Tatooine Sunsets

 The last painting to be finished to take to IX later this month. This is the third Star Wars-themed painting I have done with the first two snapped up by collector friends in the USA so I thought that it would be nice to do another one as nobody really saw the first two! The move across from my Orientalist inspired work to Star Wars is not as much of a stretch as you might think. The Tatooine architecture has elements of the local architecture where it was filmed, Tunisia (?) and the buildings here on a desert mesa are  very similar to my mosques etc in desert locations in earlier paintings. There is meant to be a bit of Ralph McQuarrie in there too.... just spotted a little repaint to do before I take it to IX but this scan will do for the moment.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12"

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Paintings For IX

 These are the paintings that I am bringing to IX this year in Reading PA. Eight are framed the rest will be hung unframed as I have not had a chance to get them framed for various reasons. It's my usual mix of Fantasy and Orientalism seasoned with a bit of Science Fiction and Horror.... I like variety. I will be shipping them in two batches and hope that they don't get lost/stuck in Customs which happened once before and did not make for a relaxing pre-event time with friends in the US while I frantically rang FedEx to find out where the hell they were. As it turned they got delivered on the day I was there to hang them in time for the Private View that evening.....please not again!

IX (Illuxcon) will be held at the Goggleworks in Reading PA from 23 to 27 October. If you're in the area come along it's quite a show!

Tatooine Sunsets - stage 3

 Mostly finished the sky but left it like this to make a start on the rocks below the buildings. Something tells me I need to get the colours and contrast right here first before I paint the rest of the picture.

Tatooine Sunsets - stage 2

 First colour pass on the sky and background as well as a second layer of the tonal underpainting on the landscape.

Colours used: Manganese Blue Hue, Kings Blue Light, Dioxazine Purple, Wisteria, Burnt Sienna, Brilliant Pink, Permanent Orange, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon and Warm White.

Tatooine Sunsets - stage 1

 This is probably the last painting that I will finish in time to take to IX later this month. It is in fact the third Star Wars themed painting I have done recently but the first two were snapped up very quickly by collector friends in the USA so I thought that it would be nice to do one for IX as nobody has actually seen the first two (although one of them will hopefully be published in the upcoming Art Renewal Center International Salon book if it gets accepted as a Finalist). The move across from my Orientalist inspired work to Star Wars is not as much of a stretch as you might think - Tatooine is a desert-like planet and they used Tunisia (?) to film the Tatooine scenes with some of the architectural styles melded with the futuristic. Indeed the buildings in this one on a desert mesa are very similar to my mosques etc in desert locations in earlier paintings. Hopefully there is a bit of Ralph McQuarrie in there too....

This is the tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and brushes.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

The Somnambulist sold

 "The Somnambulist" has just sold through Abend Gallery Denver CO. A painting from my "The Sleeping City" series. I wanted a sort of dream/nightmare feel to this one, actually for all in this series come to think of it. Compositionally everything hangs off the central axis of the moon and figure but in an asymmetric way as a counterpoint.

Oil on linen 16" x 12".

International Artist Magazine

 "Steeltown" has been published in the new October/November issue of International Artist magazine as a Finalist in the Cityscapes Challenge. It remains unsold and is currently available at Abend Gallery in Denver CO. Oil on linen 22" x 16".

The Fire Temple Of Ahura Mazda

 This painting follows on from the previous one in that I decided to develop the warmly lit areas and expand it to be the main focus of the picture for this one. Once I was on that track it quickly occurred to me that fire could be a good subject and from that I thought about fire temples which actually do exist in one of the oldest religions on earth, Zoroastianism (Parsi in India). This is however a fire temple on number 11 and very much a Fantasy image so apologies at this point to any Zoroastrians who may see this! Ahura Mazda incidentally is a kind of godhead in this religion and a name I have loved and wanted to use in a title for many years!

This painting proved to be very tricky firstly because I wanted the brightest points of the picture to be the canvas white itself so I had to plan in advance where they were going to be which slowed me down in drawing it up... and secondly it was far more difficult than I first realised to translate the lighting of the previous street market scene into this scenario and it took longer than it really should have to paint the fires around the temple. I guess that lighting is ideal for market scenes at night!

This might be the last painting that I can finish in time to take to IX in Reading PA later this month... maybe time for another small one...

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.