A Work Progressing

Ohhh, the Renaissance! My first serious love in images, and I have neglected you so!

It turns out that it is just a few degrees beyond my skill set. So, I’m not satisfied with my redrawing/filtering. But, since it’s only a few degrees, sometimes I make some interesting images, not better, but not worse.

Well, I can correct a few things, the proportions are sometimes out of whack, maybe some head shapes are too traditional… And there are lots of cracked paint and dim colors, so here are some of my Renaissance re-imaging.

I find that redrawing some of my favorite pieces by my favorite artists gives me some additional knowledge. I’m not saying that it’s an improvement, but sometimes I correct what seems to me an oddity. Sometimes it’s just a common style. Women with arms the size of most men’s legs for example. Often during the Renaissance the women looked more like football lineman.

Now, it could be said that the models were exactly like that, who is to say? We don’t have photographs!

But we do have some photos of the models for some of the later art movements. When I come across some of the more high resolution photos, I try to render the image more or less in the style of the artist.

This is the favorite muse/model of Gustave Klimt. Her name is Emilie Floge. She is the source of dozens of images by Klimt. She was an important fashion designer in Vienna and a successful businesswoman. She was also a lifetime partner of Gustave Klimt and inherited half of his estate when he died in 1918. Emilie died in 1952 at the age of 77.

I have copied the famous “Creation of Adam” many times, the almost touching of the Divine finger is a brilliant composition.

But Adam is already fully formed, the common name for the panel of the Sistine Chapel is wrong. G-d is bringing the gift of a helpmate to Adam. Eve is under G-d’s arm in the billowing folds of His robes, surrounded by several cherubs.

And I must say that Eve’s expression doesn’t seem to approve. What is Michelangelo saying?

I’ve just read an article that the shape of G-d’s red robe resembles the human brain, with the basic parts, including the brain stem. Was this part of Michelangelo’s intent?

I spent several more hours redrawing some other panels of the chapel, then I found some unfinished sketches that I tried to finish in my tribute. I now have many more questions with no answers.

I dreamt I was a guest at the home of a powerful family, perhaps I was only the guest of a lesser member of the family.

There were the central tables in the dining room, where voices could be shared, and with just a little more volume, could be heard quite clearly.

Then there were tables on the edge of center, slightly around a pillar or two, in the same room, but not in the same location. That is where the person who invited me sat with his small family. I sat on a chair at the edge of his table. A position that was edge of the edge, with no formal place setting.

Someone from the center tables made notice of my presence, and made a remark. I’m not sure who it was addressed to, he didn’t look at me while he spoke, but I heard my name, and saw a vague gesture.

There seemed to be a “slight” attached to the remark, something along the lines of, “At least he doesn’t have to decide which fork to use.”

This pointed out that the lesser family could invite guests, but that they wouldn’t necessarily be served, or be allowed to eat. At he same time it made the suggestion that the quality of the guest of the lesser family was not up to the social standards of the table.

Then I realized in the dream, that it wasn’t about me. I was being used to abuse the lesser family in an accepted indirect manner.

At the end of his remark, several heads turned to me to see if I had anything to say. I thanked my host for inviting me, I mentioned that I have access to great food in other places, but for now, it is his company that I desire, and that doesn’t require a fork.

Why the dream? Because we often lead lives of “coulda, woulda, shoulda.” But not in a dream.

Oh my…

Even though I had three girls, I never learned to respect the qualities of glitter. It was always too much, too much visual scatter, too much attention getting, and too much everywhere.

And here I am, trying to master the art of applying gold leaf to images.

I’m telling myself that it is tolerable because it is actual gold.

Finely beaten sheets of gold, 2 inches by 2 inches square. So thin that a slow exhale will send the sheet flying. If you think Saran Wrap is problematic by folding onto itself in multiple layers, wait until a sheet of gold leaf goes origami. Any attempt to right itself will tear it to pieces.

