Michael Birthday Digital Painting

This past Wednesday, Michael, my younger brother turned 65, a milestone birthday because he now qualifies for Medicare and has officially become a member of the OFD club. Our family had an extended Zoom meeting where we presented him with a beautiful photograph on canvas.  Taken by a local photographer, it shows Michael on the Osprey rocks in the Sunset Cliffs section of San Diego in his wetsuit holding his surfboard looking out at the Pacific Ocean.

A few weeks before, because of Michael turning 65, John, the oldest of the family, suggested we present the “rotten little kid” (dad’s term of endearment) with a special birthday present. Emails went back and forth. When suggested, the photo was news to me. I had not seen the picture. I went to Michael’s Facebook page and found it as his cover photo.

As a Photographer

I found it to be a compositionally great photo. However, the overcast sky made the image look a bit flat. The digital painter in me saw a way I could interpret the picture. I downloaded the photo and used it as a base layer reference. Using Adobe Photoshop, I created and bright and colorful paintings where I emulate the watercolor style.

You can see the results. I used the digital painting as the front of a birthday card. I made sure the card did not get there before Michael’s birthday. I didn’t want to spoil the birthday surprise. Since Michael has received the card Thursday (and liked it!), I can now share my digital painting with the rest of the world. Enjoy

To see this and other digital paintings visit my digital painting gallery