It's time for a breather. I've been working on big projects for the past few years, paintings that can take a year to complete. The most recent was "Sirens", a six by seven foot giant. I found an empty stretched canvas, put it on my easel (I haven't used the easel for a while, everything was way too big) and began a 30" x 40" painting - small by my recent standards!

The model is Adriana, the same young woman I used in the foreground of "Sirens". The inspiration came from a photograph of Frida Kahlo.

The raven in this painting is a bearer of gifts. In mythology, the raven signifies magic, prophecy and good luck - and is often the bearer of messages from the gods to the mortal world.

This is just the underpainting, the structure that gives it dimension. There's an enlarged detail below. I look forward to fleshing it out - literally!

#figures #magicrealism #underpainting #raven