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.
No comments:
Post a Comment