Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Saturday, March 26, 2011

"The Dragon of Sant'Elia"


I painted this dragon in about 1978. It's probably the largest canvas I've ever done. Through a number of moves and lack of care, it is gone now, but I photographed it before it disappeared. I'm guessing it was about five feet tall. The dragon, the street sign, and the doorway come from a photo I took of the Town Hall (Rathaus) in Munich. I would have to hunt for that photo, so I'll link to photos that someone else put online. Here is one of the dragon sculpture, and here is one showing the dragon showing more of the Rathaus.

I didn't like the way the painting was going when I tried to paint it to look like the original building and sculpture, so I changed the color of the dragon and obliterated the setting except for the street sign. So, what to use for a background? I took the design from a drawing of by Antonio Sant'Elia for building in the Futurist style. Somewhat modified, but not much, I thought it was the perfect setting for my dragon. Although realistic street sign was now totally out of place, I liked the balance and couldn't think of anything I'd prefer to put there, so I left it. It's the tail end of "Weinstrasse" with a German double "s."

Since the sign has a story behind it, I thought I'd link with "Signs, Signs" today.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Three Painted Greek Fish

Chicago ~ April 21, 2005

This is the third and last post of my ancient Greek "fish bowl" series. You can see the first two here and here.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Greyhound in Stone

London ~ February 20, 2010

Greyhound or whippet, I don't know, but this this artful dog on the wide end of a banister was one of the beautifully-carved animals that caught my attention inside the Natural History Museum in London. Here is another carving from one of the banisters.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Thursday, March 10, 2011