This was a real special commission project that I was able to work on over the last weeks and that I can finally share with all of you. This painting was created for an electronics manufacturing company that was looking for a creative present to celebrate 30 years of cooperation with one of their business partners.
The Idea
The idea was that they wanted to create the heads of the portrait shot using their SMT placement machines and place a total of over eighty-thousand components on paper to create a picture of the three faces leading the company. All they wanted me to do was to paint the bodies and apply everything on one surface. However, I felt it might be a great idea to also add some more details to the painting, ensuring that viewers can still find new things when they look this painting for a longer time.
So, I decided to place text in the background of the painting with facts and accomplishments of the company. This created an additional layer of interest and also helped to piece the electronic components and the painting better together and made the transition between the elements so much more fluid.
The Process
While the original idea sounded quite easy, there were just so many moving parts in this project that actually made it quite challenging. I received the three faces on individual paper fixed with adhesive spray.
I applied these to a photo mount and had to paint straight on the mount instead of a canvas.
Colors and brushes behaved quite different, depending on where I was painting. The same color behaved different on the mount, the paper and on the area with adhesive spray. I also needed to be really careful not to harm on any of the components.
Blending all these different parts into one coherent painting required me to explore options like working with fillers, glues and tapes and constantly re-working those areas with paint.
In addition, I was experimenting quite a lot with differnt colors to esnure that the shiny silver of the faces matches the entire painting and neither stick out too much or blend too much with the rest of the painting.
In the end I was really happy with the result and could not wait to see the reactions.
The Result
I could talk about this for ever, but instead of rambling on, here is the final outcome of the painting.
The reactions
We had to keep this project a bit secret, to ensure a nice surprise live at their celebration party on stage. It was so amazing to see the pictures of the final reveal of the painting and how everyone reacted to it, on the evening of the celebration, and how it is placed at their office the day after.
Summary
Looking back at creating this project I must say that working with all those different components in such a short time was quite a challenge and pushed me way out of my comfort zone, but that is what also made it really fun.
It was an amazing experince and seeing the smiles and reactions to the final result of this painting is absolutely wonderful.
If you are looking for a special present of your own as well, or just want me to create something for you, just send us a quick mail and we will get in touch with you about the details.
Stephanie & Stephan