Hadrian Reports

PLEASE NOTE: This painting is more luminous, the colors are richer and more vibrant, when viewed in person. The pigments used to capture some of those luscious blues and teals do not reproduce well on computer screens.

Oh my! I have worked so hard on this piece and I am so excited about the results. This painting is a tribute to Hadrian the Rat. He was a much loved friend to one of my customers and she commissioned his portrait as a lasting memory of her sweet sweet pet. I very much wanted to capture his playful, devoted spirit and the specialness of his existence. On some level, I also felt compelled to capture him in a way that implied his love for my friend as well. In this image he is reporting back to Mom on the state of the Universe.

I am thrilled with how this painting unfolded and most excited about the ways in which the execution of the painting supports the content. This is my loosest, most free, most playful and expressive painting to date, I think. I am tickled with the organic expressive lines, the light hopeful application of colorful washes, and the attention to detail in certain key spots. I am also excited that I allowed some areas of this piece to stay more raw and transparent. I think that lends energy to the composition.

Mostly I love the idea of Angel rats feasting on sweat peas. In chalices.

A special thank you to Hadrian's Mom for inviting me to create this commissioned piece. Commissions scare me and cause sleepless nights for me because I so want my customers to appreciate my odd visions. But they invariably turn out to be my favorite pieces.

How this painting was created..... This is primarily a traditional brush painting, though I did use palette knives and my fingers at various stages or underpainting. This piece has many layers of color and some visible texture.

(The staple-free sides are painted black so you can display this painting unframed if you like. This is a digital photo. The scans above are more accurate.)

This piece was created on a gallery stretched canvas primed with black acrylic gesso. The staple-free sides have been painted black. This painting may be displayed unframed directly on the wall or it can be easily and affordably framed as it required no matting or glass.