Bodie Church Night

This is the Methodist Church, built in 1882 and one left out of 2 churches in Bodie, California, one of the best preserved ghost towns in the USA. At the end of the 19th century Bodie - a gold and silver mining town - was the second largest town in California (after San Francisco). The Master Original of this piece was drawn on paper with water-soluble graphite pencils, mixed with water. That allows for nice gray gradients. I then took a photograph of it and added a photo of the Milky Way in the background (which I shot myself, but at a different location in the Eastern Sierra). What you see here is a chemically developed black and white photograph on Fuji Crystal Archive Photo Paper and hand colored with translucent oil paints (Marshall Photo Oils). The technique is from the early days of b&w photography also known as hand tinting. The photo was printed using black and gray inks only on canvas, which I hand colored with translucent acrylic and oil paint. I also have a day version with clouds in the background, created from the same Master Original. The image itself is 30 inches wide by 24 inches tall. A textured gel coating is applied to the front (no glass). Wire on the back for easy hanging. This is a limited edition, numbered 1 out of 20. A certificate of authenticity is attached to the back.