I have been marveling at Joan Miró‘s constellation series. One in particular really strikes my fancy: The Beautiful Bird Revealing the Unknown to a Pair of Lovers. There are SO many icons, outlines and other characters!
The title of Miró’s work cited above is an enticement to look for the narrative in the artwork itself. This is the style I would like to emulate. I spent a fair amount of time with my sketch pad thinking of patterns, not just any patterns, but patterns that tell stories. I used the adage coined by Paul Klee and “took my pencil point for a walk”, a walk with a purpose.
I transferred the first of my sketches to watercolor paper and proceeded to paint the watercolor shown below:
Nature Laughs
9″x12″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block
Those of you who have followed my blog for a while might recognize the two icons I developed months ago (from my Progress post back in October). An unintended consequence of my design became apparent after I began painting. That figure dominates the upper part of the composition and inspired the name for this piece.
I love that Constellation series. Nice response. (K)
I’ve been reading about this series. They were painted in 1940-1941 and supposedly are all about the war. I’m trying to use the concept for my own narrative.
I didn’t know that. I’ll have to look at them again and think about it.
Really beautiful painting. You captured Ms. Miro’s style very well without compromising your own.
Thank you very much, Claire. I appreciate your comment. Just a note though, ‘Joan’ is pronounced like John. He was Catalonian (from Spain), just a few years younger than Picasso.
best,
Jack
Ahh… Thank you for correcting me 🙂 I had never seen his work before. I appreciate you sharing!