Eagle
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100x75cm
This is the second painting I have created using stripes, inspired by Bridget Riley's vertical stripe paintings. It was my intention to combine elements of abstraction with the figurative. In this case, my subject matter is an eagle.
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My paintings of large predatory birds are based on video clips I gathered at The Falconry Centre in Thirsk a few years ago. The staff were very tolerant and helpful as I skulked around with my video camera, getting shots of the magnificent creatures in their possession.
There is a link to their website at the bottom of this page.
I started with a frame from one of my videos, which I worked up in Photoshop. I then used the resulting image as the basis for the painting.
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The vertical stripes were achieved using Frog Tape, a mind-blowing improvement on masking tape. The size and the placement of the stripes was determined by the features within the subject - an eye, for example, which might usefully be highlighted.
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The eagle took me around three months to complete, as did the vulture, below.
Vulture
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100x75cm
I used contrasting colour palettes for these two paintings. For the vulture, I used a predominantly red palette, offset with blue, orange and lime green accents. The intention here is to emphasise the rather morbid (to human sensibilities) nature of this animal.
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For the eagle I used a lighter colour palette with broader stripes, creating a freer, less claustrophobic composition.
Here is a link to the Falconry Centre in, Thirsk, UK...
Some photos I took at the Falconry Centre...
