Painting Details....

And A Little More.....

The Problem with Details, Dear Readers, is that one can get Lost in the never ending pursuit of just One more Tiny, perhaps unnoticeable little addition, that just might make All the difference! You will undoubtedly be bored by looking at more of the not yet completed progress pictures of the Castle Hall Ceiling Painting! But I put a lot of Time into the Tiny people adorning the borders of the ceiling, and every time I thought I was "done" with a figure, I would notice something else that needed adding, a little tiny touch of shadow here, a little bit of highlight there, some pattern here, and then those hands! Twenty six little people's worth of hands! No, don't do the math, because Not every person has two hands Showing! It took me Days! But here, let me show you....

If you like, you can even play "spot the differences", 

but I warn you, even I have not kept track!

In the above two pictures the figures have all received their basic colors, 

but their faces are mostly not detailed.

Here you can see that most have their faces rendered.

Yes, it is hard to see the details, 

each figure is about one and one half inches tall!

Here is a closer shot.... 

I was amazed that the camera would focus in so well...!

The Lovers are nearly done.... even their hands!

The chess players have their faces rendered, 

but the musicians do not.....

These figures are mostly done, except for their hands....

And these too....

And while we are doing close-ups... 

here the Diners are mostly done.... 

except for their hands!

And this end of the table too.... 

notice I have added a pattern to the cloth.....

And then Finally.... 

a Day spent working on the hands.....

But please do not judge them too harshly.....

The hands are very small....

hardly anyone will even think to look up

 at the Ceiling of the Great Hall....

These figures are mostly done.....

And these too! 

At least done enough for me to begin the borders 

on the other side of the ceiling!

The panels on this side I wanted to portray the labors of the seasons.... 

and of the common folk...

But I am beginning with the central panel which shows 

the Noblemen going Hawking and Hunting...

Here I have only done the white under-painting. 

This panel shows the Peasants plowing with oxen, 

Sowing the fields, and Reaping the barley....

And the final panel shows a Maiden milking a cow, 

Shepherds with their flocks, 

and the Grapes being harvested.

I spent hours combing through my manuscripts 

to find images that would be suitable for these panels!

The next step is to outline all the figures with black,

 defining their stance and character.

This is where I rely heavily on the original Medieval paintings 

to get the costumes and attitudes of the figures 

to look "Medieval" not modern!

It is actually rather difficult to try to "unlearn" 

what you know about perspective 

in order to show it the way the Medieval artists painted.

At this point I have to be careful not to think of these as "sketches" 

but more as "cartoons" because the lines will really define the figures.

I am Nowhere near as good at it as the Medieval artists were....

but I am at least following in a long tradition of copying images, 

and inevitably making them my own style.

That is as far as I got, Dear Readers, 

but I consider it to be Huge Progress 

on the Castle Ceiling!

And yet, there is still such a long way to go!

More than half the Saints are not yet finished!

But I will leave that for another post!

And meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

Because it is my Birthday, 

I indulged myself and bought another Little Treasure....

She came in a Beautiful Box.....

 But she absolutely did not want to stay in the box!

A Beautiful Little "Jumeau" style Dolly 

made by Sandra Morris of Tower House Dolls...

She says her name is "Floralinda",

and Clearly, she has a mind of her own!

She is so beautifully made and lovingly dressed.....

Surely she Must have a "Girl" to keep her somewhere!

But so far, no-one seems to have noticed her....

She is simply going to have to explore!

Its a Large Castle.....

Welcome to my World, Little Floralinda!

 I So hope, Dear Readers, 

You were not too bored 

by all the Painting Details, 

And the Little bit More!