When I found out David Bowie had died I was devastated. Probably more than the average person or fan. I was very saddened by not only the loss of this amazing & talented human being, but reminded in a millisecond of my own grief I was still reeling from after losing my mother to Cancer not 4 months prior. This was what defined my life last year and I was just barely coming out of the fog I was in. My only respite was to dive into a piece that would channel the sadness into something positive. I decided to create an image transfer from a photograph that would capture both his class and timelessness. I've named it "Starman" and it's soon to be framed and will hang in my apt. proudly as a testament to both his memory and power of creativity, but to how love never really dies.
First I found a suitable image on-line, opened it in Photoshop and converted it to high-contrast black and white using the Threshold tool. Because I was creating an image transfer, I also needed to flip the image horizontally so that while it prints backwards, the final image will be correct.
The next step was to create the image transfer. I applied packaging tape to the image overlapping as I went to create a tight seal. Then carefully dampened the exposed paper remaining on the back with water and began the gently removal process.
Once the image transfer was done of his face, I put that aside and got to the task of creating the background for the image. I usually work in black and white so I started with high graphite pencil that dissolves nicely in water to create the blending I wanted. I then played with white gesso over painting, and scratching into and wiping away to create the translucency I wanted. When David had just the right amount of subtle stars showing through I knew I was done.
Starman