Art | Paint by Pixels

This project is part of a larger body of work which explores the beauty of the limitations of digital and analog image reproduction by intentionally enhancing and celebrating these artifacts by moving images from analog to digital and vice versa. Paint by Pixels explores the most fundamental limitation of the rendering of digital images: the pixel and the relationship between resolution and recognizability. Starting with portraits I have taken over the years I process the images to create a series of images ranging from recognizable to pixelated: from duplication to abstract. These images are then recreated by hand using acrylic paints and variations on how the intensity of a “pixel” can be represented in the analog form.

2020

Process

Starting in Photoshop I created a series of actions that allow me to rapidly prototype different iterations of "pixel" size, dimensions, color combinations, and "pixel" styles.

OnceI happy with the results in the digital space another custom Photoshop action creates a gridded template which works as the guide for the physical paintings.