Red Riding Hood Illuminated
Mixed Media with Gouache, Oil on Panel and Faux Gold Leaf
12" x 16"
Since the beginning of time, humans have been telling stories. From cave paintings to modern times, artists have been story tellers. As a child, my favorite books were the ones with beautiful illustrations that augmented and brought to life the written words on the page.
I have long been fascinated by illuminated manuscripts. Perhaps it's my design background or maybe my fascination with detail (I'm a reluctant Virgo afterall.) But the brightly painted curving lines and gold leafed illustrations just plain delight me.
About a year ago, I became interested in book binding. As is typical of me, my first bound books were anything but simple.
"You never do anything the easy way", my mother used to say. True. These two bound books were in leather and all the pages were designed and printed in color using designs taken from illuminated manuscripts. They were journals of a metaphysical nature and gifts for two dear friends. I'm working on a another for myself.
I found myself, about a year ago, becoming a bit burned out. I grew tired of the same old thing and was searching for some fresh inspiration. It was these books and my playing around with my Tarot cards that started to form an idea. I flirted with the idea of bringing words and images together and produced a couple of paintings along that line. Eventually, that idea found more fertile ground and took root.
In the panting below, a sort of prototype, I combined my love of realism, illustration, illuminated manuscripts and story telling and combined them. This painting has all the elements I was looking for. The floral design surrounding the image is painted in Gouache and acrylic gold metallic paint. The image itself is on a gessoed background surrounded by faux gold leaf and is painted in oils. The type is on archival paper. It's all carefully coated in varnish appropriate to the two mediums.
The image itself is an old one I've painted before from a photo session with one of my models. She was handy and the story quote was easy to come by. It served the purpose. I have another in the works but this one and several to follow will be based on various images from the Major Arcana of the Tarot. So one more aspect of what I love will be added to pot.
These, of course, are not my only projects. I have another bird image on the easel which is part of a series. But these new pieces are my new love and I'm enjoying the hell out of them. And that's my story.
I have long been fascinated by illuminated manuscripts. Perhaps it's my design background or maybe my fascination with detail (I'm a reluctant Virgo afterall.) But the brightly painted curving lines and gold leafed illustrations just plain delight me.
About a year ago, I became interested in book binding. As is typical of me, my first bound books were anything but simple.
"You never do anything the easy way", my mother used to say. True. These two bound books were in leather and all the pages were designed and printed in color using designs taken from illuminated manuscripts. They were journals of a metaphysical nature and gifts for two dear friends. I'm working on a another for myself.
I found myself, about a year ago, becoming a bit burned out. I grew tired of the same old thing and was searching for some fresh inspiration. It was these books and my playing around with my Tarot cards that started to form an idea. I flirted with the idea of bringing words and images together and produced a couple of paintings along that line. Eventually, that idea found more fertile ground and took root.
In the panting below, a sort of prototype, I combined my love of realism, illustration, illuminated manuscripts and story telling and combined them. This painting has all the elements I was looking for. The floral design surrounding the image is painted in Gouache and acrylic gold metallic paint. The image itself is on a gessoed background surrounded by faux gold leaf and is painted in oils. The type is on archival paper. It's all carefully coated in varnish appropriate to the two mediums.
The image itself is an old one I've painted before from a photo session with one of my models. She was handy and the story quote was easy to come by. It served the purpose. I have another in the works but this one and several to follow will be based on various images from the Major Arcana of the Tarot. So one more aspect of what I love will be added to pot.
These, of course, are not my only projects. I have another bird image on the easel which is part of a series. But these new pieces are my new love and I'm enjoying the hell out of them. And that's my story.
