Winged

 

What a great morning of painting. I really enjoyed myself today, getting the left side wing halfway complete with some lovely variations from dark to light in a very satisfying third layer that develops the detail of the painting. I love the feeling of being completely immersed in the practice of making the painting, it’s wonderful; better than anything in the world.

I used a little stuffed hawk for inspiration for the feathers, borrowed from the biology department, he’s a bit sad, but has the patterns in the feathers of a predator, which is what I’m looking for for death. 

I realized that this is death wearing a cloak of feathers rather than death as a winged being. At this stage I’m considering what details might be interesting added to the piece, so I’d expect to see some leather straps and other hidden little secrets emerging in the next month.