The 'Andy Warhol' Technique

A short while ago I was given an old photograph by a client of a Vespa Scooter and given the 'brief' ... "I don't know what I want but can you do something with this? " Initially I got to be honest I was stumped. I mean, where do you go from there? How do you interpret what the client is looking for when they don't know themselves? Potentially you could spend hours working on all sorts of edits and still be no closer to what the client (doesn't know) they want.


In situations like this you've just got to dig deeper. Who did the bike belong to? What are you looking to do with the final image? What styles of images have you seen that you like? What is the decor like of where the image is going to be displayed ... modern? old fashioned? ... the list goes on, but asking these and more can save a whole heap of time.

Eventually I discovered that the photograph had sentimental value as the moped in it had belonged to the clients father. The client wanted something 'out there' and 'retro' so my mind immediately began drifting towards the style made famous by Andy Warhol. (The images attached show the original photograph that I was given which I scanned and the two final colour versions.)


I initially created the 4 colour version but changed to the Red / B&W once the client had seen the proof and asked for the colour change as it would be more in fitting with the room that it will be displayed in once it's been put onto an 18" x 12" canvas.


So, a happy client and BIG Thankyou to a friend of mine Matt Kloskowski at the NAPP for showing the technique I used to create the final look once I'd repaired and 'cut' the moped out of the original photograph.