This is a rendition of one of humankind’s greatest and most significant inventions: the crystal triode–what we now call the transistor.

The main goal I had was to practice working with opaque colors, specifically with color matching. Additionally, I wanted to see what differences there were with the techniques I use with transparent paint vs opaque. An added perk was painting something that wasn’t a close headshot–which I seem to do a lot of.

For the support I used the generic, thinly-coated gessoboard I ruined when I was doing my sanding prep. Even though a support isn’t usable for fine work, it’ll do in a pinch for practice.

This piece is about 95-98% finished. There are some bits that need to be sharpened, and a few areas that could use more texture, but as this is just a practice piece, it’s done enough for what I needed it to do. Besides, the wires vexed me. Very annoying.

Here’s a snap of the progression.