Red Shoes

Before: circa 1933 - 13.5 x 8.5 cm. This photo has long been a family favourite of my mother as a young child. She is posing in front of the gate her grandfather had just made. When you look at things long enough you discover things you had never noticed before. That happened here. There is an extra shadow at her feet and her right hand is behind. I think mum was carrying a soft toy she owned which was a rabbit with long ears.

After: 43 x 28 cm. I drew this up carefully first because I wanted to get it just right and capture the glow on her face. I decided she must have red shoes, because why not?

Johan and Christiana

Before: circa 1870’s. 84kb digital file

After: 30 x 23 cm.

Pearce Family 1908

Before: 1908. 8 x 12cm

After: 42 x 28 cm.

1890’s Wedding

Before: Photocopy of a black and white photo. The hardest part was deciding what the material used around the lattice frame consisted of. I settled on bark.

After: 30 x 23 cm.

1920’s Picnic on the Murrumbidgee

Before: circa 1920’s. The original image was supplied by the Leeton Family History Society. I was very taken with the grouping of people, not to mention the fashions they were wearing. The painting is destined to hang in the new Leeton Museum.

After: 38 x 63 cm. I converted the photo to colour by doing a small study first. By resisting the temptation to put detail in the faces, each of the group has developed a personality of their own that you can relate to.

Thomas Hiscock

Before: circa 1850. This image was taken at a time when photography was in its infancy and it had only just been discovered how to retain the image on paper. The photo has an early form of ’photoshopping’ done to it, some of which needed correcting.

After: 2020. Thomas Hiscock was my maternal 3 x great grandfather. He discovered gold at Bunninyong in Victoria in 1850. He was given 1,000 pounds for his trouble but unfortunately died just five years later.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Before: This is Sarah’s favourite photo of her dad who passed away many years ago. He used to sing to her and one song she remembers is ‘I want to hold your hand’, hence the title. At the time of starting the work the photo was nowhere to be found, but Sarah now has a lasting reminder of that time.

After: I cropped the image to remove some unwanted background first. Then obtained other photos to get a better idea of what dad’s eyes looked like to further the engagement with the image. Sarah’s eyes were easy as her son looks just like her now.

Sunshine Harvesting

Before: circa 1956 - 11 x 7 cm. This is my dad and grandfather harvesting rice using an International crawler and Sunshine Harvester. The harvester and crawler were a familiar thing in the shed, many years after switching to a contract harvester.

After: 45 x 72 cm. A lot of research was needed to pull out the details of the machinery. First it was drawn up, then painted in black and white as a small study. I decided to convert it to colour, then discovered I knew very little about the tonal value of colours. A lot of reading later I finally had a grasp on how to choose the colours. It is a skill I have used a number of times since.