Process
First, I chose a photograph that had good lines, focus and contrast.
Then, I created a grid to help me enlarge the image. I did all this in light pencil so it's hard to see. I draw first rather than jumping right to paint because I like the look of the plain paper as background. That means I have no wiggle room and I need to get the rendering just right.
Then I started to paint. I use acrylics because they're affordable and don't stink.
At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the silk. Ry and I went searching for foil and ended up finding the mica flakes. I experimented with both and ended up liking the variation of the flakes.
I created the shapes for the silk using paper and then glued the flakes to each piece.
I taped each piece to the painting as I went along to see how it looked.
I was worried the flakes would come off so I covered them with a layer of acrylic matte medium. It deffinitly took away some of the shine. I then glued each piece to the painting.
I found that the silk looked way too solid and static the way it was so I added just a bit of paint to hint at folds and shadows and then added some uncovered flakes for highlights. Voila, done.