Project 5: Semi-abstract Figurative Painting

This is where all the work I have been doing has been leading towards: what I have been calling a "Semi-Abstract" style of figurative painting.

I have waited till now to post up the paintings I have been making partly due to the uncertainty that firstly, they are worth showing, and secondly, that they meet the criteria I have set myself.

I am very uncertain that they meet either standard.

Regardless, there is no turning back. I have presented those pieces of work which I had finished to the OCA tutor and duly received my "Tutors Report" and "Certificate of Completion".

I could stop there and rest on my laurels and do nothing more since I had completed all that I set out to do.

Except I haven't.

What I have done is, even to my mind, the culmination of a fantastic journey but I still need to get some perspective on it, and also complete a couple of paintings so far undone. I also intend to apply for an "Assessment", submission for which is at the end of June this year. So still some work to do.

At the outset I was so nervous about posting all this work for the world (or at least those foolish enough to stop by at this address) that I restricted access and comment to a very few people. Not all took up the invitation to be included, and not all chose to leave any comment. For those that did I would like to express my gratitude for you taking the time to look and voice your opinions.

Now I am much more relaxed about it all and therefore have removed the restricted access and invite anyone to look and comment. All I would ask is that you are at least constructive.

The Project:

One evening last August, having just had a break from working on this Course, I was lying about wondering what theme I would choose to hang this final project on (for I always must have a theme). Watching and listening to the BBC's Proms Season they were playing Gustav Holst's "Planets" and I knew this was the ideal vehicle for me: seven planets (at the time of his composing in 1918), plus Pluto (which was discovered in 1933, even though it is only considered a Binary Dwarf planet), and to which I have also added the Sun (Apollo), The Moon (Artemis), and of course The Earth (Gaia) making potentially 11 paintings in all.
This combines my love of painting with my love of music and also my love of Space, the final frontier. To boldly go....

My intention was to represent each planet with it's personification, not as the ancients (Greeks and Romans) had already done (although I would take all that mythology into account), but with a contemporary take.
Could I do it?
We shall see in the following postings.