This morning I put the three moth paintings on my easel and stood back to get some notion of what this is all about. There's no question in my mind that these paintings are connected to Howard whose death (as most of you know) was eight months ago. Howard's lifetime hero was Homer, his works and his attitude about the heroes of these works.
In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, is the account of Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus, the Cyclops. You know the story. This particular moth--who chose to attach herself to my porch screen to lay her eggs before dying--is a Polyphemus, having been named for the Cyclops because of the large eye-like patterns on her wings.
Remember, I discovered while researching moths that their flight patterns follow celestial navigation and it was only after I'd set up a system using that principle to create a spiral pattern to establish a vanishing point that I was able to do a satisfactory drawing of the third painting.
The completion of this painting is where I am at the moment while a fourth view of the same moth has now captured my attention.
I'm now doing gesture drawings, trying to discover the movement pattern of this particular view. I'm thinking this will be the largest of all the paintings. Each has grown progressively larger as the series has progressed.
Perhaps I will post some of the studies tomorrow. So many of you have emailed and commented on Facebook about how you've enjoyed watching the third painting emerge that I've decided to share the evolving of this one as well.
Once again, stay tuned.
And enjoy your Friday.
Dianne
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