Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Angel Gabriel in progress


I sometimes post works in progress or excerpts from them. Since I've been working so hard with this one, I might as well. This is from what I call my "Angelic Portrait," in which the portrait subject who commissioned it appears kneeling in front of a gathering of archangels and holy beings. It is supposed to be made in a medieval style and is based on a famous late Medieval painting, the "Wilton Diptych" commissioned by the British King Richard the Second. My commissioner asked for the four traditional Archangels in the painting, that is, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. I painted Michael a while back and have just finished Gabriel. This rendering of angels is more traditional than my unusual "Angels of Modern Science" set. I also left out the esoteric symbols of these Archangels, relying instead on the traditional identifying items. In Gabriel's symbolism he bears the sacred trumpet conveying announcements of heaven and apocalypse.

Acrylic on board, about 6" x 4", May-June 2015. I hope to have this whole piece done by the end of June. Click for larger view.

1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Very nice! Will you be doing a pattern in the gold squares or just leaving them as is?