Category: paintings

 

Psyche, Resolute

In Greek Mythology, Psyche overcomes the forth task placed upon her by jealous Aphrodite in order to regain the love of Cupid. She must obtain a beauty ointment from Persephone, queen of the underworld. Psyche is well aware that no mortal ever returns from such a journey. In despair, she believes that the only route is to kill herself. She has made attempts before after losing the love of Cupid. But there is another path, one that tests her focus and devotion to the cause. Three times in the underworld she must harden her heart to pity and rejects pleas for help from creatures of the underworld. She strengthens her soul and maintains her focus, and loses all earthy attachments and overcomes the fear of death. She returns to the living with a rejuvenating spirit, a renewed soul, and feeling resolute. At times, to push pass our own “underworld” we need to maintain our focus in healing, achieving, and transcending to a state of strength.

Psyche opens the box to obtain the beauty and deep sleep envelopes her….but that’s another part of the story with a happy ending.

I wanted to share a new book that illustrate and explore the art of Antigone through the ages by Valentina Motta. My painting of Antigone was used as one of the piece. This painting has been on newspaper article, PhD thesis, and Magazine.

 

The Gaze: 24″ x 18″, oil on wood:

An unidentifiable girl glaring at the viewer only materializes as the viewer returns the look, but only if it’s long enough with interest to makes the connection. The painting is organic when captured by the gaze of the viewer insofar as he remains a spectator gazing at the painting. The gaze is the vehicle for silent communication between the viewer and the viewed. It’s word without sound; it’s personal without being personal. How does it makes you feel?

This panel illustrates the process I’m taking for my latest painting. The drawing was first sketched and lightly inked. In this particular piece, I’m avoiding the use of solvent. A solvent that I’ve used before when there is abundance ventilation is Winsor & Newton Liquin. I’ve tried many non-solvent medium and have yet to accustom to any of the them. My range of painting thinners are OMS, Liquin, linseed oil or walnut oil, or a combo of these. I’ve also experimented with solvent containing medium and Liquin is one I like the most. For this solvent-free painting, an underlayer consisting a mixture of watercolor and acrylic black and white paint were used. This allows thin layers without the use of solvent to begin with. Once dried fully, I started to paint in oils with just black and white to create the grisaille or the “dead layer”. I’m careful to minimize the use of linseed oils to avoid breaking the fat over lean rule. Once that’s dried to the touch, I started the color layer as shown in the last image. Stay tuned as I apply addition color layers to the painting. Thanks for watching.

 

 

 

The self, wrapped within sheets of doubts, emerges and transcend the spirit to physical form of empowerment, and impels unrepentant desire to illuminate.

This queen renews life with no ideal bounds where death had apparently devoted the body. She pursues nature in its darkness, conceiving the horrors of secret toil. She carries a crown of horns from the decaying elements of uncounted years. Her senses once again gratified and refreshed by the taste of life’s nutrients, and she returns to a sight of uncanny beauty. The blood countess is the master of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter!

After feeding, the degraded and wasted once again flourish, filling the capillaries abundance of life force that rises to the surface of the skin to fill the face with the most needed texture of the living, blossoming the cheeks that had grown pale.

 

 

 

Wandered many days round the fines of hell, Orpheus rose to the surface broken. The spirit of his departed love seemed to flit around and cast a haunting shadow. He was given diligent instruction not to speak or look at his beloved Eurydice as he guides her to the light of the upper world. It was a magnificent gift of a second chance in life granted by Hades and Persephone, king and queen of the underworld, after their indulgence to Orpheus luring music. With his body tingled with uncontrollable sensitivity, heart raced rapidly, and anxiety mounted to agony, Orpheus turned around and gazed upon Eurydice. With an instant of horror filling their meeting eyes, she plunged into the abyss forever. Now his life, as it passed thus, was indeed hateful to him as he sat for days, with dark melancholy clouded every thought and forgetting the passing cares of life. It is finished, the beauty of that dream has vanished, and breathless horror and disgust now filled his heart. One day, ­­­­his body would be torn to pieces and his head will roll down a river in the company of Maenads. It will be in death that he will taste joy again.

WIP: I’m working on this fantasy portrait. It’s 18″ x 24″ on birch panel. This is the inking stage that I sometimes use after the sketching, more heavily than usual in this cause with an aid of a wet brush for blending. Display here are the warm grey markers I’m using, but I have so many that it varies what type and brand I use.