"Which KAMA SUTRA Painting Would Shrink Well For 15mm?" Topic

I want to have a painting a bit spicey behind the bar counter of my 15mm establishment*. But the space is going to be limited, perhaps 1 inch wide by 1/2 tall (landscape, not portrait) …

If not Kama Sutra, then perhaps something like it. Indian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. But I want it to look like a painting.

And it doesn't have to be overly graphic either:

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Would something like that transfer well when reduced? Or would I need to do anything special to it first?

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Dan
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This is for your sci-fi Western bar/saloon, right?

If so, I'd go with something a little more sci-fi than traditional.

Maybe one of the sexy robots by Sorayama: link

Most of them are uncluttered enough that they'd "read" well at the size you're talking about.

Make sure the image has decent details before shrinking. Some formats scale better than others (bmp not as well iirc).

For some of my art work, I will search for a subject and then copy the pics I like to a folder on my PC. I will then view the folder using the medium icons setting which are about 0.5"x0.5" and gives a decent idea of what it will look like.

Laser printers have a really high DPI and don't bleed much & retain details (my work is OK with me printing out a couple of sheets now and then). Most home color printers have a lower DPI and may not match the details of a good monitor.

My bar would have a picture of something like this:

Safe for work (design on the shirt):
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I did a search for "futuristic geisha cartoon" and found a couple that resized well.

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Some have some Japanese writing on them too; doesn't scale well, but looking at the smaller pic it is recognizable as Japanese script. This might work well for your bar of you want a Serenity feel for it.

Do a web search for "shunga prints" – Japanese woodblock pornography. Many of these will reduce well, and they're fun too.

Plenty of sci-fi pinups on Google to shrink down and print link Mostly, but not all SFW!

Boris Vallejo has some interesting stuff that may work:
Be advised, not graphic but a little suspect for work.

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Check out Luis Royo works at the link above has some VERY NICE Asian style work that will keep in step with the east meets west theme going.

But I want it to look like a painting.

That's really a bit unspecific. What kind of painting? Straight out of the Kamasutra? Like it could've beeen done by Peter Paul Rubens? Modern acrylics?

If the latter is okay, I'd suggest Lorenzo Sperlonga. This one, for example:

Freak

reduced, that'll look like a photo: it's a very photo-realistic style.

Very nice, though…

John T

The most common painting found in late 19th Century American Saloons would probably be of Lillie Langtr the famous actress. This one was very popular

Another at 15mm size (?)

Toronto48,

What key words did you use to search online?

Thanks,

Dan

I'm thinking he wants something more like what Toronto suggested in feel. That is, not just a painting of a woman (or something overtly SF), but something that evokes the feel of one of those old west saloon paintings, but with the "SF" twist being that there is an eastern influence.

I might suggest this, or something like it:

In fact, I'm pretty sure one of the indian places in my neighborhood has something like that above its bar.

Could also do something like this:

Dan,
How about google "erotic painting 19th century". And then looking for "pictures" You get loads of ideas then.

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Just try to print a few you like in the size you need on photopaper. Cut them out and make sure you paint the sides dark (do not leave them white)

Excellent suggestions so far. Keep them coming.

In the meantime, I must make room for something like this somewhere in my Saloon/Bar:

link

Right?

This is what they have at the other bar down the street:

Dan

I scrolled too far down and saw THAT

LOL. That's why I left it for last!

Dan

Dan,

A quick Google for "Chinese Science Fiction" images led Bing to suggest "Science Fiction Girls", and one of the pics on the first page was this:

As well as a whole bunch of other images you may find suitable.

Perhaps something more demure, like a classic Logan's Run image:

Or even a book cover, with Chinese and/or English text, like this:

Also, I think "Asian Science Fiction Women" might bring up a whole lot of other stuff you might find useful.

Something like this might work as a billboard in your town:

Hope any or all could be helpful. Cheers.

P.S. Your third image link above (the "exotic" vintage photo) would be excellent.

these just for thought

or just in case it's different kind of saloon/bar :0

If you want more photo-realistic (or even a photo) and old school, I'd look up "Ziegfeld girls." Good inspiration for noir or late westerns (post 1900) or SF.

typed in Lilly Langtry on Yahoo then did an image search

You can try entering "Saloon Art" then another image search – loads of examples there

What about one of those "Orientalist" paintings? Turkish harems, etc…

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Wow. Nice ones!

However, if I reduce them for 15mm (with the portrait being no more than 1/2 inch tall), most of the subject would be unrecognizable I think.

Dan

Easy enough to try with Windows default photoviewer. Just print a bunch of thumbnails of the picture options. That would be about the right size and you can pick the one that worked out best to size to the correct size.

Dan,

While viewing this thread on my phone, the images were quite small, about the size you estimate.

I think you would want an image that focuses almost exclusively on one figure, more of a portrait (albeit in landscape format) than a scene.

Something like the Adam Hughes image you posted, or one of the first two images I posted (the buxom redhead with raygun or the Jenny Agutter picture) would seem to read best at that small size. Even at that size, in 15mm this would take up most of the height of a wall, and be more a large mural than a pic hanging over the bar, no?

In any event, best of luck with it. Neat idea. I really need to bookmark your flickr. Please post pics of your progress. With the amount of thought you have put into your town, I can't wait to see the results.

Cheers.

P.S. The other images posted in this thread have all been excellent suggestions. Some very good ideas.

I would suggest Landscape orientation for behind a bar, rather than Portrait orientation.

Landscape it is.

From the looks of it, my Saloon won't be overly big, but will definitely have an East-meets-West:

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You guys have offered amazing suggestions. I'm going to shrink a few pics and see which work best. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks,

Dan

I've had good luck painting things myself. At that scale people are remarkably forgiving. And I found, in the very very distant past, that you can make an outline by writing very very heavily with a soft pencil (HB if you can get one) on a photocopy in the appropriate size and then rubbing the copy onto your model. Then you can paint inside the lines rather like a racy coloring book. (Used to do nose art like that. Talk about it a tiny bit on my blog in a post called
How I Got Myself Into This. Eventually got to the point that I didn't need the photocopy, but drawing the human form is a different challenge.) This allows you to selectively simplify the image, which will help it stand out better at that scale. Of course it comes out in a mirror image, so it won't work for writing . . . but for the female nude? Works just fine.