Having completed "Venus Bathing", I've decided to return to oil painting through a series of illustrations of classical literature.
To begin this venture, I pulled 'Doctor Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe off my bookshelf (never got around to reading it) and let the book fall open. The first sentences that I found read thus: "Ay marry, there spake a doctor indeed! And 'faith, I'll drink a health to thy wooden leg for that word." This was enough. From these sentences I will illustrate Doctor Faustus. I think of it as 'illustration out of context'.
I had a bit of free time on a bus ride from Katowitze to Berlin last week to sketch a composition out in my notebook. From there I was able to create more detailed source material by photographing a willing subject and collaging in some fairytale imagery. It's a rough visual roadmap of where I intend the piece to go.
I got some stretcher bars, built a frame and stretched it. Gessoed it in the past days, and laid down a background glaze of bright pink. This is going to be a fun one.