The Sheikh شيخ is the "elder", a leader or teacher. Whatever it may seem from the outside, at the heart of the teacher is an empty space...
This one goes with much love to the links in the chain.
Original on 360g Murillo paper, 50x50 cm.
Print on Redbubble. Creation process:
This design had a difficult birth. At first I thought I had arrived easily at a composition:
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| The last thumbnail was my original "final". |
But when came the time to paint it, it got all messed up. I took that as a clue something wasn't quite right with it yet, and indeed I wasn't fully satisfied with the design. The dots were too prominent, yet couldn't be changed, and the inside measurements were not simple enough. A design can look complex but be based on very simple relationships; the more complicated those relationships, the more we're moving away from the essence of the word that I'm trying to grasp.
For a long time I didn't know what to do, until it occurred to me that I needed to remove the article Al- that I had included in my original design. It was wrong both visually and conceptually.
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| Top: Interesting but not fitting. Bottom: Removing Al- |
And so as if by magic all fell into place... and I found good paper!
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| Pencils and starting to apply the white (acrylic this time) from the center, with a super fine brush. |
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| Filling the design, using masking tape to define the straight edges. Not necessary, but it allows quick broad strokes. |
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| Three layers of white later, before inking and gilding. |
