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Category Archives: Alchemical work
Horizon
Once the blue was wiped away from the morning glory and the figures, cleaning up any overlapping colour, it was time to start work on the horizon line. I want the landscape to be a little wild and unkempt, to … Continue reading
Glory
The morning glory has spread to cover much of the calf of the Emperor’s right leg, but I want to show more of it reaching up to pass his left foot, perhaps even stretching out tendrils toward his abdomen and … Continue reading
Bare Feet
I’ve put down the first rough layer of Foundation White that will become the Magician’s bare feet. Pretty plain right now, they’ll be re-drawn and get a couple of layers more before they’re complete. I’m quite pleased to get them … Continue reading
Whiter than White Stripes, Alchemical Salts
I’ve spent a short time working with re-rendering the whites of the Magician’s clothing in order to build some substance to the paint and simply to clean up the glazes that had stained the figure while painting the background. The … Continue reading
Posted in Alchemical work, Magician, Making work
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Alchemical Colours and the Dirt
Fifteenth century alchemical process followed a sequence of colour changes as the work progressed. Black (nigredo), White (albedo), Yellow (citrinitis) and Red (rubedo). Now coloured, the flags in the landscape indicate that this is an alchemical image, with a blue … Continue reading
Posted in Alchemical work, Magician, Making work, Sources
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Michael Maier on Natural Magic
Early Western science included the study of the medical benefits of herbs, alchemical experimentation with distillation and a philosophical understanding of the evidence of the handwork of the deity in the natural world. Because there was such a lack of … Continue reading
Posted in Alchemical work, Magician, Sources, Tarot-related paintings
Tagged rosicrucian
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Elements in the Magician’s Landscape
I’ve drawn the landscape for the Magician’s world onto the canvas, with distant mountain range, a trough of water, a cross of long rags attached to sticks, and rocks and clouds that resemble each other. All four elements are represented in … Continue reading
Posted in Black birds, Empress, Magician, Making work
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Magician
I’m planning on shooting reference photos for the next big painting on Friday, with a perfect model for the image. This time I’m working with an image that includes all four elements and a figure who is controlling and in … Continue reading
Busy
We had a very busy day in the studio. Ethan and Joseph were occupied with the second coat of gesso on the big Virtues canvas, then Joe got into stretching the third of the eight foot square canvas that Cyn … Continue reading
Posted in Alchemical work, Angel, Making work, Tarot-related paintings, The Cardinal Virtues
Tagged rosicrucian
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On the left
The first layer of feathers reaches to the top of the left wing, leading me to much head scratching and sitting and looking at the painting in order to figure out what to do with the structure of the wings … Continue reading
