Moonlight In The Seraglio

On a moonlit night a concubine smokes a nargileh in the seraglio of the Sultan. The smoke floats lazily in the sultry air of the harem, the high walls separating her from the outside world, the only evidence of which she can see is the dome of a mosque glinting in the moonlight on the other side of the walls. A gilded prison.
Another Orientalist fantasy painting this time centred around blue varying from blue/green to purple with a few additions of oranges and reds albiet mixed with Manganese Violet. I may run a very light glaze of blue over the figure tomorrow morning when the paint is dry.
It is very difficult to photograph this painting, the original being a bit softer than it appears here.
As ever the lovely Naomi Wood posed for the figure although I have given her darker hair here and have not tried to achieve an accurate likeness for variety's sake!
This is a painting that I may exhibit at this year's IlluXCon.
Oil on linen 18" x 24". There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 12

Painted in more of the interior, the hanging light, the pillar and the underpainting for the figure on the couch. Debating to myself about having something in the foreground in front of the figure on the couch to break up the line where the couch meets the bottom of the picture.

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 11

Pretty much finished the pillar and curtains although the actual colour of the painting is nearer to a more aquamarine blue particularly in the background. I then put in the underpainting for rest of the middle ground ready for tomorrow.

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 10

Just worked on the foreground curtains and pillar today, both of which should be finished tomorrow. I'm using glazes of Ultramarine Blue and Winsor Violet mixed with a little Permanent Orange to slightly neutralise the colour.

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 9

For some reason I wasn't able to post up stage 8 yesterday so here is stage 9. I have now finished the background and the top half of the mid ground arches and I'm now working on the foreground curtains and decorative pillar before returning to the mid ground and figure. When it is finished the purple underpainting should just be visible enough to give the whole painting a slightly warm cast.

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 7

Didn't quite get the background finished today, just the windows and door at the bottom to do, quite pleased with the slight glow from the dome in the sky (looking slightly rough here in the photo, it's smoother in the actual painting).

Moonlight In The Seraglio - stage 6

Put some blues into the curtains before starting on painting the moonlight on the background. For compositional reasons I decided to have the shadow of another dome coming in on the right. Hoping to finish the background tomorrow. I am using Lemon Yellow as the highlight colour.