'Touched...' is finally finished after many many hours (mostly on the background).
This was an interesting piece for me. When I first saw the reference photo I wanted to recreate it but when I shared my vision I got mixed responses. Many people couldn't see how this piece would look, even as it was taking shape. As I started to dot the background it seemed to confuse people even more. I could see this piece in my mind and it felt like no-one else could... and I just hoped I could recreate my vision on the page.
I found it difficult to stay motivated with this piece. It involved either hours and hours of the same texture on the trunk, or hours and hours of black for the background.
As I started to struggle with the monotony of the background and trunk texture I decided to move on to the tip of the trunk. This reignited my enthusiasm as it was the focal point of the piece and inspiration for the name 'Touched...'
At this point I decided that I didn't like the background. So I started from the top and dotted over the entire background, darkening and changing the tone and even the type of leaves. This was the point it really started to take shape and I think people started to see the picture as I had in my mind.
The process used in producing the fine art prints is the giclée printing method and this is the highest quality printing process available commercially. I had both the original and a print framed at the same time and something happened when they were ready to collect. Seeing both side by side I was asked to identify the original. I had sat there for close on 400 hours working on this piece and if I am honest I guessed which was the original. Thankfully I got it right however the only way to confirm which was the original was that the original was framed with a double mount and my print has a single mount. For the first time I realised just how faithful to the original the prints are.