Lotus over Distressed Tile
I had this distressed tile that I had kept for a long time without using because I felt it was an extraordinarily difficult tile to tackle. Not only were the colors a little too muddy, the tile was full of strong marks and inclusions, which makes it difficult to work with. But I just had to do it.
Tile Before:
Tile After:
It took me a solid 2 hours to work the tile. It was difficult, and the muddy colors didn't help, the many inclusions in the tile didn't help. But I'm glad I tackled it!
I used a brown pen for the line-art, used gray copic markers, colored pencils, gel pens and sharpie pens to color and shade. Soooo many layers!
This color scheme was not my favorite when I finished the piece - what was I thinking! - but it's starting to grow on me. Here is Pickpocket (Tomàs Padros) and also a coiled ribbon pattern similar to Cadent with a lotus in the middle, found on Plate X (Egyptian) of the Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, 1865. Ancient Egyptian ornament was mostly very geometric; flowing lines like this were very rare. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.