Rooster Commission Finished

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This rooster is heavily inspired by a photo provided by the client. They did not want the rooster to be in a natural environment and requested something more plain.

I really enjoyed this project as I don’t usually work with so much color. However, working those tail feathers in that andamento was a challenge.

At left is a photo taken from a perspective slightly below and looking a bit upward. I was trying to capture more iridescence. Tricky. But I like the way you can see a little dimensionality in the rooster feet. The vitreous is thinner than the smalti so he does pop a bit from the background.

As for the edges, the clients were not sure if they wanted to frame it and wanted the edges to be done in a way as to be acceptable without a frame. I did not want to take the vitreous all the way to the edge because that kind of edge is vulnerable to chipping and tiles coming loose over time. I handled it in a manner that I thought was interesting on its own but that could also be covered up with a frame.

The background colors were chosen to coordinate with the countertop, at right.

Gaglio Rooster Commission, in progress

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This pretty boy is coming along. The tail feathers on the rooster used for inspiration are so pretty in shades of blue and teal, with iridized highlights. I was actually excited to tackle the feathers and was absurdly confident. So I decided to use this kind of feather/leaf andamento with relatively thin strips, so I could try for shading and color gradations, mixed with iridescent highlights.

After the first two feathers—the topmost ones, not including the darker interior of them— I was asking myself that old familiar question: What the heck was I thinking? But, no matter, it was just a momentary panic. I recovered quickly and embraced the just keep going mantra.

At this point, I’m happy with it and am sure it will be so worth the effort. I think he’s going to be gorgeous!

Gaglio Rooster Commission, in progress

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I got off to a slow start on this fella, but I’m into it now. I started with the comb and have now gone back and reworked a bit of it twice. It’s better. Now, I’m not sure about that very small, red, wing-like area, but I’ll wait and see if I can live with it.

Ah, smalti! Sometimes, I absolutely hate working with it. It is so messy and hard to cut. But then, I look at that color and gorgeous reflective quality and… well, it is worth it!

When it’s finished, I will use a wash of charcoal colorant and water on it to tone down the gray thin set. I prefer this to coloring the thin set, if I can get away with it, because that black thin set is so darn messy.

Gaglio Rooster Commission

A couple in Florida recently rebuilt their home after Hurricane Michael damaged most of it. They really wanted a rooster backsplash behind the stove, but design considerations led them to have the stove in a new curved island. Still, they wanted a rooster in the kitchen, and they wanted it to be portable—to be hung as an artwork above the countertop (image below) in a cabinet alcove. The walls are a soft gray.

Quartzite kitchen countertop

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Years ago, they had purchased a 17” x 17” original rooster painting from a local artist, and they initially asked me to create the design in mosaic. I approached the artist about copying his design and the response was that a licensing fee would be required. The clients did not want to pursue it at that point, so we went about designing a new rooster.

They found a couple of free-to-share images that they liked and I used those to inform my design. Specifically, they really liked the puffed-out chest and full tail feathers of one of the roosters. They wanted a plain background.

The rooster will be done in smalti, with some iridescent highlights, and the background in vitreous, also with some iridescent highlights. I created the cartoon using the Procreate app, using a palette created with the materials shown in the above Rooster Palette. My Procreate skills are modest, at best, but it’s fun to work with. After conferring with the clients, I decided to eliminate a couple of the lighter background shades. They are pleased with the design and happy that I was able to harmonize the mosaic background with the countertop.

Next, I’ll probably draw in some andamento lines and then I am ready to get started on this. Fortunately, I have most of the materials in stock. I did have to order a little more teal and cobalt iridescent tile as I have very little of that.