Queen Alexandra's Birdwinged Woman, Part 2

Queen Alexandra's Birdwinged Woman, 2015, acrylic on wood, 20 x 20 cm

Recently completed, this is the first of a series of paintings intended as companion pieces to the ongoing Homo-insecta watercolour series that I begun in 2014.

The luminous, linear clarity of Hans Holbein's portraits on wood were very much on my mind when I made this work. Currently he is the artist whose paintings are most strongly represented on my revamped studio notice board. The works of Lucas Cranach the Younger, the Clouet Brothers and William Larkin (which also feature on the board) are some other points of reference. (For links to all of these artists, scroll down to Postcards, Blog Post Saturday, January 24).

Queen Alexandra's Birdwinged Woman, Part 1

Pictured below are some early stages of my first work for 2015: Queen Alexandra’s Birdwinged Woman. The 20 x 20 cm wooden panel has been sized in order to protect it and prevent darkening - its subtly grained surface will provide the background to the image. The figure was outlined in pencil. It was then painted over with a couple of light coats of gesso, through which these guidelines remain visible. An area of detail has already been added: I concentrated on the subject’s skin and hair, mainly to get a feel for the medium. I've painted on wood before, but have never worked in quite this way. The remainder of the image will be built up via a series of thin layers, to which further details, notably the markings on the butterfly's wings, will be added.