Friday, November 6, 2015
Painterly Mobile Artist Roger Guetta
Roger was one of the early influences on my decision to explore mobile photography. After my initial introduction to this very addictive hobby, I attended the L.A. Mobile Arts Festival in 2012. Roger's work was front and center. At that time I had no idea my passion would grow and I would eventually start up the Painterly Mobile Art Flickr Group. I was even happier when talented artists like Roger started to contribute to the group.
The Work
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| The Handmaiden's Tale © Roger Guetta |
The Artist
For the last few years, I have been working exclusively with the iPhone as my primary camera and a myriad of apps as my editing tools. I have shown my work in galleries in Montreal, Toronto, Colorado, California, Ohio and Italy. Only last week, I had the honor of contributing to the eBook MobileMasters which will be available for the iPad in early May 2014.
I'm in love with the iPhone and the array of apps which make the transformative experience an absolute joy.
Roger's Commentary
The image I have chosen to speak about is: The Handmaiden's Tale.
In retrospect the decision to purchase an iPhone with 64 gigs of hard space has been an inspired one. This allows me to scroll through thousands of images I have collected and glean inspiration from imagining how particular images would work in combination with others. Sometimes a word arises in my head and I try to follow its dynamic. Here the word 'delicate' was conjured and I began to work in Image Blender to create the delicacy and grace of the female form. I love to create new, almost unworldly forms consisting of configurations which I construct or deconstruct from my existing collection. Hence, as an example, this image is layered by using parts from a number of women. Arms from one, breasts from another, etc.
There were times after blending for a while that I needed to add specific elements before going on. I wanted a 'feel' of a gown or long dress, so I saved what I had so far and went to Repix were I do most of my masking. I created the shape desired, filled it in by using a the 'eraser' and 'spray' functions and again...saved it. Back to Image Blender to add it, resize it and mask (in Image Blender) some more.
The head was isolated in Repix (by using the eraser to mask out everything around it) then tweaked with BlurFX and Snapseed before adding it to the body in Image Blender. I remember the 'eureka' moment when after an inordinate amount of time trying to fit in the head, I let go of my notion of a neck and tilted it to sit snuggly on the torso. I remember internally OMGing and now needed a gothic type hat. I created the final product from different shapes until I achieved an almost 'cardinal' type head dress.
I finalized the piece by adding a background and finding the right mood in Snapseed. The title came automatically upon perusing it. Margaret Atwood wrote a book with the same title. I have never read it, but imagine the Handmaiden to be close to my rendition. I wonder?
See Roger's Work
Roger's work is currently on exhibit at the Norman Felix Gallery in Toronto. The display is comprised of nine square images each 20" x 20" on foam board. If you're in the Toronto area, be sure to stop by and view Roger's work.
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| © Roger Guetta |
Apps Mentioned:
Image Blender
Repix
Snapseed
BlurFX
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