The theory is that you apply a thin water based adhesive to an area, wait until it dries a magical unknown amount of time, then lay down the sheet of gold, brushing it with a stiff flat brush. Here is where the theory comes in… the brush will scrub away the gold that does not have adhesive. Sometimes it peals off mini sheets of gold leaf. Sometimes it makes gold glitter that goes everywhere. In the air, on your clothes, in your beard, in your hair, all over your art work.

You can’t brush it away, it doesn’t disappear, it just goes to live somewhere else. You can’t scrape it up in a pile to throw it away, it sticks to anything temporarily, then unmindfully detaches, and goes on a fitful journey to stick somewhere else.

It’s been hours of attempted clean up, and flecks are still popping up everywhere.

But oh, what an effect it has on the artwork! Klimt was right to use it so much. It changes everything, enriches, gives the image panache, style, and magic.

It is worth exploring the right mixture of adhesive to water, it is worth exploring how long you wait for the mixture to dry a little before laying down the gold leaf. It is worth exploring how to work slowly, applying smaller areas of gold, making less glitter, allowing you to reapply small bits of gold sheet held with twizzers.

And definitely it is best to apply some sort of fixative afterwards.

I did learn some things, some a little too late.

As always, once a depth is reached you find even more that are just out of reach, so you think, go deeper. You never know what you don’t know.

I found my favorite thing, sketches that are incomplete, but they inspire me to take up the challenge. Sometimes I stay within a Klimt solution, sometimes I go my own wat, but always a tribute to Klimt.

I have a friend who is responsible for a very large, and very important organization. It took many years in many different roles, to get to that responsible position.

I believe it occurred because the focus never wavered, because the responsibility was always on helping the people, not necessarily the product or the personal gain.

But now there is a potential problem. An issue has come up and a decision must be made. The primary focus would seem to be to protect the organization so that people can continue to be helped. This is a fact, what is also a fact is the the real problem is one of leadership.

An organization can exist for several years with poor leadership, but it’s a slippery slope, and poor decisions almost guarantees a brood of future poor decisions until the organization ceases to be helping people.

Two decisions are generally made… go with the flow, and bail out before it collapses, and the blame is kicked down the road. Or make the hard decision and ride out the storm, risking health, happiness, and sanity.

And guess what, it’s not like you only have to face that decision once. It keeps repeating itself year after year, month after month, week after week, and sometimes day after day.

Scripture in Joshua puts it bluntly…

“Choose you, this day, whom you will serve…”

It did have its disadvantages, many painters developed lasting relationships because of the amount of time spent with a live model. Painting from a photograph had limited social interaction.

I somehow missed the talent of Charles Guerin, a late 19th century French impressionist. Many artists were now using photography in their studio work, they would set up the lighting, provide the props, then call in a model for a quick session for a photograph instead of hours in a drafty studio for traditional painting.

So, while I’m not opposed to nudity in art, I thought it was somehow unfair that these brave men and women were only known for their nude participation in art.

I started collecting the photos and the scans of paintings that I liked based upon composition, palette, and general quality. Some I had to colorize after raising the resolution and repairing the scan. Some I had to radically increase the saturation to get the right color. Of course all this filtering wiped out fine details, so I had to add layers of detail, focusing on eyes, hair, and skin tones.

I did use several new AI programs that providing clothing. I forgot to mention, that was my initial intention. To make a decent image that was successful based upon color, composition, and saturation.

In Charles Guerin I had dozens of choices, the most famous is the Nude in a Hat, now she is in a chic black dress, with a hat.

I forgot to mention, putting AI clothes on a figure is not like cut-out paper doll clothes. The figure can be in a variety of complex poses with hands in various places, legs crossed, arms akimbo…

AI can only do so much then it breaks down and suddenly the model has three legs, or large patches of fabric are simply missing.

For a test subject I thought I would use the famous statue of David by Michelangelo. I thought a nice modern tuxedo would be a good look, and family friendly. What I got was a nice coat, with a pair of chaps instead of pants. It was way worse than just the nudity.

So, it always takes study in light, color and fabric folds to cover the mistakes. The subtle high lights of a black satin dress took hours, and I’m still not satisfied.

So, here are some of my favorites…