Monday 20 November 2006

Isn't this Asenius?

Athanasius proved to be a rock of intolerance to the Arian position. If he would not move, his enemies would dislodge him from his seat of power by other methods. An absurd smear campaign ensued. Athanasius was even accused of murdering a certain Asenius to obtain his hand for magic. The problem was Asenius was still very much alive and with both hands intact. No matter. the Arian Eusebius had the emperor's ear, and continued to put a bug in it until Athanasius was forced into exile in the west, where he remained until Constantine's death. Out of exile for a short time, but Eusebius and his new best friend Constantius weren't finished yet.


Updated: (click on the picture for a nice large version with reasonable detail) I have finished the painting for the most part, so I cut the fabric down and took this pic. Now I just have to wait a few days for it to dry so I can work on stitching. Not entirely sure what I will do, I am afraid I'll wreck it! I am also abit wary of the gold leaf I intend to apply-I've never worked with it before, and I imagine fabric to be a less than easy ground for it.
I think I will be conservative in embellishment-much more so than I had originally planned. I do hope to give it more definition, as I can't do much more with the paint. This is also about how dark the piece actually is-the fabric continually darkened for weeks after that iron bath!


I have been awake for 25 hours. I woke up far too early and finally transferred the design for Athanasius onto the silk. After coming home from work, I went right back to it. I smell like oil paint, a good feeling. At the moment the piece is too low contrast (the strength of my method is it's subtlety) I don't want it quite that subtle however. I have lightened all of these photos for better readability.

This is the first rendering of the face-I particularly liked the way it looked-less smirky than the drawing. However it was so dark it was almost unreadable in the photo. More layers of light had to be added. It doesn't look as well now though.

This one is the top laying on the floor as I was working it, paintstiks, brushes and my coat surround it. Yes I got home, took my coat off and worked at it! This is also the first time I have used sticks rather than tube oil paint (They were the thing that took months to arrive!). I like the dryness of them as they go onto my brush much more lightly, reducing the need to brush as much off.
I continually took photos to get an appreciation for how it was reading.


This is how it looks right now. He looks a bit more cranky in this picture (less so in life), perhaps he is thinking of the Eusebii (I don't know if that is actually a word...). the coptic textile design has been rendered in gold to the left. the first attempt gave me a much more readable design, but oh well.
There is still much work to do, but I feel better to have finally started work on the actual piece after all these months of stalling. I designed this just before my practicum-almost a year ago! I kind of wish I could leave it dark and low contrast; it looks very cool that way, dark and moody.

7 comments:

mem said...

Nice! It's excellent that he's taking shape so well—it doesn't appear that he's resisting you as much as the Arians, months-long hiatus notwithstanding.

I think the reason you like the slime thing is only because you had to look at the artwork for the new album. But I created it in Inkscape, which is probably worth looking at if you enjoy vector drawing programs. (I confess that I actually was inspired to play with it by the new cover. But all I can draw right now is slime. Not much better than giant snakes eating elephants, if you ask me.)

Re sports. The Flyers have been SO BAD this year that OSU is my only consolation. Normally a loss here or there would be mitigated by Keith Primeau or Simon Gagne, but now I just want to punch myself in the face whenever I see the team logo. :( But beating that state up north is almost as good as the balm of Gilead.

arlee said...

Char you are amazing! I don't know much about your 'subject" beyond what i've read on your blog, but i have to say your translation from sketch to painting is MASTERFUL.

Char said...

Thanks both of you. :)

Arlee, Athanasius was a Bishop of Alexandria in the 4th century. He is known as the Father of Orthodoxy because he defended his creed (Nicene) so strenuously.

mem said...

I didn't realize you were a CFL fan (adherant, occasional watcher, et c). As long as the season is entertaining, I usually allow for some failure.

The slime is the same color as it's been, so no, no colorful alterations, though I can produce a { green, blue, cyan, magenta, indigo, et c. } one if you'd prefer. Red just kind of goes with the current color scheme. Should I acquire any proficiency with the program, I may try to do something more complicated. Like, say, broccoli.

Dark is probably okay, provided that there's sufficient contrast; the eye is more sensitive to it. Dunno how it'll end up, but it seems ok so far.

mem said...

As a student, I went to one football game (away). Big Ten students are not particularly well mannered (evidently you need to live in Texas to be able to do that), and it was a bad enough experience that I decided to watch from the comfort (and safety) of my own home later.

I did once go to a Flyers game in Columbus, a more intimate and refined gathering. Right before the national anthem, someone yelled, "Let's go Flyers." Gotta stink if you're the home team, but it made me snicker.

Sarah said...

The things you pull together in your head and put on fabric never cease to amaze me. I can't wait to see the finished product!

mem said...

I suspect that I would've enjoyed BC more than FL—the latter is simply an ugly state, and while people probably get shot in BC, I'd take my chances there over urban Orlando. The time in the House of the Mouse was good for me, I know, but still very glad not to be there anymore.

I note that since my first affix to this post of yours, the Flyers have gotten their first three game winning streak of the season.