Layers of Paint

“I’ll be your candle on the water…. My love for you will always burn…”

Anybody remember Pete’s Dragon? Starring Mickey Rooney, some cute little kid, and an animated dragon called Pete? For a large block of my childhood years that was my favorite movie, and the song “Candle on the Water” continues to be one of my favorite love songs of all time. Not only is it pretty, but it is a perfect example of the philosophy that a solid sense of stubbornness will solve all your problems.

This painting, believe it or not, started off as a vile mass of yellow ochre, modeling paste, and fine texture medium. Once it dried I had no idea what to do with it, but I was very glad to have remembered to carve out that circular focal point before it all dried on me. Turns out that, despite the decidedly vile yellow color, the texture itself absorbed black ink in a delightfully intriguing way. The decision to add purple was based on the hope that, layered on top of the yellow, the contrasting colors would create a nice neutral tone. I don’t know how it happened (but then again, I rarely do), but it worked out rather well. At that point I decided that the interplay of the dark purples and blacks with the yellow glowing from within reminded me just enough of candlelight. So I threw it in, and lo and behold! I ended up with a painting I’m actually happy with. Who would have thought?

Is there a religious undertone to this painting, as well as many others in my repertoire? Probably, yes. That’s what happens when you take numerous medieval art classes – you end up so inundated with religious facts and imagery that you can never again escape it. But, if the results are anything to go by, I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing after all.

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