As you can probably tell, when it comes to realism I like challenges! For years I envisioned painting large crystals or diamonds. When Jack of Diamonds came to mind, I knew it was the right time to give it a whirl.
I decided to minimize the surroundings so as not to distract or fight with the effect of the multi-faceted diamonds. Two subtle parts of this painting are the refraction of the lower right jack ball through the large diamond plus a tiny rainbow reflection on the surface of the jack. In person, one can see the herringbone brush strokes I used on the red background to mimic the diamond facets.
This painting was a finalist in the 2017 Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition, a finalist in the 2017 Richeson75 Still Life and Floral International Exhibit where it was used for the title page for the exhibit book and was featured in AcrylicWorks 5: The Best of Acrylic Painting by North Light Books.
The original painting is in a private collection in Metro Detroit.