Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog
Posting original art
My take on two famous portraits. I gave Mona a gaunt look with a square jaw. I interpreted the profile of Sargeant’s fabulous Madam X.
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Vermeer’s Girl With A Pearl Earring inspired this painting. My reference reminded me of his fabulous and famous piece. However there are major differences. He bathed her face in light, but here it is gently swathed in shadow with highlights produced by the light coming from the side. The background is lighter and more varied than Vermeer’s traditionally dark surface.
This young woman’s radiant smile comes from within. I sought to express it. In previous epochs a smile was impossible to capture as sitters can not smile for hours at a time. Look at Leonardo’s famous smile- captivating but hardly expansive. But with photography, art changed in many ways and the ability to study the smile is one such change.
This is a study for a painting.
I painted this using Leoni’s portrait of Carravaggio. He was 31 at the time. He died 9 years later, a victim of his propensity for violence. Her revolutionized painting with his observation of the subject together with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro, intense contrasts of light and dark. This came to be known as tenebrism, where the darks are a dominant feature of the piece.
Messing around on a Sunday afternoon
While just about recovering from a mild round of Covid 19. I think the vaxes and booster did some good. Docs gave me some antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. Back to normal in two days.
Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993) was a a composer, musician, songwriter and bandleader. Most of his music was rock, with a strong note of heavy metal. His lyrics satirized American cluture. He composed classical pieces and had them performed. He also wrote jazz and pop pieces such as Valley Girl.
He produced most of his 60-plus albums and is the one of the most innovative of musicians.
