5th November 2019
Resuming work on my new painting ‘The restoration of Bettie Page’. I’m doing the military base. I threw in the DIXI toilets, the MRAP and the Chevrolet Suburban. On the back I did the set-up of the mountain range and explosion. There is a lot more to add since I want to kick up a lot of fuss.
The reason to add details to the absurd max is to create and endless sea of creation and activity, an idea I took up after I saw Jan van Eyck’s ‘Madonna of Chancellor Rolin‘ at the Groeningemuseum at Bruges, Belgium in 2002.
I was struck by the many details in the back of the painting that did not compete with the main motif but rather complemented it and by that becoming a painting 2.0 – for those who want to see more after consuming the main theme.
Since then I instruct my students the value of detailing: a supporting role and in this specific case a kind of outro. After Jan van Eyck it is my turn now.
