This is my second update about my Original Artwork-in-Progress ~ A Medieval Fair (18″ x 24″), and I’m happy with how it’s unfolding so far.  I continued the theme of trying to create a softer distance impression in the background from the sky down through the mountains and forests, allowing them to fade into a fog shrouded dreamscape.  My plan is to make the castle and foreground the primary focus of the painting, while letting the background fade into the distance.

I enjoy the fact that paintings take on a life of their own during the process of painting them, as I have little idea at the start as to how the painting will unfold ~ even after sketching it out at the beginning. A good example of this, are the castle’s three giant doors or gates, as they each lead into a different level of the fortress.  In the beginning, I hadn’t even considered creating two visible upper gates, thinking the space was simply part of an elaborate main gate construct.  Now I think of each gate individually as a magic door.

The outer castle gate and door represents ‘earth’ and has the outline of mountains inscribed upon it.  The middle door represents ‘nature’ and has the silhouette of a tree outlined on it.  The upper door represents the ‘sky’ with ornate hinges, tying into the castle’s stained glass windows in the upper level.  In addition, the three castle walls grow lighter in shade with each level, with the white walls of the upper level of the castle representing the Medieval chivalrous notion of ‘truth, purity and light.’  So in essence, each painting develops a story during the process of painting it, never imagined by the artist at the beginning of the process.

Next I turn my attention to the Medieval Fair, with the jousting tournament, colorful tents and people in the foreground ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

‘A Medieval Fair’ (18″ x 24″) ~ (Copyright 2017, Mark D. Jones, All Rights Reserved)