Lately I have been working on a bunch of icons lately and hope to have at least 20 for sale at diocesan synod in Annapolis, MD this summer. These are the best icons I have ever done. The really exciting, though, is simply working in egg tempera. Today I realized just how much I enjoy this medium. I have to say that were it not for iconography I probably would never have tried egg tempera. It is a great medium in which to work because it is both rigid and flexible... sort of in between watercolor and oil. The amount of detail you can get is staggering, and I really like the matte look of the paint. For now this medium is so closely aligned with iconography in my mind I would never use it for anything else. I once painted some landscapes in tempera and only one of them came out okay. The problem was I was not painting icons! It just didn't work. I love egg tempera, so that means I will be painting icons for many years to come. Perhaps one day I will branch out and try some additional subject matter in this medium once more.
I have really been enjoying getting back into landscape painting. It is a quite a challenge for someone who has for so long painted in a rigid, geometric style. I've been doing a bunch a small studies in oil on canvas board to get back into practice. I've also been experimenting with landscape in egg tempera and doing some work that I think is good. Once again edge tempera proves itself to be a versatile and beautiful medium... no wonder Wyeth used it so much! The goal is to do a number of small egg tempera landscapes, and some in watercolor as I did about 12 years ago, and then to do some larger landscape paintings in oil on canvas. For some reason when I paint in oil I need to work larger. I am still working on my older stuff. Just recently I completed a very small icon commission of the Virgin and Child (picture below - sorry for the glare in the photo), and I am currently working on a largish icon of the Descent of Christ from the Cross. The Sunday school kids are fas...
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