"Sea Music" Oil on Canvas, 20 X 24" Thirty-two hundred bux, yup.Thought I didn't have it in me eh? And that I would never get tired of painting rocks and sky and trees? HA! comin' atcha with a Varley/, Macke/ Gris/ Matisse tribute sorta synthetic cubist nude thing.
Composition on this one is really complex. I actually tried to paint in a few bass and treble clefts. They were both supposed to coil into her left breast, but my intention went sideways there. Too much going on in that area as it is. The musical elements are not too obvious, and I did not take the faceting of the planes too far. It's synthetic cubism, after all.... My favourite local model, Ava, was the model for this, and yes, she does play the ukulele--quite well, too.
I did try to pack in some symbolism--but not all of it erotic ;) The face turned out quite well, and a few of the other bits, really giving the impression of simultaneous viewpoints. The figure came out non-white looking (all hail the dark Goddess), which is satisfying, and is literal enough to be pleasing. The colour has a Macke-esque density and richness. I suppose all those years of looking at and admiring Macke finally trickled out through my brush....
I had to make a few corrections to keep the lines from "running out" on the left side, but I think it holds the wall now, with a good dose of rhythm and visual cohesion.
I pride myself on being able to understand and work within most of the major ISMs of the last 150 years. Maybe one of these days I'll really step out of character and do some surrealism. You never know. I do also have a rather expressionistic self-portrait I should put up here sometime.
No matter what, though, I'll always put out images in bright colours.
No comments:
Post a Comment