Presidential Morph

Watch the time lapse VIDEO-[link]
A very bi-partisan artwork. Put your political differences aside and watch artist Merrill Kazanjian merge the faces of our last four Presidents (Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush. A presidential portrait this is not- it sets the precedent for merging presidents- not ideologically- but aesthetically. I started out by creating a collage / photomontage with digital cut outs and combining them with Photoshop CS3 and Paint Shop Pro 8. Next, I printed on a medium format printer (13 x 17 inches). Next I added a layer of color pencils (prismacolor) and markers (AD and prisma) to fill in the gaps and tie everything together. Finally, I added a layer of oil paint to make it look life like. I added the body of Richard Nixon in his iconic peace pose and ironically the face wound up looking a little bit like a young Nixon (I did not intend this). I call the method that I use, tradigital art. It merges traditional art (2D drawing and painting) with digital possibilities (computer art and digital photography). My website is [link]