The second batch of my art pieces.
(If you haven’t seen batch 1, you can view that set here )
Morgan Quinn’s pointe. (Inspired by a photo we shot of her in a pool) I love how the colors turned out for this one, as well as the dreamy vibe. If you look closely you can see I created a variety of mini vortex shapes in the “water” to create the sensation of movement, and reflected light.
This piece is a combination of photographs that I manipulated and combined. So the first bit I started with was a photograph of Paris France that my wife Nicole snapped while on a trip there. (You can clearly see the Eiffel Tower) The second aspect was a photo I shot of Ariana Emnace standing in the ocean at Santa Monica beach. Those were the main pillars, and then I manipulated the format, the environment, and painted some birds, ocean, a swirling vortex, and also some black ridges to create a more dynamic composition and otherworldly feel.
For this one, I started with a photograph I took of the mountains while skiing in Utah. (That’s the bottom half of the image) I then took 3 different photographs I shot over the last 14 years or so. One of my wife Nicole Voris getting partnered by Dylan W (Which I snapped around 14 years ago I believe?) Another of June Freeman on pointe, (taken in 2024) and another of Madison Keesler in a classic Swan Lake pose. (Taken 12/13 years ago) I then converted all 3 of those images into an “8 bit” aesthetic. After that, I placed the dancers where I found it compositionally interesting, and then I started to paint!
I am extremely happy with how the colors in this one turned out. The red, blue and also that light-light purple. (Which even goes down onto the mountain range in the lower half of the image) The paint and colors create a powerful and beautiful dreamy sense of mystic and movement. This one with the mountains and the dancers atop them makes me think of the Greek Gods a bit. (Which have always been an influence in my work. Many of the titles for my videos and various photographic series have been inspired by stories of the Greek Gods)
This piece of Sofia was a photograph we shot in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. (You can see more photos from this set in this Zine article here) For this one, I loaded in the photo, layered on a transparent light beam, then got to painting!
Adding paint to a photograph with minimal processing doesn’t work for every shot. However, for this one it worked out great. I love how the paint co-exists so well with the architecture and tone of the photo.
The process for this one was interesting. I started with a photo I snapped of the ocean at the end of a photoshoot I had at Santa Monica beach. (If you turn the photo sideways to the left, you can clearly see the ocean water, with the Malibu mountains in the background.) I then manipulated and processed that image a bit, and then started painting on it. I used a fiery color palette. (As you can see) The whole time I worked on it, I had the image horizontal, as it was shot. However, after I finished painting, I thought something was missing. So I experimented with the aspect of the piece, and decided that rotating it to the right made it more interesting to look at, and then I realized that it needed something in the center of the frame to anchor the viewer. So I tried out a variety of dance poses before coming across this image of Olivia grounded while moving her arm upwards in a fluid motion. I was drawn to that. It feels hopeful and exciting. I processed that image and doubled it (One with black, and one with white)
This piece features 3 different dancers. Jenna Skipworth, Adeline Wylie and Paige Wilkey.
This process began with a vertical photograph I shot of the afternoon sky. (Which is the main background) I processed the image so the sky is black and the clouds are white, then I turned the photo sideways. After that I took a photo of Adeline that we had shot in the studio, processed it and positioned her in the upper left corner. Once I had her in place, I began to experiment with colors and shapes. I had about half the colors/paint in place before I added Paige Wilkey’s foot and hand in the right bottom corner, then I added more paint, and then I added Jenna’s body on the left towards the end of the process. (I also threw in a few small cartoon-esq looking mountains in the upper right at the very end)
This piece has a lot going on, (which I like) and I hope it takes the viewer a few seconds to identity that there are 3 humans present in the image.
This piece features Paige Wilkey, Ella and Rachel Bullock and Madison Keesler.
This is another photo of the mountain range I shot while skiing in Utah. (I take a lot of photos while skiing apparently) I processed that image and tweaked the colors a bit, then got to painting! I tried a variety of designs, but ended up landing on this mysterious, snowy wind atmosphere. (This piece also reminds me of Greek God vibes)
Erika Danielle is featured in this one. I started with a silhouetted shot we created of her on a cliff in the Bay Area, I then took that image and layered a photo of bokeh lights behind it, then painted a variety of multi-colored brush strokes on the bokeh background, and then messed with the transparency of that brush stroked layer. (Which is way it looks shiny and crystal-esq) I then painted the waterfalls/water pools as the finishing touch.
This shot features Kate Huntington on the left and Isabella Caso on the right. (I took the photo of Kate on a shoot in at a studio in Arizona and the photo of Isabella in a studio in LA)
I shot the background (Which is Santa Monica Pier) last fall at sunset. For this one, I processed the photos of Kate and Isabella, blurred the background, and then painted.
With both Kate and Isabella’s movements leading the eye upwards, I felt it was organic for the paint to move in that direction. (Which also leads the viewer towards the pier)
This image features Kayla Incontro on the right and Jenna Skipworth on the left. The background in this one is a photo of landscape/the sky. The image of Kayla on the right was taken of her in San Francisco, and the image of Jenna on the left was captured in Denver, Colorado.
I spent a lot of time painting and experimenting with colors on this one. I love the colors that I ended up with, and also am a big fan of the blues on the bottom (which I think almost look like waves)
This one I created on July 18th. It features an image I shot of Vanessa Childress in a photo studio. For this one, you can actually view a time lapse of how I went about creating it below!
So that’s batch II of my summer 2025 art. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them. I like writing these posts because writing feels like a rebellion against social media, and the tech oligarchs who own them.
I think a large portion of society, because of our shared constant consumption of short form media on social networks, has created a consistent behavior where people are constantly searching for a large emotional reaction within themselves when interacting with any media on the internet. Because of this, I think it’s become difficult for a lot of people to interact with things like the text you’re reading now. (When reading text, it takes more effort/imagination on your own part. Your brain has to actually think, instead of just consume)
Reading text creates a balance. It is a mental mixture of creating, and consuming. (That’s just one of the many reasons I currently feel compelled to share my work through this Blog/Zine/Newsletter format)
Till next time,
-Oliver Endahl
