In the Belly:
Colors Developing
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I am currently at work on my latest large scale piece-large for me being in this case 30″ x 40″. In my first post, I showed the first crude underpainting. In the second post, I started making additional drawing decisions.
I ended up rejecting some of the drawing elements shown last time. The figure was all wrong. I covered it over with a skein of gold.
And that’s when things started to go strange.
Because I never intended this to be a realistic depiction of a whale. The vision I had showed me Jonah not inside a sea mammal, but in a gilded cage of chaos. I rendered the figure again in a more dynamic pose-from the fetal position, to a more reaching out posture, limbs akimbo. This change is philosophically meaningful. It’s exciting to figure it out as I work. The painting tells me about myself, and my own mental, emotional and spiritual states.
As I state in my book, Remodern America: How the Renewal of the Arts Will Change the Course of Western Civilization:
“Remodernism is the return of art as a revelation. We are showing particular things about ourselves that can also be universally recognized. Our art symbolically represents flawed, searching humanity participating in birth, existence, growth, and death. It is mysterious and moving, comic and tragic, clumsy and elegant. Remodernism is a celebration of the beauty and weirdness of the life God has granted us.”
This painting is taking a hallucinatory turn. Watch this space for future updates!
Take a Trip
Previous articles:
STUDIO: A New Painting in Progress, Part 1: In the Belly
STUDIO: A New Painting in Progress, Part 2: In the Belly
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I don’t fundraise off of my blog. I don’t ask for Patreon or Paypal donations. If you’d like to support the Remodern mission, buy a book. Or a painting. Please send any inquiries to info@remodernamerica.com. Thank you!
The way that whale’s grinning there’s a joke in this and the whale’s in on it.
Yes, that’s it!
[…] crude underpainting. In the second post, I started making additional drawing decisions. In the third post, I started bringing out suggestions of the original vision-the whale not just as an animal, but as […]
[…] crude underpainting. In the second post, I started making additional drawing decisions. In the third post, I started bringing out suggestions of the original vision-the whale not just as an animal, but as […]