Trompe L'oeil style of painting requires total dedication and years of painting experience.
Trompe L'oeil translated from the French literally means "fool the eye." It is a style of painting that creates visual images with such accurate shading and depth of field that the viewer may be lead to believe that he is looking at the real object instead of an artistic reproduction.
History
Trompe L'oeil painting is an old painting technique that goes back at least as far as the Greek and Roman eras that flourished around the time of Christ. Originally, this technique was employed to accent and decorate architectural interiors. In its early use, a trompe l'oeil painting did not always depict realistic objects such as flowers or vases; it was placed on architecture surfaces to create an illusion of extra space. Over the years this painting has improved dramatically to a point where ambitious contemporary artisans can effectively change the appearance of an entire exterior of a building.
Trompe l'oeil painting also became an important studio painting technique for Renaissance painters and 20th century modernists, such as the surrealists.
White in Watercolor Painting
Architectural trompe l'oeil painting is executed with modern acrylic or oil paints applied to a masonry or wood surface. Watercolor painting is virtually impossible in an architectural setting, but it becomes an exciting reality in the art studio, where the water-based paints are applied to absorbent watercolor paper. In this case the main difference between watercolor painting and its opaque counterpart is the lack of white paint. With watercolor painting the natural white of the painting becomes the source of white, a difficult technique, which takes years of practice to master.
Draftmanship
Another key aspect of watercolor trompe l'loeil painting is good draftmanship or drawing skill. In order to successfully complete a super-realistic painting, the artist must render a precise hand sketch of the subject with a pencil. Again, this task takes a long period of practice, so the drafting skill can be developed to a point where the initial drawing produces an accurate guideline for completing the painting of the subject matter. One point of note is that for a watercolor painting the underlying pencil sketch must be rendered very lightly, yet still be accurate in its shape and form.
Shadows
When looking at and studying the subject matter for a realistic painting, understanding how shadow areas change color is crucial to the success of the final project. In general, blue becomes the dominant color of a shaded area, but the novice painter needs to learn how reflective surfaces and cast colors can modify what the eye sees. This natural phenomena of reflected light is yet another important area of study for anyone desiring to master the realm of watercolor trompe l'oeils.
