New mosaic art work by C. D. Daughtrey

coppercoins

Just finished a mosaic work using over 3,500 photos of Washington quarters - a lot like the Lincoln cent poster I made a couple of years ago, except this one is smaller - 11X14.

So what do you think?



Here's a detail image showing a few blocks of the composition:

DUIGUY

Fixed now.

VERY COOL!!

fc

i am not very fond of it to be honest.

intence

pretty cool imo. is there a high res

Rob85635

Wow, nice. How long did that take to make? I suppose you had an archive of the 3500 pics before you began?

drwstr123

Very nice. I like it. Any chance of a couple progressive close-ups?

fivecents

Bad to the bone C.D.!

coppercoins

FC - That's what I'm looking for...honesty.

So do you not like the composition or do you just not really like the idea at all?

Progressive close-up? Not sure what that would mean.

Hi-res - sure....That's what the original is. 300DPI, printed using solid color transfer onto acid free paper.

SpaceMonkey

i think it's very cool and an amazing accomplishment. well done!




-sm

Bcsican

An area of my expertise is art...

THAT IS A NICE PIECE...GREAT INSIGHT....

coppercoins

Another one I did earlier in the year...



This one uses entirely morgan dollars - same resolution, same deal. Nearly 3,500 images on 11x14 finished size.

A detail of some of the blocks that make up this mosaic...

DMWJR

Awesome!!!

JedPlanchet

I really like the idea of this and your Lincoln Mosaic is great.





But the Washington one seems to be a little lacking in detail, particularly around the eye and the mouth. Any chance of tweaking the image? I hope you take this as constructive criticism - I think that your artwork is fantastic.

coppercoins

Yeah, I guess I could work on it a little more.

The main problem is the size. Very few people wanted a 24x36 poster, so I reduced it down to a smaller size for the new work. I figured 11x14 would be easier for people to justify hanging on a wall. When I reduced the size, that affected the original images I needed to use to get most of the tonal qualities to come out close in the mosaic.

I admit that neither of the new ones have the databank of images I had to use with the Lincoln cent - over 10,000 images were sorted, twisted, turned, and put into place for that one. Each of the others (Washington and Morgan) used an original set of 300-600 original coin photos taken by myself, then one photo was selected as the 'base' image from which I worked. Each of the obverses and reverses of the more than 300 photos were chopped into parts, then saved and used for their overall tonal qualities to build the final piece.

LanLord

Are you a cyborg or something? How do you think of something like that?

Dentuck

Very cool! It's nice to see this kind of creativity in the hobby community.

Raybob15239

Kinda mixed on this one. It shows talent, and creativity, but is not my taste. I really appreciate and enjoy your drawings. Love the stuff you've done on the coin designers (incredible work, really).

JedPlanchet

For using ~300+coin images, the Morgan looks really impressive, it looks like better detail than the quarter. I guess that the range of toning for Morgans also gives you more to work with than Washington Quarters. Regardless, it's clear that you put a lot of effort into your art ...

Great work

Millertime

Overall I think your mosaics are awesome but the area around the mouth/cheeck/jaw on the Washington looks a little off. I like the look of the Washington and Morgan better than the grid style used on the Lincoln.

Awesome job!!

Millertime

partagas

I really think they are all very nice, and cudos to you on your dedication to doing these.

oreville

most interesting indeed. Have you ever thought of making a puzzle set where we fill in the pieces? I wonder if it has ever been done?

I like the Morgan dollar the best. The Washington quarter looks heavily bagged marked in the photo. I do not like the lines on the lincoln cent.

GoldenEyeNumismatics

I like it a lot!

STONE

coppercoins, I like the idea, but I don't like this image of washington.

It's not clean, it makes Washington look all scappy and beaten up, plus I'm not seeing as much detail compared to the Morgan image.
Just my opinion, but still pretty cool compilation.

stinkinlincoln

I like them all, and would hang them in my office. I prefer the Lincoln but the Morgan is really nice too. The Washington piece, like mentioned, lacks abit of detail around the mouth to me. But all in all I like them!

fc

<< <i>FC - That's what I'm looking for...honesty.

So do you not like the composition or do you just not really like the idea at all?

