Then and now

Or maybe this and that. And what is the "that" that's being thated? Well, this. What you see below is a picture that shows two images. They look remarkably similar. And yet - different. It's a single watercolor painting, done in double quick time by the marvelous Michael Reardon as part of a demo for the California Watercolor Association. What prompted this post was the fact that I'd taken a picture of the finished painting right after it had been completed. Taken with a fancy pants iPhone 11 Pro, which means the camera is pretty darn good. But I didn't do any immediate review and color correction - just took what was there in the not-terribly-bright indoor lights. What's below it in the picture below is a screen grab of an Instagram post that came in just a moment ago. So - an iPhone image taken of the actual painting and an Instagram post of a (most likely) digital pic of the actual painting. 

What's the point of the post? Well, the fact that, as you can see, they're the same and yet, not really. Clearly it's the same piece of watercolor art. Did extra painting occur after the demo? Not sure. There sure is a ton more orange in the roofs. 

What AM I reasonably sure about? Well, for one thing, Michael undoubtedly took his picture after the painting had dried completely and one fact of life in watercolor is that they dry less vibrant than they appear when wet. They lighten up as well. Beyond that? Mine clearly shows far more texture of the paper. Likely due to the fact the main lights were overhead and the painting was close to vertical for my photo. The more the light is off-axis, the more it will bring up shadows. Because the paper certainly didn't flatten after he left the demo.

The other factor is what Michael may have done in post process. Looking at the roofs I'd not be surprised if some punching up of the warmer tones occurred. Of course, it might have just been the settings of his camera - very often jpg images err quite strongly on the over-saturation side. 

Anyway, nothing earthshaking. Just another convenient example of how what you see and what YOU see might not be what I see. See?

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