I've noticed that when I use photos as the basis for my drawings of plant forms, the images always have a certain stiffness. I never achieve the freshness of line that I get from actual observation of life. But... photos can capture more detail that my eyes can comprehend. I use the camera as a magnifying glass and see fascinating plant structures that evoke other associations.
I love the works of Chuck Close and David Hockney and both of these artists explore photographic imaging. I've avoided imitating these artists. But today I decided I can at least try to work in that direction and use the benefits of photo images.
My process was to crop and enlarge one part of one datura photo, then enlarge different sections of the image, and collage the prints together. I did not work exactly, just guessed at measurements, so nothing lines up exactly. Also, my inkjet printer was running out of ink and the colors got very distorted. I decided that these technical imperfections were all good, all part of the process. I used tape to line up the photocopies on newsprint paper.
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