From a technical perspective, Schanuel brings his knowledge of the darkroom and the photographic medium to the desktop while using various software programs. These include Pixologic's Zbrush for rendering the 3D objects, HSC Software's Live Picture for distorting the image, and Adobe Systems' Photoshop for compositing and finessing the final work.
Schanuel began manipulating photographs using a darkroom process called sandwiching (whereby two or more negatives or transparencies are used to create a single image), and later turned to digital technology. In both instances, the end result is photographic in detail but surreal in appearance. Over the years, his art has evolved with his technical skills, and now while the artist still melds photographic and digital images to produce his pieces, the photos are merely elements, rather than the mainstay, of the works.
An award-winning artist, Schanuel recently had his work selected for exhibit at the Biennale contemporary exhibit in Florence, Italy. A sampling of his art appears on these pages. Additional pieces can be seen at www.schanuelart.com. —Karen Moltenbrey
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| Pipe Dreams The artist created this piece, as he does all his work, without a preconceived concept."I believe the art finds me when I'm fully present in the moment," he says of his creation process. Schanuel often begins his pieces with a photo |
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| Duality This is another image that was born from a photographic foundation and completed in Photoshop. |
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| Hacker For this work, the artist used digital photography and Photoshop, and then distorted the image in Live Picture. |
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| Altered He Haw Using digital photography and Photoshop, the artist added a unique perspective to a familiar concept. |
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| Carnival Heart While the majority of Schanuel's works integrate photographic elements, in some instances, such as this, his work is generated solely from computer software. Here, he used Zbrush and Photoshop. |
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| 4 Directions Mandala The artist used digital scans of leaves to form the base for this unique image, which was then completed in Photoshop. |
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| Reed Matrix Fusing photographic elements with digital elements allows the artist to express, through symbolism and archetypal imagery, his core belief that we are connected culturally as human beings. To convey that theme in this piece, he used dig |