Technology-Artwork Idea

Here is a neat and easy technology-artwork idea.  I was playing around with the idea of creating a Warhol-esque portrait project with my students.  I wanted it to repeat the portrait image but change the colors of each image as Warhol’s Self-Portrait at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. 

I had students take either their school photo or a photo of someone famous and we brought it into a paint program that had a “paint-can” type of fill tool.  For my example below I used Paint.net but other programs can work.  I previously also used tools associated with the scanner I used to scan in the original pictures when I first tried this idea.  When asking the students to manipulate the color in the photos I might encourage setting parameters for each image i.e. use only complementary colors for three images and black, white and gray for the fourth image or reinforce color groups such as primaries, secondaries, warm and/or cool colors for each image.  Access to a good color printer is essential.  I had them trim and then mount the images in an appealing manner – two across and two down or four vertically or horizontally arranged.  It was a way to introduce students to an artist, his style and inject some of the art elements and principles in fun way.  I have included an example I made of my own “mug” so you can see the idea as an actual artwork.

-Thom Knab