Progressive close-up? Not sure what that would mean.

Hi-res - sure....That's what the original is. 300DPI, printed using solid color transfer onto acid free paper. >>



The idea is well known as you well know. As in taking a lot of small
pictures and making it into a larger one using the various colors of
the smaller pics. I have no problem with that idea.

My first reaction to it was that you took rectangle chunks of pictures of quarters
and used them based on the color of the chunk. I was sort of expecting
a picture made up of small circles overlapping where needed to give
the overall picture the right look. Not squares. I want to see full coins
with a bit of over lapping to cover out the background areas.. not
bits and pieces.

As in use actual full pictures of quarters in the shape they naturally
are. circles. overlap them all to the same amount and stagger them
a bit to form the picture.

i know i am looking at a smaller version of your idea via this website
but i thought it would look even cleaner being smaller. up close
and in full size it must look really blockish.

i hope i made sense there. just different expectations of what i
was going to see versus your vision of the project.

also i find the overall subject quite dull. imagine the first place my
eyes are drawn to is the dark area underneath his chin. hardly inspiring
to say the least. then my eyes go up to the darker area right above
his eye a bit. then eventually to his ear area and head.

washington has no lips like a mummy's lips all sewn up.

visually it bored me in like 2 seconds.

but that is just me. obviously others here like it.

tough subject matter to give it oomph in my mind. a challenge.

fc

<< <i>Another one I did earlier in the year...



This one uses entirely morgan dollars - same resolution, same deal. Nearly 3,500 images on 11x14 finished size.

A detail of some of the blocks that make up this mosaic...

>>



this one is much more intriguing and is candy for the eyes.

GrumpyEd

I like the toning on the Morgan image but the Abe with the pics from CCF reminds me about all the effort that was put into the CCF listings so I'm drawn to it.

FatMan

Very creative Chuck. I really like the Morgan. The colorful toning adds depth and pop to the image. The Washington is a bit flat and uninteresting IMO.

Have you ended your coin designer series?

coppercoins

<< <i>Have you ended your coin designer series? >>



No, I haven't ended it...thanks for asking. I have three to finish in the next couple of months.

1. Hermon A. MacNeil - Standing Liberty Quarter
2. Anthony DeFrancisci - Peace Dollar
3. George T. Morgan - well, the Morgan Dollar.

On the Morgan I plan to acquire images of his patterns and use those in the drawing as well. DeFrancisci will of course be done with the high relief design, and the MacNeil will be done with the design of the quarter that incorporated dolphins...never made into coins, but is very close to the SLQ design we all love....well, I do anyway.

I was out of commission from doing these for a year. I was busy, then I had a health issue that kept my brain from functioning well for a couple of months, then I moved cross-country. 2008 was a very bad year for getting personal projects done, but 2009 is changing into one of the best years I've ever had.

FC et. al. - I do appreciate the constructive input...If I had come here expecting nothing but good I wouldn't have posted. I need constructive criticism once in a while - helps me become a better artist. Thanks.

I will be going back to the drawing board with the designs, looking for a better way to construct them.

LoveMyLiberty

Coppercoins,

Your images are great!! It took a tremendous amount of work to create this
art. You are the Dali of our times and a tribute to that humble mosaic worker
who started it all in Pompeii.

Having said that, the Washington could be made with more & smaller photos
to add a bit more detail to the image.

lope208

I think we'll see it on a First Day Cover on eBay before you know it!

J/K

As for the image, as others have said, I'm not a big fan of the Washington poster.
Not because of your style or artistic ability, but because the image of Washington
on the quarter is dull to begin with IMO.

The Morgan is much more eye-appealing. I would love to see Liberty from the Indian
Head Cent too...I think that could be very pretty.

As for the formatting around the images, I DO like the font selection and layout on the
Washington. I think you use that for future ones too.

Overall, excellent work.

coinsarefun

I think that its amazingly awesome!!!


Love it

It takes a ton of patience and a great eye to place all them
to make one image.




Stefanie

coppercoins

Thanks all.

Serious inquiry....anybody got a beautifully toned silver quarter they could image for me to use?

I'm gonna start that one over.