Psyche & Amor – 23-05-23
Bit Off More I could Chew
This oil painting ‘Psyche & Amor – 24-05-23’ is finished finally. Long overdue I must say. It took way more time than expected. Doesn’t it always go like that? There’s no venture you can’t handle and then you realize you bit off more than you could chew. I thought I’d quickly convert the original reference drawing into oil paint. For my admiration and the why I advice to click that link and read the story. So, as to executing it in oil I faced challenges right from the start. Not the least from a color point of view and then some.
Intense Sunlight
My list of ambitions was hugh. Above all, I wanted to depict intense sunlight. As far as I know this has rarely or never been done by artists. I mean, looking straight into the sun in broad daylight. You always see those painted sunsets in yellow or orange. As a disciple of the light I was duty-bound to finally make my mark. Do that bright sun for once and see if the result would look plausible, maybe even majestic.
Color Scheme
Depicting light forces one to think of color scheme choices. I have used the luministic yellow-purple scheme in the past but felt reluctant this time. First, I was a bit fed up employing it again. Second, my hands were tied to the Mediterranean theme. That means an awful lot of blue. Luckily my regular model’s genes come from India and her skin complexion looks ochreous, almost brown-orange. My fetish for blue velvet also came in handy. That way I could horizontally stack blue and orange structures on top of eachother, creating rhythym and diction. I also used mid-tones in the mid-section. That way I had the body stand out in bright orange hues. Otherwise the scenery would appear too much overexposed. Don’t you agree I took Johannes Itten’s lessons to heart? He recommends building up a painting from colors and their relations rather than forms.
A Greek-Roman Story
Another ambition was to tell a grand story. In the graphite pencil version I only had Alma Tadema’s
This oil painting ‘Psyche & Amor – 24-05-23’ is finished finally. Long overdue I must say. It took way more time than expected. Doesn’t it always go like that? There’s no venture you can’t handle and then you realize you bit off more than you could chew. I thought I’d quickly convert the original reference drawing into oil paint. For my admiration and the why I advice to click that link and read the story. So, as to executing it in oil I faced challenges right from the start. Not the least from a color point of view and then some.
Intense Sunlight
My list of ambitions was hugh. Above all, I wanted to depict intense sunlight. As far as I know this has rarely or never been done by artists. I mean, looking straight into the sun in broad daylight. You always see those painted sunsets in yellow or orange. As a disciple of the light I was duty-bound to finally make my mark. Do that bright sun for once and see if the result would look plausible, maybe even majestic.
Color Scheme
Depicting light forces one to think of color scheme choices. I have used the luministic yellow-purple scheme in the past but felt reluctant this time. First, I was a bit fed up employing it again. Second, my hands were tied to the Mediterranean theme. That means an awful lot of blue. Luckily my regular model’s genes come from India and her skin complexion looks ochreous, almost brown-orange. My fetish for blue velvet also came in handy. That way I could horizontally stack blue and orange structures on top of eachother, creating rhythym and diction. I also used mid-tones in the mid-section. That way I had the body stand out in bright orange hues. Otherwise the scenery would appear too much overexposed. Don’t you agree I took Johannes Itten’s lessons to heart? He recommends building up a painting from colors and their relations rather than forms.
A Greek-Roman Story
Another ambition was to tell a grand story. In the graphite pencil version I only had Alma Tadema’s
$150,000.00