Claire’s Portrait

Claire’s Portrait

Opus Pixellatum mosaic portrait of Claire

Medium: Stone on Panel
Size: 15.5″ (38 cm) x 15.5″ (38 cm) x 1.5″ (4.5 cm)
Price: $1,750.00 USD
Availability: Sold

The making of Claire’s Portrait, from an original picture in Lisbon, Portugal to the mosaic studio in Headland, Alabama, USA and its delivery in Saint Valery sur Somme, France

An Opus Pixellatum mosaic starts from a picture or drawing which does not need to be high definition…

I received this picture of Claire resting in the gardens of the Gulbenkian Museum of Lisbon last November.

Claire in hte Gardens of the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Claire at the Gulbenkian Museum

 

Designing the Model

I first cropped the picture to the part I wanted to represent. It had to be square and I focussed on the face, leaving out all outside parts of the landscape.

Cropped picture used to design the model
The cropped picture

 

Next came a desaturation to create a black and white picture

Cropped, Desaturated picture to create the model
Desaturated picture.

 

Calculations determined pixelization parameters and I created 4 different pixellizations of the picture to decide the one I best liked.

4 modes of pixellization of the same picture
4 modes of pixellization.

 

Here I opted for D1 model…

Picture pixelllized in D1 mode
Picture in D1 pixellization mode.

 

I did many simulations, replacing the different hues of Gray by Blues and Oranges … And finally came up with the best combination.

pixellized model with adjusted colors.
Pixellized model with colors.

 

I had the model printed and laminated at the local Office supply store.

Actual Opus Pixellatum printed model.
The actual printed model

 

The actual making of the mosaic.

Once the model laid on the bench, I started gluing tiles on top of it. I always glue every other tiles in a first batch.

Blue Tesserae laid on the model
Blue Tesserae

 

Then complete the mosaic by gluing the remaining tesserae.

Once all tesserae had been laid, I mounted the mosaic on its support.

 

back of a mosaic backing board framed.
Mosaic framed support

 

and frame it…

I had actually been working on 2 commissioned mosaics at the same time, Claire and Carole saw the light of Alabama together…

ire anaro
Claire and Carole mosaic portraits

 

I packed my luggage and flew to Paris to deliver Claire’s mosaic portrait for Christmas !

 

Claire and her mosaic portrait
Claire and her portrait

 

Based on your own picture, drawing or design, I will create for you :

  • An actual, complete Mosaic such as Claire portrait.
  • A Model of a mosaic that you can build yourself.

If you want to order a similar or a more customizable, go on the Custom Orders page.

For more details, do not hesitate to contact me.

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