Frida Kahlo: Me and My Parrots
This is a reproduction of the original painting by Frida Kahlo. I like the parrots (quite large!) but I feel that this painting is quite dark in colour. (And could she be smoking near her birds?)
So I made my own version of Frida Kahlo as a bright collage (with smaller parrots) from an illustration of Frida Kahlo in a poster. Noticeably prettier, I couldn't resist giving her a uni-brow that she, herself, often painted her self-portrait with.
To create my digital collage, I used IrfanView, nomacs_Image Lounge and the GIMP2. The 2 parrots (now more like parakeets) are taken from the original painting, but given a reduced size, and colorization to reflect the brighter pallet. Since I planned this to be a collage, I cropped the parrots in rectangular form, but placed the two birds in similar positions on Frida Kahlo's shoulders.
Inspiration for playing with this collage came from reading an article about her relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera. I became closely familiar with Rivera's work, because I often visited the Art Gallery in Detroit (art trips, etc.) and I loved his murals in a special section of the gallery, dedicated to Michigan's auto workers.
So, playing with images to make a new Frida Kahlo has felt inspirational. I think I could almost imagine myself as Bohemian Frida -- I've always liked bright, colorful full skirts and flowers in my hair. I just need two parrots on my shoulders, and to pluck my uni-brow.
Care to join me? I can pour you a full glass of sangria, just for the occasion. 💙
This is a reproduction of the original painting by Frida Kahlo. I like the parrots (quite large!) but I feel that this painting is quite dark in colour. (And could she be smoking near her birds?)
So I made my own version of Frida Kahlo as a bright collage (with smaller parrots) from an illustration of Frida Kahlo in a poster. Noticeably prettier, I couldn't resist giving her a uni-brow that she, herself, often painted her self-portrait with.
To create my digital collage, I used IrfanView, nomacs_Image Lounge and the GIMP2. The 2 parrots (now more like parakeets) are taken from the original painting, but given a reduced size, and colorization to reflect the brighter pallet. Since I planned this to be a collage, I cropped the parrots in rectangular form, but placed the two birds in similar positions on Frida Kahlo's shoulders.
Inspiration for playing with this collage came from reading an article about her relationship with her husband, artist Diego Rivera. I became closely familiar with Rivera's work, because I often visited the Art Gallery in Detroit (art trips, etc.) and I loved his murals in a special section of the gallery, dedicated to Michigan's auto workers.
So, playing with images to make a new Frida Kahlo has felt inspirational. I think I could almost imagine myself as Bohemian Frida -- I've always liked bright, colorful full skirts and flowers in my hair. I just need two parrots on my shoulders, and to pluck my uni-brow.
Care to join me? I can pour you a full glass of sangria, just for the occasion. 💙