Thursday, March 27, 2014

A little bit of Trompe L'oeil

The Scribe
8x10 inches
ballpoint pen, Faber Castell Pitt Pens and Promarkers
on Ampersand Claybord. 

I have always had a fascination for Trompe L'Oeil artworks and thought I would revisit this genre, by redoing an older piece of mine. I am loving working on the Claybord, but unfortunately the coloured pencils do not come out with level of vibrancy that I'm after when working on this surface and so it feels a bit strange for me to be completing artworks without even reaching for a coloured pencil. The background was underpainted using the Black Promarker and I then went over this with the black ballpoint pen for a nice consistent black. The rest of the squirrel was done combining the ballpoint pen with the Faber Castell Pitt pens and also using a blade and fibre glass brush and blade to scratch into the Claybord surface for more realistic fur. 
Reference photo for the squirrel provided with kind permission by http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandj98/1924302163/in/set-72157594327779035/. The format for this artworks was inspired by the beautiful artworks of Marina Dieul:)

5 comments:

Mona Diane Conner said...

This is such a finely done piece Karen! I love the colors you've achieved, and with such unique combinations of materials, I can't even imagine tackling this, and yet you always make it look so seamless! You are incredible for trying all this, like an intrepid explorer, in a way that helps everyone to see what is possible.

Unknown said...

What a lovely comment Mona. I do seem to move from medium to medium, exploring along the way and mastering nothing, but if that does somehow help others then I am thrilled - thank you :)

Jennifer Rose said...

love how you incorporated your signature into the work :)

Anonymous said...

This is a lovely piece! I have always had a fascination for trompe l'oeil as well, they are so cleverly done and yours is no exception. Am loving all your experimentation with new materials!

Unknown said...

Thank you so very much Jennifer and Janet for your lovely feedback - you put a big smile on my face :)