There will be two of these … maybe more. This one is Huanglong (Yellow Dragon) vs Wetiko (Soul Virus). The background is gold leaf, which has a wonderful luster. The companion piece to this one has (my favorite) purple tulips and some white poppies … same gold background and window boxes. And of course a yellow dragon. All the pandemic paintings have a slightly more painterly style, which is an evolution for me …. unintentional … it just started happening … mainly because I’m trying to work faster. My good friend and mentor, Michael Kampen-O’Riley used to say that one day my formal and sketchy approaches would merge into one highly energetic style …. and that it would be my best work. Still not sure what I think about that, but these recent paintings are certainly a new, synthesized hand. It will be interesting to see if this development plays out in portraiture …. guess we’ll see later this week.
