24~ Mural 2012: Truffles and Doughnuts

Oddly enough, one bit of difficulty with the candy-shop bay window was decorating the doughnuts. The color of the doughnuts and icing came off beautifully ~ piece of cake, if you don't mind my pun. But putting the sprinkles and drizzles on them wasn't so easy, on that vertical surface, the wall. You wouldn't think it would be so hard to make them look natural. The curved lines (for drizzled chocolate) just seemed to want to go on straight and harsh. Maybe it was my brushes. More likely, it was the straight-on view. A three-quarter view is easier to work with, though most trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye) paintings do use a straightforward view. The artist is meticulous about painting the details, studying every shadow, every bit of light, following a model exactly. I suspect I was tired and feeling the pressure of a deadline.

The candy-shop bay window wasn't as complicated as the toy shop ~ or rather, not as intricate. It had its own set of complications, though. I had gone for a motif that included transparent containers filled with candies and bon bons. Transparencies are usually easy for me, but this time, I didn't have much room for error. On a canvas, I work and work at it. I had done a similar glass case on a Christmas float once, but I had used an acrylic-and-latex mix (not just latex), so that probably made a difference. Then, there was the pressure of finishing, and doing it right the first time. Another hard part was painting the ice creams and things that were up high. I had to stand on a ladder and hold the brush up over my head to paint ~ tiring, for sure.

The candy-shop bay was a success. Everyone agrees it looks good enough to eat ~ it had us all salivating. I sometimes see things I wish I'd done better, but overall, I was happy with it.


Mural 2012: Friday, October 26, 2012 (Truffles and Doughnuts)