Sincerest form of flattery

Running a blog like this has its rewards. Last January, I received an e-mail from Isaac, a young Canadian artist, who'd been trawling the internet's vast photo resources for a photograph of a dragonfly that he could use as the basis for a watercolour. He'd come across my pic (below, from this post) and asked my permission to do so.

I agreed, and several months later, I received a scan of his painting (below). Click to enlarge to see the fine detail. One of the advantages of watercolour over lenses and pixels is that the artist has infinite control over depth of field - compare the wingtips in the photo (out of focus) with the painting!


Isaac e-mailed me soon afterwards for permission to use one of my peacock photos as the basis for another watercolour. My photo, taken in Łazienki park in April 2008, is shown below. (Click here for the original post.) And two and half months later, I'm delighted to receive a scan of a second watercolour based on one of my photos!

Below: here is Isaac's watercolour based on my photo. I am deeply impressed by both paintings and honoured that my photographs have inspired them. The comparison between the hours of work that a painting involves and the millisecond it took to photograph it (after a few moments of composing the shot) bears thinking about. Once again, click on the painting to enlarge to see the detail.

More watercolours by Isaac on his blog.

This time last year:
Silver birches and blue skies

This time three years ago:
Jeziorki's wetlands in late winter (2009)

This time four years ago:
Jeziorki's wetlands in late winter (2008)