George Washington pen barrel

Summer 2010 - Acrylic on Ebonite pen barrel. I painted this set of upper and lower barrels as a special commissioned work that was done to be part of a two pen set. Both upper and lower barrels are signed and dated on the opposite side. The other pen was made from the wood of a tree harvested from George Washingtons estate that was planted by him. Both the bust and signature were painted while under a large 20x magnifying lens using very small brushes. Both of these took a considerable amount of time to complete. The bust had an almost 3 dimensional effect when painted on the very dark ebonite. This was a fun project to do but very tiring. It was worth it in the end as I feel it turned out very well. There are plans to put these two pens in a special carved wooden diplay box. The set with the box has not been completed as of this date so I thought I would put show just these until all has been finished.