31 October 2012

St. Clement....is finished.

An iconographer's prayer reads,

"Teach me . . . to imagine the work without despair if it should turn out differently..." 

It continues, "keep me from achieving perfection, for surely I would be lost in arrogance." 

Well, surely that is not a problem.  

I was impatient, I moved too quickly in the middle of the work, and I lost some of the potential beauty. My paint was too thick at times, and I lost some of the earlier color gradients in the ocean and on his robes...but overall I am content.  

I set out to paint an Icon of St. Clement that was true to his person, and I am happy with the final image.  It's not exactly what I had envisioned - nor is it as good as I think it can be - but it is an effort through which I learned much ~ more about myself, incidentally, than about the Saint.

No comments:

Post a Comment