Edges

Do you remember Slartibartfast’s love of fjords? (He was the eccentric designer responsible for Norway in The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy) I felt a bit like him today while painting the detailed edges of the wings, where the long delicate strands of the peacock feathers trail out from the body of the wings. Using a one inch striping brush made the work easier, but still required concentration to get the detail right. I’m shaping the brighter areas inside the wings into more eyes, so they are consistent to the whole peacock motif, but hopefully they will retain at least a sense of the bird of prey that I originally went for.

I’ve been doing a little more research into the Virtues for the big painting, figuring out some of the symbolism for the figures. I’m enjoying the work, because I am getting into some good alchemical texts and emblem books. More on this later.