In the two previous articles (if you have not read them, you can find them here: Contrast – Part One & Contrast – Part Two), we have seen that the use of the pedestal as an ennobling element together with the creation of a background capable of decontextualizing the portrayed subject, create a remarkable sense of contrast that allows us to observe the protagonist of the work with new eyes, almost as if we were seeing it for the first time.
But today, I want to talk to you about a different element than those represented in my works.
In fact, unlike the previous ones, this contrasting element derives precisely from the choice and combination of the materials I use to create the drawings.
Pencil and gold leaf: a seemingly impossible marriage
The combination of the pencil – in itself poor – with the gold leaf – which instead represents one of the most precious metals found in nature – is also a marriage that creates a sense of great impact for the observer.If we think about the most famous artworks characterized by gold leaf, I believe that religious icons immediately come to mind.
In the past, the use of gold in artistic representations has always symbolized spirituality and the divine; gold is also the quintessential symbol of wealth and splendor.
What I initially wanted to experiment, and which I then adopted as one of the distinctive features of my works, was precisely the combination of such an opulent material (gold leaf) contrasted by another one that is placed on the opposite spectrum, namely the graphite of the pencil.
The pencil has always been used to sketch, to outline an artwork’s initial appearance which would then give way to more noble and adequate materials to complete the work.
Instead, I find that graphite lacks nothing because it has everything I need in its simplicity and essentiality.
Therefore, I made the pencil my favorite tool, and I find that the combination with gold leaf (a material that, at first glance, might seem able to obscure it) enhances its beauty by putting it in full prominence.
If you want to observe how these 3 tools that I use to create the sense of contrast in my works come together, here below you will find links to the various collections of drawings.
– Click here to see the Animals on Pedestal collection
– Click here to see the Female Portraits collection
– Click here to see the Still Life collection
Now I’d better go back to sharpening the pencils. See you soon!
