Chasing Butterflies (Original Acrylic Trompe L'Oeil Painting by Kim Testone)

"Chasing Butterflies," acrylic on panel, 20" x 24". Professionally framed in a contemporary white floater frame. Based on a real-life sugar cookie/frosting model that I baked and decorated and then replicated with acrylic paint in the trompe l'oeil style. This means that the painting is virtually flat, but it is painted in a way that looks amazingly three-dimensional and highly realistic in its details. 

"Chasing Butterflies" features a sugar cookie black kitten chasing a sugar cookie butterfly, in what seems to be autumn frosting sunset, with frosting grass blades and three sugar cookie pumpkins. This piece was inspired by a myriad of things, including a love of animals and the peace of pumpkin patches and sunsets; however, it also speaks to a sense of childlike optimism, feeling that the little kitten (who is clearly cared for, by way of her pink collar) is simply lost in the joy of chasing the butterfly. It doesn't seem predatory or hostile, just filled with joy, wondering what it is that she sees, where it's going, and should she follow it.

From a technical point of view, this painting looks awesomely three-dimensional, despite being flat. While designing it, I really wanted to experiment with something beyond just the blue skies I'd been using, and so I mixed up several colors and swooped them on my model surface to design the sunset and grass before layering the cookies on top. Note that the kitten is actually not one cookie, but three, with the legs giving extra dimension. This was another thing I really wanted to experiment with -- trying to build up some of my subjects to look even more dimensional from multiple layers of structure, almost like a puppet. And, as with all of the rest, the painting itself is totally flat.

For those who wonder why I use cookies and frosting as the basic for these foodscapes, I really wanted the works to be accessible to a wide range of people. Using food elements, and particularly recognizable sweet treats, allows an easier entry point for viewers to enjoy and thoughtfully consider the work.

You can watch the full design and painting process for "Chasing Butterflies" on my TikTok, as well as see some of the side views of some of my trompe l'oeil cookie landscape paintings.

Questions? Please feel free to contact us here. 

Prints available soon.