Development of a Painting: Hera and Zeus
I just finished a new painting, Hera and Zeus. It is another in my series of myth paintings, which I will be exhibiting at the end of July this year. Zeus, king of the gods on Mt. Olympus and Hera, the most powerful goddess were also brother and sister, children of the titan Kronos. Zeus lusted over his sister Hera, and like in so many of his conquests tried a bit of trickery to have her. Zeus created a rain storm and then took the form of a cuckoo. He flew to Hera and stood before her stiff and cold in the rain. Hera, taking pity on the bird, picked it up and held it to her warm breast. It was then that Zeus turned back in to his true form. Hera resisted Zeus at first until Zeus promised that he would marry her. The two were formally married after the victory of the Olympians in the war against the titans.
I wanted to depict the point in the story when the unsuspecting Hera has the small shivering bird within her robe. Here is a quick sketch I did of this scene:
Sketch of Hera and Zeus as a cuckoo
In the painting I wanted to show a very heavy rain, the kind that Zeus would create in an attempt to trick Hera. I also wanted the figure of Hera to be almost lost in the mist of the rain, without any sharp delineation in her features. The look shared between Hera and the cuckoo is very important as well — at any moment the cuckoo would transform in to Zeus. I also wanted to keep the color palette quite simple. I had an idea of silvers and grays with just a slight accent of gold to portray the god Zeus.
Here is the finished painting of Hera and Zeus:
Hera and Zeus, oil on canvas, 2009
Here is a detail of the painting:
Detail of Hera and Zeus
Development of a Painting: Herakles and the Boar of Erymanthos
I am currently working on a series of paintings based on the twelve labors of Herakles (Hercules). I already wrote about painting Herakles first labor. The fourth labor of Herakles is to capture a vicious boar who is terrorizing the region of Mt. Erymanthos. Heracles chases after the boar and is finally able to seize it when the boar is caught in the snowy slopes of the mountain. Heracles brings the boar back to King Eurystheus (for whom Herakles must perform his labors) who jumps in a vase in fright at the sight of the boar.
I was excited to do this painting because I really like painting snow and snowstorms. Perhaps its because of my ties to Minnesota, USA, but some of my favorite paintings have been where there are figures caught in some type of snowfall/blizzard. Here are a couple:
"February", acrylic on canvas, 2004
"Snow", oil on canvas, 2002
I think what I like about painting snowy scenes is how the snow itself can dissolve the figure and merge it nicely with its surrounding environment. Also, I tend to like the look of a desaturated color image ( think old color photographs, ukiyo-e prints or paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ) as the tones feel more unified. With the range of whites, grays and blues in a blustery winter scene the image can become something quite subtle and minimal, which I like.
With this in mind I set off to arrange my piece. Here’s a quick thumbnail sketch I did:
Thumbnail sketch to arrange compostion
I wanted to show the boar as a tough customer, but at the same time convey that it was indeed the victim. Here are some quick studies I did for the boar.
Boar studies
They all looked pretty static thought (and some looked too damn cute), so I checked out the opening sequence to Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece “Ran” where the cast of characters are on a boar hunt.
Finally I felt I would go with something like this sketch:
Another boar sketch
But a little more stylized and more graphic.
When it came to the figure of Heracles, I wanted to show him as the menacing predator who manages to outrun and trap the luckless boar. I also wanted to show him pursuing the figures in a calm and determined manner in his pursuit of his victim. Here are some sketches:
Figure studies for Herakles
Perhaps I feel sympathetic for the boar but he is the prey after all. I also wanted to accentuate Herakles’ lion pelt which he got from defeating the Nemean Lion in an earlier labor as a way to portray Herakles as half man, half beast.
For the actual painting process, I painted the composition in acrylic with a range of grays that I made from mixing white, blue and brown. Once everything was set in, I did another layer this time in oil paint to draw out the contrast and some detail in the figures and the mountains. Finally, I painted in the snow falling which I made through painting it on directly with brushes, sponges, rollers and sticks, and splattering it on as well. I made sure to mask the main figures a bit while doing the splatter technique.
