So far this summer I have spent my time gathering materials, gessoing
canvases, and sketching/finalizing my compositions on the canvases. I’ve also been
lucky enough to meet with other artists in the area for tips on materials, techniques, and background components. My smallest canvas for this series is thirty six by thirty six
inches, and my largest is forty by fifty inches. All of them have been gessoed with black
gesso and have a gallery profile of one and a half inches. For my paint selection, I have
chosen to use Golden heavy body acrylics.
The works I have chosen to use for inspiration for the compositions of my pieces
will be attached at the bottom of this check in, along with some of my sketches on my
primed canvases. The compositions of my pieces are inspired by renaissance artworks
with subject matters that include beheading myths from both the old testament and
greek mythology, except in my pieces the beheader in these myths will also be the
beheaded. Included in these stories are the tales of Medusa and Perseus, Salome and
John the Baptist, and David and Goliath. One of the poses I’m using for inspiration is
from one of my favorite renaissance David statues, Donatello’s bronze David from the
1440s. Another piece that has a composition that really inspires me is Onorio Marinari’s
Salome with the Severed Head of John the Baptist. I chose this piece because I love
the positions of the hands in this composition, as well as the artist’s use of primary
colors which are also some of my favorites to use in my paintings.
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