Da Vinci gets hammered!

Just when you think it's safe to go back into the waters....... Check out this new technique, sort of gimmicky, but interesting - nails on panel! Here is the artist on the right with a DaVinci portrait drawing in the background and it looks like he's building some furniture, but au contraire! He is actually recreating the self-portrait by DaVinci with nails driven into a huge, probably 10' foot by 20', wood panel. First the artist has sketched out the DaVinci Self Portrait and has proportionately enlarged the drawing to a quasi-massive scale of about 15' tall for maximum impact but also allowing him to use large nails that will make the portrait even more detailed looking. As you can see from the next photo on the left the nails are driven into the board at different depths, the higher the nail heads are above the surface of the board the more shadow they produce and therefore the more prominent features of the portrait are made more visible by the nail heads that are highest above the surface of the board. The nails are very close together and the nail heads overlap each other for maximum density and maximum detail. Another visual element that is very interesting is the metallic surface of the nail heads which adds an interesting quality to the picture and is perhaps metaphorically alluding to the military armaments and battle gear of DaVinci's time. The nail is a tool that has been around for a long time and is visually appropriate for the nature of the portrait. After all the nails, and I don't know how many nails were used, are finally nailed into place the finished masterpiece is finished. Awesome!