Plum leaves' photostream  

Happily married.

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"A thing of beauty is a joy forever" - John Keats

My photostream can be read like an art book or picture book. The images have been uploaded in a deliberate order to make them most pleasurable and coherent to view.

One of my goals is to display art and illustration that are unique due to being of the highest resolution available with full untrimmed image. Most of these images are scans or the result of extensive internet search. This may require work on Photoshop combining two or more images of the same artwork to add missing edges for a high resolution image. Often older illustrations require extensive restoration. I have probably put too much work and research is put into most of the images I upload!

For each artwork I try to provide complete information and additional links to biographies, artist’s website or other related site.

Newer images are under the doctrine of fair use for nonprofit educational purposes only. In sharing art we must honor copyright laws and the artistic rights of the artists!

I also like to compile by theme - a particular artist, time period, season or subject. On rare occasions the best image available for a certain theme is already on Flickr. I then privately contact the member who uploaded this image. If they agree, I use their image in my photostream and give them full credit with a link back to the original image. So far I have always had a friendly, positive response to this arrangement, with their image receiving more views through my photostream!

I hope to organize and make available new or better images to the online art community and have fun at the same time.

So let us enjoy and learn more about art together!



"A picture is a poem without words." - Horace



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ADENDUM – Expanded image explanation:

Q. Part of Flickr is about new images -- what makes your images unique? How are some not redundant images from the internet?

A. Some are scans. Some are digital restorations along with extensive research. Some are a combination of all of these. Time and work invested in each individual artwork (too much sometimes ;)

I had not wished the focus of my photostream to be that of my digital skills, rather I wanted it to be that of the art – art which best accurately exemplifies the original. This is an explanation for those who may wish to know more.

For almost every artwork I upload there will have been extensive research behind it. I have a modest art library to which I will first turn. Some of my images are scans from old books. If I use an online image, will check every available image of that artwork and compile the best of each to arrive at the finished product. Some resources are Tin Eye reverse image search: www.tineye.com/ Google image search (recently expanded to check by the images one selects or submits, al well as by name): images.google.com/. Other resources are museums, auction houses and scans of art plates from old books.

After I have gathered versions of the images on which I am working, I select the best to compile an accurate whole.

Extensive Projects:

Image Version 1: Highest resolution and clarity, but over cropped edges. I will use this for my primary image.

Image Version 2: Lower resolution, includes full, un-cropped edges (these missing edges may include simple boarders or partial figures which need to be carefully restored).

Image Version 3: Highest resolution image, but only includes a small portion of the artwork.

Image Version 4: Large, but low clarity photo of the artwork, taken at an angle so that it is out of proportion, yet includes the frame and natural lighting.

I will use all four of these versions to digitally complete the highest quality accurate image.

Simple Projects:

The original image, say a print of an illustration, is in good shape, but… the lighting is dim, the colors are washed out or part of the illustrator’s signature is cropped off.

In these instances I will gently lighten and restore the colors, and clean the background blemishes. I may need to check samples of the illustrator’s signature and restore the full signature to the piece. Simple and done!

Tedious Projects:

The best version of an image is only available in small Zoom sections. In these situations I will take screen shots of each section of the artwork and digitally piece it together. This is time consuming, but what a pleasure to know people can now view a high resolution of the artwork as a whole!

Additional Examples:

Scans. Scans always take time to make them look like the original (someday I may have a better quality scanner :)



Refreshing vintage book plates:




My one complete rebuild of a vintage magazine:




Occasional variation from the original artwork. All changes noted and referenced:




Computer wallpapers. I expand the sides of an artwork to computer screen sizes:


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In the examples above, the resulting images are unique. I try to provide the best image available online. I will update to better versions when they become available. I also research the artist and often the text from which the painting or illustration was drawn and include that information with the artwork.

My goal is to have a uniquely better image which is now a legitimate addition to the online community, a beneficial addition to Flickr, and a pleasure to those who view it.

So now let's enjoy art!

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