Trompe L’oeil Pearls
Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase which means to fool or deceive the eye. It’s amazing to watch people’s reaction when they are handed the photo of these pearls painted on a tray. Comments range from “Nice pearls” to “Why did you take a picture of your jewelry?” Upon closer examination, and sometimes an explanation, they realize it’s an actual painting of pearls on a porcelain tray. The blank piece of porcelain was a gift from a dear friend, Arlene, given to me on my last birthday. I promised her that I would paint something special for me and think of her when I used it.
When designing a porcelain piece with jewels, several methods were incorporated. Jewelry advertisements were used for inspiration. A costume strand of black pearls laid out on the painting table helped properly position the pearl necklace. The black pearl ring exists only in my imagination and was inspired by a beautiful ring seen in a little gift shop in Hawaii. A few trips to the local jewelry stores observing the colors in different black pearls helped in choosing proper colors to execute this painting.
An easy technique for painting pearls and achieving that perfect little circle is to implement an earplug. Spread out a small amount of paint, press the earplug into this mixture and stamp out on your porcelain. Soften the color and use a wipeout tool to remove the highlight and reflected light. Be careful not to disturb the outer edges too much. Most natural pearls are not perfectly round in nature so you can decide when and where to altar the shapes slightly.
Colors used for the white pearls were primarily a warm grey mixed with a light ruby color. For the reflected light, a tan color was implemented. All the shadows under the pearls and clasps were painted in the same warm grey. Several applications of the warm grey in the shadow area were incorporated until the proper depth was achieved. The clasps and earring posts were painted with a yellow brown on the first fire. Details on the clasps and post were enhanced with the darkest shade of yellow brown. On the final fire, a dark brown mixture was pen-worked on some of the outer edges of the clasps until they appeared more dimentional.
The black pearls required several paintings and firings to achieve the rich dark tones. On the first fire, a mixture of a medium ruby color and dark green was applied. The highlight and reflected light were lifted out. On a subsequent firing, this step was repeated with the exception that a sultan, or blue-green color was implemented in the reflected light area. A light ruby color was used in the highlighted area. The black pearls around the center stone in the white necklace were left a lighter shade and lightly tinted with a medium pure blue color.
A small dot of enamel was placed in the highlighted area to accentuate the pearls. Roman gold was the best choice to finalize the piece. It is suggested that the signature and date be placed on the back to maintain the realism in this painting.
This porcelain piece was entered in the Mr. & Mrs. “Paint to Riches” contest and won 2nd place. The pearl tray also received a silver ribbon during the IPAT international convention in Grapevine, TX, July 2004. It was also published in the July/August issue of the International Porcelain Art Teacher magazine.
Daphne Stevens
18278 Magnolia Oaks Drive
Prairieville, LA 70769
kndassociates@cox.com
www.designsbydaphne.biz |
