Read the first part of this post here.
The Illusion of Glass
When Doroteja’s parents chose this painting version for further development, they asked to change the white light reflections (to change their shape and make them less pronounced) and to emit the window with human reflection. Therefore, I began to work in search of other options that would effectively still provide an effective illusion of a fishbowl.
For this, I began to study photographs of various fishbowls.
I made a few black and white studies in painting so that I could delve even better into the structure of the reflections and details of a fishbowl.
For the first version, I mainly used the details that I saw in the photo shown in fig. 3. I conveyed the brightest light reflection in a rectangular form. It turned out too dim and overly left out on the side.
At this point, I remembered that, during making of the first painting version of this idea, when I initially made the light reflection on side of the fishbowl, the whole composition did not seem unified. Thus, I decided to put another reflection (as a window with human silhouette) closer to the middle. Bearing in mind this lesson, I thought I should paint the brightest light reflection closer to the centre. Therefore, I repainted over this black-and-white study and replaced the white light reflection to be a bit closer to the centre, and to be brighter and round in shape. I also highlighted the smooth transition of light in the water that goes from the upper left edge to the bottom right edge. This way, the main light reflection optically becomes more apparent and the form itself acquires pleasant dynamics. The result was much better.
Of course, one study was not enough to discover a truly effective version for a fishbowl illusion.
In this black-and-white study, I conveyed the left and right sides of the aquarium more boldly and clearly taking reference from the photo in fig.3. I drew the opening of the jar in white and applied a dim reflection of a table taking reference from the photo in fig.6. I painted the main light reflection as I saw it in the fig.5. In my eyes, this painting study came out better than the previous one.
Intuitively I felt that for me these painting studies were not enough to decide what the main light reflection should be for the final painting. The jar I photographed reflects the industrial-style lighting of the store, making it not the best fit for this painting. In addition, that jar was empty (without water), so the reflections of light doubled on the other side of the jar and, thus, I could not be sure how these reflections would change if affected by water. The light reflections of the other jars were either unusable at all or simply unclear.
This is how I decided to do another photoshoot at home with our family’s decorative jar. I covered the surface and the wall with white paper to simplify illuminating colours and textures as much as possible. I filled my jar with water, put inside some bubble wrap (to prevent the reflections from doubling om the other side of the jar). The bubble wrap came to the surface due to air bubbles, so I had to immerse a metal teaspoon to keep it underwater.
I was very pleased with the result. It was so easy to see what made up the water line, how the jar opening looked like, how the light and shadow at the edges of the jar looked like, and, finally, nice and minimalist two light reflections formed on the jar, which were a reflection of the two windows in my room.
By referring to this photograph alone (fig.8.), I made another black-and-white painting study.
It was good to have a few successful versions to choose from. At the same time, it was problematic because I could not decide which of the light reflections is the best. I decided to ask Doroteja’s family for an opinion. Doroteja’s mother said that perhaps the second version is the best because it resembles the windows of their house. In addition, Doroteja’s dad said – second or third.
Their answers confirmed my opinion as well. In the third study, the light reflection seemed to be well placed, effective and elegant. The window reflected in the second study is very reminiscent of the windows of Doroteja’s house (see fig.11). This way, I came to the conclusion that I needed to combine the good qualities of both and create a fourth study.
When I looked at the photograph of my jar again, I realized how those bright light reflections formed. The photo shows that they were reflections of the two windows in my room. It turns out that the round glass reflects the room view like a mirror, so the windows were reflected with perspective of the room. In addition, the vertical edges of the windows were curved as much as the glass jar. The level of curvatures can be discovered by drawing imaginary “latitudes/meridians” very much like the ones on a map of the world or globe.
This way, I decided to create light reflections that are show two windows with a perspective (as in my room) and which are divided into smaller rectangles (like the windows in the house of Doroteja’s family (fig.11).
I was pleased with the last version, so I started working to convey the illusion of a fishbowl on the painting itself, using the most successful options discovered.
At first, I painted the edges of the oval using the second (fig.7) and third (fig.9) studies of a fishbowl.
Then I projected the preparatory sketch (the one in fig.13) on the painting. Here, the help of a projector was very useful because I could easily change the size and position of the windows, so immediately I could see what the result would look like.
A Few Shots From Behind the Scenes
