In my practice of photo retouching, I set myself a daring challenge: to reproduce some of the greatest artistic paintings. What started out as a simple exercise to improve my editing skills and understand the composition, lighting and geometric interactions of the figures quickly turned into a real passion. It has now become a central theme in my work. These frescoes don't just reproduce the original; they explore new poses and perspectives, as if the characters in the paintings were taking on new life.
In this new category of my blog, I'm going to share with you some of the paintings that have deeply inspired me. To inaugurate this series, I present 'The Birth of Venus' by Eduard Steinbrück (1802-1882).
This painting takes up a classic theme in Western painting, taken from Greco-Roman mythology. Known as "Venus anadyomene", it depicts the goddess Venus emerging from the waters, an evocation of her mythological birth from the foam of the waves. This subject has been interpreted by many masters, from Botticelli with his famous Venus to Titian, Cabanel and Bouguereau, each bringing their own vision of the symbolic beauty and love that Venus embodies. To find out more, I recommend Wikipedia's fascinating article on the subject.
My muse @ange_ofgwen and I decided to take on the challenge of recreating this work by Steinbrück. We were captivated by the magnificent composition and the richness of the colours. Every detail and nuance has been carefully studied to capture the essence of the original, while adding our own interpretation.
And this is the image we created.
It was fascinating work, respecting the poses, buying the right fabrics that were as close as possible to the colours and, above all, the fluidity of the drapery. And from this initial scene, the joy of exploring other versions and explorations.
You can find all the images in the "Pictorial" gallery.
If you like these articles, don't hesitate to like or comment. What work would you like to explore?
See you soon
Yohann
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