I had experience faux painting on wood, on plaster, on canvas and on paper, but never on the side of a book. That was until New York artist Tauba Auerbach asked me to assist her on a very interesting project. doing just that.
Using watercolours for the first time I meticulously matched the sides of the book with the images on the full pages. The challenge of devising my own technique to acheive the trompe l’oeil effect was great and really brought out the perfectionist inside me. I usually work with oil paints, creating thin glazes and building up layer upon layer with different brushes to create multiple veins and colour variations. I learnt almost immediately that this was not possible with watercolour, especially as I had to keep the amount of liquid to a minimum not to damage the pages of the book. Therefore each and every wood pore and marble vein was painted by hand — one by one. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on this project and am happy with the results. More importantly, Tauba was pleased too!