Here is the final result of the piece:
"Herakles and the Boar of Erymanthos", oil and acrylic on canvas, 2009
Here is a detail of Herakles:
Detail of Herakles
and a detail of the boar:
Detail of the boar
Development of a Painting: Herakles and the Nemean Lion
Detail of Herakles and the Nemean Lion
I am currently working on a series of paintings based on Greek myths that have been a lot of fun to work on. The myths are exciting and dramatic and they lend well to personal interpretation. It’s no surprise that artists through out the ages have been inspired to recreate the myths in their own eyes — Titian, Velazquez, Caravaggio, and Botticelli just to name a few.
Among the paintings I am working on are the twelve labors of Herakles. The twelve labors interest me because of the wonderful array of challenges that Herakles faces. Each adversary is so colorful, often times more interesting than Herakles himself. It also fascinates me how Herakles, the greatest of heroes in Greek mythology, takes on so many different roles throughout the twelve labors. Whether he is a hulking brute, a cunning strategician, a sly charmer, an overwhelmed underdog, or a menacing predator Herakles always comes out in the end as the heroic champion.
Herakles first labor is to hunt and kill the Nemean Lion. Of course, Herakles is successful in his mission, and from then on wears the lion’s own impenetrable pelt (which he skinned by using the lion’s own claws) for his subsequent adventures.
For this painting I had the idea of the two figures of Herakles and the lion interlocked in some type of circular formation that would somehow fit nicely in the rectangular compostion of the frame. I first started off with a few thumbnail sketches:
First thumbnail sketch
Second thumbnail sketch
Third thumbnail sketch
Sketches of big cats
Prepatory Sketch: ink wash on paper
Judo sketch 1
Judo sketch 2
Judo sketch 3
I continued this and tried to substitute one of the figures with a lion to see how that would look:
Judo sketch 4 with lion
Judo sketch 5 with lion
I liked the very first judo sketch so I tried to place it in a composition with some aspects of a surrounding environment around the two figures:
Judo sketch 1 with surrounding environment
Kolimbrithes, Paros
Judo sketch 1 with lion and more detailed background
I didn’t take any pictures as I was actually making the painting, mostly because I worked too fast. Since I was painting pretty loose with a lot of paint thinner, I had to work fast because although it was an oil painting it actually was drying quickly. I ended up doing the painting in one shot over the course of a day. My objective was to move and push the paint around in a way where it didn’t seem too controlled and it retained the energy of a sketch, while having the resolution and impact of a finished painting.
Herakles and the Nemean Lion, oil on canvas, 2009
Working on Some Things in the B+W Studio
The B+W studio with paintings underway.
And so…
I’m back in Paros, Greece and now painting in the nicest studio I’ve ever painted in. That would be the Aegean Center’s black and white studio (see the tiles) and it’s muy bien — large, climate controlled, well lit and the sounds of lovely birds and Greek radio just outside the door. Also, there’s wifi which is fantastic but a huge distraction of course. I’ll get carried away watching the latest movie trailers and checking Twitter tweets and such…again…and again…
I have to keep busy because I’m preparing an exhibition to be held in mid July. The expo will be themed around Greek mythology appropriately enough, and it’s been very fun putting these paintings together. The stories are so visual and dynamic anyway, I don’t feel that’s there’s much work I have to do coming up with ideas. Any Greek myth evokes countless images — it’s just a matter of putting it down on the canvas. It’s also really interesting looking back at the countless interpretations of Greek myths there have been throughout history, from Greek vase paintings to the Italian Renaissance masters to contemporary realists like Paul Reid. I also have fellow Aegean Center professor (and my former teacher) Jane Pack working on her own interpretation of The Iliad. That has been very cool and inspiring to see.
I have a lot of work to do and I’m trying to get much of it done before the new crop of Aegean Center students arrive in March. Then I’ll be teaching most of the time and the wonderful black and white studio will be turned over to a couple of lucky students. Until then, I’ll be busy working away in the B+W studio. Or Facebooking. Or reading about random junk like how some horrible comic from the ’90s is being developed into a movie…ugh…
I got to get back to work.