Michael WhelanSHE (2004)
Oil on Linen - 48" x 36"
A private commission for the book by H. Rider Haggard. 1/4
This was a labor of love but a tough painting to get done. I had to start over twice. I felt like I just wasn’t nailing the effect I wanted, and on a painting this large, that became exhausting. 2/4
I was dedicated to trying my best to capture the author’s description of the scene. I used three different models, none of whom really worked for this one image, I’m sorry to say. 3/4
But it wasn’t for lack of effort on their part; it had more to do with my having an incomplete vision of the final image in my head, I think.
James Baker 🍁@MichaelWhelan Funny how that second sketch with the three hands now looks almost contemporary, as an AI hallucination…!