Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Raven Sisters are Getting Closer to Completion


Today I spent the morning painting the ravens and the branches. The Northern Lights Raven started to resemble stained glass, this gave me the idea to give it even more drama so I applied another layer of glaze in the negative space behind the branches. The glaze was mixed with Pearl Ex pigments to make it literally glow. I mixed Dorlands Wax Medium with black oil paint to do the branches. I wanted to use the wax to give it a more dimensional effect like a stained glass window. Making this painting not strictly an indirect painting. Sorry Connie I'm in love with wax.
The Morning Raven is so beautiful with pinks, lavenders and baby blues. The Ravens cavorting in the sky makes this painting especially appealing. One represents the night with rare Northern lights, the mystery of the unknown the subconscious. The other is a painting of sunrise, a new day, hope and possibilities lay endlessly before one. The theme of duality in my artwork reoccures quite frequently. I find very satisfying the Yin and Yang philosophy; that in opposites lay the paradox that we are related to each other, in creation we need both sides. The Ravens are mythological birds which carry messages to the spirit world. Nothing is ever black and white. Yes these are this things I contemplate while creating my art. Or are they just a couple of pretty paintings? "Art is in the eye of the beholder."

The translucent Mars black pigment, I painted the Ravens with will take a few days to dry completely. Then I will add some finishing touches and deliver them to their owners one will go to Florida and one will stay in Alaska. Just think of the opposites in those two extremes, but still part of the same system forever related and intertwined.

The purples are not showing up in the photograph. Stay tuned for the finished pieces.

1 comment:

LL Cool Joe said...

Very dramatic. I really like them. The stained glass idea works well.