The Spirit of Painting

The largest and most complex painting I've done to date. I spent about eight months working pretty steadily in the evening and on my few days off. I have no idea how long it took, many, many hours.

I painted her as the patron spirit for our art shop, embodying creativity and painting itself. I tried to paint her in the style of the old Masters, inspired by my favourites such as Waterhouse, Bouguereau, Draper, Godward, Alma-Tadema, Leighton, etc.

I also painted it with the traditional technique of first painting it in grisaille (grey scale), then building up layers and glazes overtop until I was satisfied with the result. It was laborious, but I definitely learned a lot in the process.

I framed her in Grecian gold to befit the era, and she hangs in our shop "The Painted Lady" as a permanent store guardian