Monday, January 27, 2014

The Last of the Cardinal


What, not Cardinal Acquaviva again? Perhaps you're tired of the little churchman and his entourage of Christian oddities and his secret alchemical practices. I know I was tired of him by 1981. Nevertheless I created this very accurate picture of him in the early pages of my 1981 sketchbook journal. It's probably one of the best images of him I did, depicting him dressed in his formal Cardinal's robes complete with the shoulder cape and red sash. The all-red outfits are usually reserved for religious ceremonies.

With this tiny portrait I moved to another painting technique for the sketchbook. I drew the original in ink and then colored it with acrylic, often used in a watercolor form which stuck well to the page, didn't flake off, and was bright-colored. I couldn't get a smooth solid area with it, but that texture didn't bother me. I used opaque acrylic paint to get really solid areas like the black of the Cardinal's garb.

The Cardinal must have been tired of me, too. I don't think I did any more pictures of him after this one, and by early 1983 he disappeared from my creative mind, never to re-appear except in retrospective.

Acquaviva's portrait is about 3" x 7", January 1981. Click on image for larger view.

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