The Vampire of Ponte Foscari

 I had unfinished business with the previous "Vampires of Venice" painting in that I wanted the eye drawn to the light area and then you notice the vampire afterwards but due to the square format the vampire was too near to that area so it didn't really work. With this one I chose a longer rectangular format so that I could place the vampire much further away from the area that I plan the viewer to look first. The vampires in my "Vampires of Venice" series are of the Max Schreck variety seen in the original Nosferatu and I try to paint them as though they are more of an apparition and insubstantial as they live in a world different to our own. I make the figure up as I go along and are drawn in spontaneously with no real reference which is odd for me as I am not that good a figurative artist.

Venice is always portrayed as a romantic city where couples go for their honeymoon etc which I have never really understood as to me Venice is a mysterious place particularly when you walk around it at night away from the more touristy areas and it is relatively deserted and quiet with just a single light barely illuminating an alleyway, the light hitting the crumbling facades, the whole thing looking like a stage set.... and then I can imagine strange ghostly beings wandering the fondamentas and passages of this slowly sinking city. The Venice of movies like "Don't Look Now"...

Oil on mdf 20" x 12". This is too big and too much work to sell on Every Day Original for $500 so I will either put the previous one on it or the upcoming Orientalist one that I am starting this afternoon.

There is a short progress through this painting including the colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

The Vampire of Ponte Foscari - stage 3

 Mostly finished the right side of the painting which I will hopefully tidy up tomorrow before taking on the fiddly work on the bridge and the rest of the painting. Same colours used as earlier. It will all be down to getting the right values and tones for this picture to work.

The Vampire of Ponte Foscari - stages 1 & 2

First stage

 I had unfinished business left over from the previous vampire painting in that I wanted the vampire to be noticed later after the eye has been drawn to the light but due to the square format the figure of the vampire was too near to the light to make the idea work. This time I chose to use a longer rectangular format so that I am able to move the vampire well away and hopefully won't be noticed until the eye has first been drawn to the light area to the right.

Venice is always portrayed as a romantic city where couple go for their honeymoon etc but to me Venice has always been a mysterious place particularly when you walk around it at night. To me it is the Venice of movies like "Don' Look Now" hence my decision to populate the place with vampires!

The first stage is the tonal underpainting "drawn" up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and then the tone was applied with a flat brush and a rag using the same paint mix.

The second stage is the first rough colour pass using mixes of the following colours: Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Prussian Blue, Chrome Green, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow and Zinc White.

Second stage

 

The Vampire of San Antonio

 This one combines two themes of mine, The Magic Light series and the Vampires of Venice series. The single bright light source continues in the Magic Light theme but instead of painting this in monochrome as in the earlier ones in the Vampies of Venice series I have opted to paint it in full colour although in a limited palette based around red. I am tempted to paint another but this time the Vampire will be harder to see within the composition - I don't know yet as I was planning to do another Orientalist picture but within the Magic Light theme. I am also wondering if the possible more obscured vampire picture would be better servrd in a rectangular format in which case I will paint it on linen. Either way I will choose from these paintings which one to go onto my Every Day Original slot coming up on 28 March.

I chose a composition based on verticals to emphasise the quiet atmosphere that anybody who has walked around Venice at night will hopefully recognise.

I am not totally sure exactly where this is in Venice but I know that the small shrine in the wall next to the vampire is dedicated to San Antonio so that becomes the title. I may have been a bit too subtle about it but there is no shadow on the ground from the vampire unlike the bollard to the right.

Oil on mdf 12" x 12".

There is a progress through this painting including what colours I used in previous posts on this blog.

The Vampire of San Antonio - stage 3

 The second colour pass and we're getting to what it should finally look like. I have tried to get it ready to finish tomorrow although I have a decision to make about the small shrine on the wall just behind the vampire (who will less prominent when the picture is finished) as I am thinking about painting it out to draw less attention to the vampire. The trouble is the title of the painting hangs on the shrine as it is dedicated to San Antonio.

The Vampire of San Antonio - stages 1 & 2

Stage 1

 This one is a combination of two themes, the Magic Light series and the Vampires of Venice series as well. Again it will be a dominant light source as in the Magic Light series but this time it is there to distract from the Vampire at bottom left - he will be more hidden in the final painting. Instead of using the monochrome look of earlier Vampire pictures I will be painting this in subdued tones of an analgous colour combination based around red but will incorporate the colours next to it as well, so red to violet one way and red to orange/yellow on the other. 

Seeing as it is the right size I may well consider this for my upcoming slot on Every Day Original near the end of this month.

The first stage is the tonal underpainting that used a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and mostly applied with a small bristle and a 1/2" Acrylix Flat brushes.

The second stage is a rough first colour pass which used mixes of the following colours: Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson, Brilliant Pink, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Naples Yellow, Lemon Yellow and Zinc White.

Oil on mdf 12" x 12".

Stage 2

Mesa Light

 The fifth in the Magic Light series this is another with a mysterious light source within a landscape, this time The Arches National Park in Utah. Based on a blue/orange complementary with the colours kept subdued apart from the sky which I guess is a nod to Maxfield Parrish who himself did a series of paintings of the American South West whilst recuperating from an illness.  I like this Magic Light theme and I can see that there is quite a lot of scope within this simple idea of an exaggerated or unusual light source in different settings.

Oil on mdf 12" x 12".

There is a progress through this painting including what colours I used in previous posts on this blog.