Mortality
This piece started as a polyptch, (a continous painting over multiple panels) dealing with the concept of death in a peaceful, pensive manner. I started with hunting down some quarter-circle-shaped shelves at GoodWill, then cutting down some aluminium sheets to the same shape. I then sketched out my design, a human hand with water slipping through it's fingers transitioning to falling sand slipping through a skeleton's finger bones. The background of the first panel showcases twilight colors while the bottom panel transitions into midnight. The next step was to etch into the aluminium plated with copper sulfate, a gentle form of acid. The end result created beautifully etched plates that had the outlines of the forms carved out of them. After painting them with oil and using a brayer to get the gradients smooth, I scratched the paint off in some places, mostly to give the water a beautiful metallic shine.
