This is the first of my Orientalist Fantasy paintings that is based on a ... real fantasy.
Ubar is called The Atlantis Of The Sands, a legendary lost city in the Southern Desert of the Arabian Peninsular thought to have been destroyed by a natural disaster or punishment from God; indeed there is a book about it by Ranulf Fiennes called "Atlantis of the Sands - The Search for the Lost City of Ubar".
Here we see it rising out of the desert like a mirage in front of a weary traveler as he makes his way across the sand dunes of the Rub' al Khali - The Empty Quarter (the subject for a forthcoming painting). I chose a green/blue - orange/red colour complementary for this one trying to separate the foreground from the background by making it darker so that there are two places in the same picture as it were. I based the architectural style of the buildings particularly the city walls on Arabia although being as it is a Fantasy painting in The Arabian Nights vein I have mixed in other Islamic styles as well.
This will be posted on my upcoming slot on Every Day Original on April 28 for purchase.
Oil on linen 16" x 12".
There is a step-by-step progress through this painting including the colours used in previous posts on this blog.
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