The next step is opening my digital file and making some printing tests. We call those printing tests “test stripes”. This means printing a small portion of the picture, like for example 2 inches x 24 inches – this is just to test how the paper reacts to the file, on several areas of the image. For example, canvas absorbs more ink than fine art paper. Or watercolour paper absorbs more ink than glossy paper. A print on glossy paper looks completely different than a print on canvas or on matte paper, even if you are using the same digital file. So I have to adjust the colours, in order to have them on paper exactly or almost exactly as I created them on screen. I print a test stripe and compare to the screen. If I don’t like the result, I modify my file or modify the printing options, then print another test stripe. And this goes on until I am satisfied with the printing result – as soon as the result is satisfying, I print the complete artwork. In case you are asking yourself what “colour management” means: It’s all about trying to make sure that the colours of the artwork I created on screen match with the colours of the print as best as they can.

Yes I know, I create a mess on any desk I use… As you see on the picture below, the test stripe on the right is a little “orange toned”, the one in the middle is a little dark and the one on the left is actually a succeeded one – light sepia / brown tones, like on my digital file. I juxtapose them and compare…

And here is my digital file – it’s a tribune to Auguste Rodin’s “Eternal Idol”. The artwork name is “The Kiss #7 – Variation Sepia”:

The printing stripe was OK, so I proceed to the actual printing of the artwork.

I favourite watercolour paper for this kind of digital artworks, because it has a rough surface structure that gives my works a “drawing” aspect. It’s luxurious, thick, soft and resistant. And here is the final print. It has a white border that can be used instead of matting: the surface of the watercolour paper makes a very nice mat.

Like this print? If you wish to buy a print, just leave me a comment here – your e-mail address will be visible to me but invisible to all other visitors of the blog. You can also buy this print at Imagekind.com.

Thanks for your feedback or questions!

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I had the idea in 2002, started creating it, left it for some years, then finished it 2005. Rather neutral tones with some colour touches: brown, gold, black, some white and light purple, creme, light yellow, a couple of green touches and a little bit of color work up in the top right corner. The wheat texture is more concentrated on the woman’s breasts, the man’s face and the woman’s belly, to put the accent on the moment of the kiss and on erotism. His chest and her torso are well defined with shadows. The man’s body is mixed with dead leaves and wrapped paper textures, to give it a “rigid” aspect. On the top right corner, I put an intense light, to symbolize strong feelings that make all thoughts “vanish” during the erotic act.

My “Eternal Idol” variations play with the notion of eternal versus the notion of seasonal. They address the conflicting relationship between the notion of sculpture as permanent and tangible and the seasonal lanscape as a symbol of perpetual change. The “eternal” idol is thus transformed into a living, changing object while the “seasonal” landscape is petrified into an unchangeable eternity. Wheat fields in summer, rapeseed fields in spring, dead leaves in autumn, icy lakes in winter – those elements transform Rodin’s Eternal Idol into a chameleon, an Idol in Eternal Change.

As commissioned by a client, I am now trying to create a horizontal wheat variation. I came up with the following four variations, but I am having difficulties choosing only one (as “official” version…). In order of creation:

This one has more yellow tones, more intense colours than the vertical version. It’s 12×16in / 30×40cm.

This one is intense yellow and warm brown, with more contrast and more defined edges. 12×16in / 30×40cm.

I think this one is my favorite. The tones are more neutral, there is a wraped paper work in the woman’s genitalia part, some blue-green touches, warm tones. It is almost square (40×45cm / 16×18in) and the man’s chest is complete.

This one is pretty similar to no3, same dimensions, with a bit of colour work up in the top right corner.

I appreciate any comments and feedback!

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Bel Phos – “The Biosphere Reserve Rhön”, Germany, May 2006

Bel Phos – “Wheatgrass and rapeseed field”, Rhone Biosphere Reserve, Germany

And some of my Rodin “Eternal Idol” variations on the Biosphere Reserve Rhön, “Variation Rapeseed” and “Variation Wheat 2″:

These two works represent the Spring. Green wheatgrass and rape seed in early spring at the Biosphere Reserve Rhön is encrusted into “The Eternal Idol”. A biosphere reserve is a natural monument, enduring seasonal changes. A sculpture is a human artistic achievement, eternal as indicated by its name. By mixing them, I attempt to endow the Rhön Reserve with an aspect of stability and eternity and to give the Rodin sculpture chameleon qualities. The result is a harmonic relation, where Human Nature embraces Mother Nature and vice versa.

What are biosphere reserves?

Biosphere reserves are sites recognized under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They are of course under national sovereign jurisdiction, yet share their experience and ideas nationally, regionally and internationally within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. There are 529 sites worldwide in 105 countries.

Biosphere reserves are much like laboratories where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. They outpace traditional confined conservation zones, combining core protected areas with zones where sustainable development is fostered by local dwellers and enterprises. Their governance systems are often highly innovative. In some cases, new legislation can be introduced. Biosphere reserves have three inter-connected functions:
* Conservation: landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation
* Development: economic and human and culturally adapted
* Logistic support: research, monitoring, environmental education and training

They generate knowledge and experience which can be used in the wider land and seascape. They are tools to help countries implement the results of the WSSD and in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Ecosystem Approach. They are “learning sites” for the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development.

© UNESCO (Text found in official Unesco site on January 3, 2008)

In Germany there are today 13 biosphere reserves:

1. Flusslandschaft Elbe
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
2. Vessertal-Thüringen Forest
   [More information on Unesco site]
3. Berchtesgaden Alps
   [More information on Unesco site]
4. Wadden Sea and Hallig Islands of Schleswig-Holstein
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
5. Schorfheide-Chorin
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
6. Spreewald
   [More information on Unesco site]
7. Rügen
   [site in German, More information on Unesco site]
8. Rhön
   [More information on Unesco site]
9. Waddensea of Lower Saxony
   [More information on Unesco site]
10. Waddensea of Hamburg
    [More information on Unesco site]
    
11. Oberlausitzer Heide- und Teichlandschaft
    [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
    
12. Schaalsee
    [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
13. Vosges du Nord / Pfälzerwald, transboundary reserve France/Germany
    [More information on Unesco site or on official French site]

Buy this green calendar with photos of the Rhone Biosphere Reserve:

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Here’s a new botanical variation for my “Homage to Rodin” series. As requested by many of you, I am now adding some horizontal variations. Click on the picture to see the printing and framing options.

This variation is mixing the Rodin kissing couple (The Eternal Idol, 1889) with botanical elements, namely a green grass field in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve in Germany (Biosphärenreservat Rhön). I visited the Rhone Biosphere Reserve in May 2006, really exceptional landscape:

Visit the official Rhön Biosphere Reserve web site for more information.

Now working on a horizontal wheat variation…

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