April 29, 2008
Good ol' Clive
"We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."
- C. S. lewis, Mere Christianity
That's it. I just like that. To couch the idea of repentance (though, admittedly, that's not necessarily what Lewis is talking about; I'm taking the quotation for my own purpose) in terms of paths and motion strikes me as pretty accurate.
April 07, 2008
Fun with Gold Leaf
This is a little portrait of Amber. She's pretty special. Also, gold leaf is a bear to work with. I've wanted to experiment with the stuff since learning how the old masters used it. I even went through the trouble of using birch board and applying copious layers of gesso to (try to) conceal the woodgrain. I even applied a coat of bright cadmium red to produce as authentic a substrate as possible to simulate the traditional gold technique.
Applying the leaf was a dual practice in patience and not needing to breath. But most of my readers who are experts in reattaching sun-burned skin flakes to the tender shoulder with a slow-drying glue and brush-on sealer would have little trouble mastering the art.
The unframed piece is 17x30cm oil and gold leaf on board and resides upon my desk at work. Poor-quality image was produced with uncontrolled natural light and a Casio Exilim EX-Z200.
