Photo to Pastels

Original image captured in Bayamo (I think) by photographer Leo Gasparet

It's one thing to have the skill to convert a digital photo to something that equates to a painting. It's an entirely different skill to actually copy a photo using real pastels or oils and to transform it into a real work of art. My sister does this - working off one of my student's images (Leo Gasparet), she created this great-looking reproduction. Best thing to do with a (digital copy) picture like this? Print it on watercolour inkjet paper.

Here's a great example of how the translation from digital image to art is done - created by Fiona Nichols. No photo manipulation or software tweaking involved.