Approaching The Citadel

This follows on from "Arrival of the Concubines" in that it is another Orientalist painting based on colour and atmosphere. A nomad leads his camels towards a walled city, a white marble citadel is mysteriously lit by a moon only seen as a reflection in a desert riverbed in the foreground. An orange glow emanates from a gateway thus providing the complementary colour to the green/blue of the rest of the picture. I have agonised over the amount of moonlight there should be in the water; too much and it dominates the picture so I have kept diminishing it until I felt that it works with the background (the original concept for the painting was the bright reflection in the water as the primary focus but I came to realise that the Citadel was really the focus). The painting is influenced by the work of Atkinson Grimshaw and Albert Goodwin although I now see some Edmund Dulac in there as well (no bad thing!). I hope to take this one to Illuxcon in September. Oil on canvas 19 3/4" x 19 3/4". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in earlier posts on this blog.