveyone because I have gained so much in the 2 months visiting and I hope you gain something from my attempts.

A little background. In the past 30 years I have only painted for fun and my total output I could count on my figures and toes,and have a few digits left over. So I am a beginner at this.

If you are familiar with the movie "Music Man" remember his method of teaching the kids to play their instruments? The "think method." Well, that's what I have been doing for about 25 years. I'm a art magazine addict.

Back to the painting. This was a first attempt to develop a composition and not just accept something in a photograph. It is 40" x 53" on (gulp) 1/4"masonite.

I'll never do that again! I use an Olympus E-20N Digital camera. It has a little remote control button I used to snap the shutter. I would snap a picture, get up, look at the composition in the view finder, check lighting, make an adjustment to a prop, then sit down and snap another. This went on for about 100 pictures. I kept making smaller and smaller adjustments so that most everything in the background plays a part in my composition. (Another tip from Norman.)