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GENESIS OF A COMPLEX PAINTING: 4 The student may notice echoes of familiarity of artists of other eras, a hint of Watteau, a slice of Canaletto, a little Giorgione, Titan and Caravaggio. One thing is certain, I used no live or photographic models for this painting. The use body language is the key and for this I search the paintings of the masters. The forms like I adjust and use in whatever narrative position my painting dictates. Just as when I am writing a story I populate it with friends and acquaintances exaggerating and refining their characters - and changing their names of course. With painting once the framework for the picture is established it is unavoidable that reason and imagination dictate line, form and shadow.

The marriage of landscape and figure is the great challenge and in this regard none excels Giorgione in innovation. ~ THE MISTAKES ~ Nothing worthwhile in life is ever too easy. Others say they mine their talent as if it was a everlasting seam, their lives filled with accomplishment and easy genius. I pan gold in a pebble stream that yields little, blisters the fingers and vanishes at the moment of discovery. 1. Underneath the girl in the red dress are three other figures completely different and entirely unsatisfactory. 2. The two figures in the bottom right hand corner were once standing in place of the artist and his easel. 3. A bridge once spanned the area between the island and the 20th century.

4. The ship changed direction as the wind was not suitable for the man with the wings. 5. The terrace once had crenellations. 6. The position of the artist's model was changed four times. 7. The boy with the hoop kept running into the tree - I finally moved the tree. 8. A man with a jug of ale rested against the rail in the foreground until the heron replaced him. 9. The observatory shrunk and grew and shrunk again. 10. A large marble statue of a stag disappeared from the courtyard. 11. The tiles changed color - red brown to yellow brown. 12. The distant boats shrunk and changed direction. 13. A moon disappeared from the night sky. 14. The Venetian palace was moved twice and finally half hidden by trees. ... and much much more.

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