Scene II The Four Living Creatures (EAGLE)
The Four Living Creatures
(Working Images)
(Working Images)
And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, [were] four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a human, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev. 4:6-8)
This is an important part of The Revelation Painting for me. I believe I have been drawing eyes my entire life for this! Although I remember trying desperately to draw these creatures when very young, I could not master it. Giving up on it for many years, again, here I will try to recreate what I have seen related to Revelation 4:6.
My main problem here are the bodies of the creatures because the bodies are not mentioned. In order to paint the portions mentioned; the faces-A lion, calf, human and eagle I will paint those images but make the fiber optics of GOD and the brilliant white light shine into their chest where the bodies nor the feet will show.
Using actual white feathers in this portion, I will apply them with glue and varnish, making them smooth, highlight them using gouache and thinned paint, then paint the eyes on them. I would prefer the eyeballs protrude in all directions, which will require countless hours of work. Below is an example of the feathers sealed which have the basic eye color applied:
As you can see at the bottom tips of the feathers, detail work will be required to make the feathers match and not appear as though the creature has been "ruffled". It is imperative to pour lacquer into and onto the scene when it is complete to decrease opportunistic decay from underlying air bubbles over time.
The face of the eagle is a rough sketch. Research is required to make it appear realistic. I sketched the head in all different directions and felt that the eagle, since he is the end creature would look best if he were looking outward at the audience. His eyes will be larger and yellow/gold.
The texture of the feathers are seen here. One thing I learned in painting the sky in the previous blog was that the texture is forgiving. If it is highlighted as above but not appealing, you can re highlight it in a different color or tone to pick up more detail as long as the paint is thin. The thicker, the more it takes away the depth.
Iris's of many, many colors will be painted, then detailed with colored pencils and spots of light added. I thought about other types of eyes, from animals, birds, and fish but will stick with humanistic eyes with various sized pupils. I once read that artwork is more appealing if the pupils are larger but will not follow that rule today, at least not for the eagle because his pupils are relatively small.
This is the first time during the painting I brought in the use of colored pencils. My pencils of choice are Prismacolor. The terra cotta colored background is colored pencil but not Prismacolor, it is Prang. The white of the sclera is an oil based pencil, like oil paint but firmer. The lighter color ring around the pupil is Prang.
For those of you who do not use colored pencils for your art, Prismacolor is a soft pigment which can easily be blended to create soft, uniform color or fading. That is why it is not used here, I was concerned about the smear on the white sclera of the eye since I am left handed.
For this work, Prang is better because the eyes are painted with Fluid Acrylics which dry like a plastic, so it makes colored pencil work very hard to do without damaging the surface of the paint. Prang is firmer, much firmer than Prismacolor but lays a soft shade which can be repeated.
There should be around five total phases to making the hundreds and hundreds of eyes required for these Four Living Creatures. The third phase will be shadowing, the fourth depth (light and dark), and the fifth will be to add the glaze which makes them appear human.
I am feeling pleased with the result so far but I did not calculate the time which will be required to do them on such a large scale. The size of the eyes on the canvas are nearly actual size compared to a human eye but the Four Living Creatures span nearly two canvases (96" or 8 feet) and there are six wings on each creature.
There is a lot more work to these living creatures than I anticipated! This is the working image of the Eagle (face) with his six wings covered with eyes inside and out.
This is an important part of The Revelation Painting for me. I believe I have been drawing eyes my entire life for this! Although I remember trying desperately to draw these creatures when very young, I could not master it. Giving up on it for many years, again, here I will try to recreate what I have seen related to Revelation 4:6.
My main problem here are the bodies of the creatures because the bodies are not mentioned. In order to paint the portions mentioned; the faces-A lion, calf, human and eagle I will paint those images but make the fiber optics of GOD and the brilliant white light shine into their chest where the bodies nor the feet will show.
Using actual white feathers in this portion, I will apply them with glue and varnish, making them smooth, highlight them using gouache and thinned paint, then paint the eyes on them. I would prefer the eyeballs protrude in all directions, which will require countless hours of work. Below is an example of the feathers sealed which have the basic eye color applied:
As you can see at the bottom tips of the feathers, detail work will be required to make the feathers match and not appear as though the creature has been "ruffled". It is imperative to pour lacquer into and onto the scene when it is complete to decrease opportunistic decay from underlying air bubbles over time.
The face of the eagle is a rough sketch. Research is required to make it appear realistic. I sketched the head in all different directions and felt that the eagle, since he is the end creature would look best if he were looking outward at the audience. His eyes will be larger and yellow/gold.
The texture of the feathers are seen here. One thing I learned in painting the sky in the previous blog was that the texture is forgiving. If it is highlighted as above but not appealing, you can re highlight it in a different color or tone to pick up more detail as long as the paint is thin. The thicker, the more it takes away the depth.
Iris's of many, many colors will be painted, then detailed with colored pencils and spots of light added. I thought about other types of eyes, from animals, birds, and fish but will stick with humanistic eyes with various sized pupils. I once read that artwork is more appealing if the pupils are larger but will not follow that rule today, at least not for the eagle because his pupils are relatively small.
This is the first time during the painting I brought in the use of colored pencils. My pencils of choice are Prismacolor. The terra cotta colored background is colored pencil but not Prismacolor, it is Prang. The white of the sclera is an oil based pencil, like oil paint but firmer. The lighter color ring around the pupil is Prang.
For those of you who do not use colored pencils for your art, Prismacolor is a soft pigment which can easily be blended to create soft, uniform color or fading. That is why it is not used here, I was concerned about the smear on the white sclera of the eye since I am left handed.
For this work, Prang is better because the eyes are painted with Fluid Acrylics which dry like a plastic, so it makes colored pencil work very hard to do without damaging the surface of the paint. Prang is firmer, much firmer than Prismacolor but lays a soft shade which can be repeated.
There should be around five total phases to making the hundreds and hundreds of eyes required for these Four Living Creatures. The third phase will be shadowing, the fourth depth (light and dark), and the fifth will be to add the glaze which makes them appear human.
I am feeling pleased with the result so far but I did not calculate the time which will be required to do them on such a large scale. The size of the eyes on the canvas are nearly actual size compared to a human eye but the Four Living Creatures span nearly two canvases (96" or 8 feet) and there are six wings on each creature.
There is a lot more work to these living creatures than I anticipated! This is the working image of the Eagle (face) with his six wings covered with eyes inside and out.
Still working on the Eagle head. I used a pearl white for the under feathers for two reasons. The first reason was for the lighter white of mat base to be more white as the pearl white has somewhat of a silver-white tone due to the natural mineral MICA. Mica is what is in make up to give its iridescent glow. The mat white on top of it makes a brighter appearance. I believe this combination is what some artist use to create the illusion of light.
The second reason was to illuminate the creature as it is in the light of God's presence. I want to work more on the eyes to create a penetrating look. This will be achieved by shadowing under the eyebrow with light grey. In the slightly yellowish, grey around the eye I will use the same yellow-orange as in the beak. There is still the need for shadow to add depth and the blending to make the head look as part of the bird.
Back to work...
Back to work...
Posted by The Revelation Painting at 12/13/1998 11:39 AM 
Categories: Works in Progress
Tags: prang beast historical bible feathers shadow mica art four living creatures white light prismacolor elements eagle pencils shading lion human god calf eyes creatures angels painting throne wings
Categories: Works in Progress
Tags: prang beast historical bible feathers shadow mica art four living creatures white light prismacolor elements eagle pencils shading lion human god calf eyes creatures angels painting throne wings
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