The outreached hand

I am getting ready to install the final member of my cast of 16 vestal virgins.

I am fixated by the phrase "one of the sixteen vestal virgins who were leaving for the coast" and I have sort of developed a narrative for this painting that I am attempting, hoping to identify the reason why these vestals are leaving.  Therefore I need to instill some notion to signify that they are leaving.

I am assigning this role to this last member.  I am painting her propping her torso up with one arm and reaching out with the other.  I suppose one can interpret that as crying out for help, or she is in the act of crawling away and seeking consolation at the same time.

 

I am depicting her with her hair strewn down in front of her bare shoulders to add to that distressed, demented appearance.  I believe I have watched one too many horror psycho movies. 

The out screeched phalanges add drama and movement to the figure, and they are in direct contrast to the obscured fingers from the other hand.

I am quite enamored with the vibes emanating from the simple silhouette so I have decided to leave this vestal alone and not to adorn her with too many wavy lines. 

In my mind at least, this last member of the assembly gives some reference to the word "leaving".

The fetal position

I have been developing a story line as my painting project is underway.  As I am approaching the finish line of this project, I am getting a more succinct mental picture with regards to all the little subplots.  

The next model I am inserting will serve two purposes.  Primarily to tell my story, but also to help conceal the grease stains that I inadvertently left on my wool under-pad and wicked through my paper.

Her role is portray someone who is under deep duress and is in a situation that one cannot abscond from.  She resorts to curling up in a fetal position with her back to her cohorts.  She is alone in a crowd.  She feels forsaken.  

Unlike the last model whose face is absent, I am describing her face, hopefully hinting at her current state of disposition. 

The confrontation

 My plan is to insert a model occupying the middle part of the Xuan paper.  The pose I have in mind is model standing on her feet with arms on her hips.  A rather standard pose.

Initially I want to place her next to the model with the raised head.  I decided against that after I reassessed the composition.  My painting already has a model looking outwards with a half raised poise.  I am therefore obliged to leave the area of her gaze empty.  In other words an imaginary cone is placed in front of her eyes and nothing should violate that cone.  That is restricted airspace.  A no fly zone.

I therefore relocate my intended model next to the one with a cover draped on.  I have allowed plenty of room for both models to muse and ponder and not get into each other's hair.  Literally.  

So the face of the model is left out on purpose.  I want to leave some ambiguity as to which direction is the model is looking towards.  At first I want to have the model looking at the head-half-raised model as if to address her but then I think it would be a little too smug, especially considering the body language.  

My standing model has her arms on her hips, conferring a savvy, not easily backing down persona.  She might as well be confronting someone outside the group, or being defensive about something.

One of the sixteen

 "one of the sixteen vestal virgins

  who were leaving for the coast"

That is part of the lyric of  "A Whiter Shade of Pale", the song that motivated me in doing this painting.

I still cannot grasp the meaning of the song, despite my research on the Miller's tale and the Vestal virgins.  Regardless, the song mentions one of the sixteen, and collectively they were leaving.  So what makes this "one" deserving special mentioning?

For this "one" to stand out, I am going to fabricate my own protagonist for this painting.   She must appears to be different from the other fifteen.  My decision is that she should be covered, partially at least.

She would be trying to cover herself  up with a piece of cloth, while leaving her shoulders and knees exposed. 

I am placing her gaze in the direction of the vestal who is fiddling with the sieve.

My rationale for doing that is I want to involve the vestal with the sieve into the group dynamics.  She might be totally occupied with the sieve but she is not alone.  I am developing a story line which I shall divulge near the end of the painting.  For now let's just play along with my plot and acknowledge that her efforts are not unnoticed.  The vestal with the cloth is watching her intently with certain resignation, by covering up,  as if to prepare for a certain outcome.  Why does she need a security blanket all of a sudden?   Could she have, as in the Garden of Eden, eaten the forbidden fruit, lost her innocence and knows shame now?  What is her emotional state? 

Then I look at my painting of the model who is looking up towards the outside of the assembly.  

All of a sudden I am catching an optical illusion.  My intention was to paint the model with the pose of her left arm by the side and extending her right arm forward at an angle.  But when I glance at the painting, it is as if the model is crossing her left arm in front of her chest and resting on her right shoulder.  Once my brain is imprinted with that suggestion, it is difficult for me to interpret any other way.  This is almost like a brain tease that one sees from time to time, whether one sees a rabbit (by seeing the void) or one sees the silhouettes of trees surrounding the void.

For now I am not going to deal with this conundrum.  In a way I think this is really wicked.  It forced me to give pause and ponder.  Is that her elbow or her breasts.  Perhaps I shall let the viewers do the same.

Four new recruits

Now that I have the front row and middle seats filled with vestals, I am looking the fill in the side aisles.  

I surmise I have enough space for 4 models to occupy the left side of the painting.

I am going to paint all four of them and not to wait for the completion of each individual models.  Perhaps I want to have some continuity in my thoughts, or could it be that I am actually getting a little weary over this project.

For this arrangement, I have the top model flat on her back, as if nothing worries her, and having a profite de l'instant attitude.

In contrast the vestal directly below her is doubled over, clenching her fist as in frustration.  I am keeping what I've learned from Chinese painting about contrasts, in form, in density and in meaning.  I am hoping that the viewer will explore the hidden meaning of this painting.  The Ying Yang as you call it.  If all else fails, at least I am secretly rejoiced that I am interpreting and expressing some kind of a notion.

The model to the left of her has an open gesture, as if to appeal or to offer an explanation.  The fact that she has her legs crossed and clamped down signals that she is trying to make herself appear more streamlined and diminutive, making herself more appealing, less confrontational. 

The fourth member of this new recruit team is on her knees crawling over to another vestal who has her leg legs stretched out.    I find the placement of this model tricky.  My first sketching inadvertently placing her outreached hand between the legs of the other model.  The implication of that is rather dubious.  I placate the critic in me by placing her hand behind the legs.

Upon closer examination I become aware of another inadvertent quagmire.  In my haste, I had an impulsive moment to paint some shadows.  I wouldn't exactly call that prosaic, but I did it without much thought or planning, lacking in discipline.

The consequence of such an act renders my model with the appearance of having 3 legs.

In fact I have difficulty deciphering which one is not a leg.  Oh boy!

There is a saving grace for this painting so far however.  The brushstrokes in the top model display such raw energy.  It is true that I try to attain the same virtuosity with all my brushstrokes but this particular model allows the brushstrokes to showcase their own nuances.  I don't know if it has to do with her pose, but all the lines seem to add up and my brush just traverses on its own.  No going over or correction is necessary.  Thus I decide to let this stand as it is, without the same garnishment of fine white lines etc. that all the other models received.  I feel that I had practiced perfect calligraphy.

This particular figure perhaps helps to address the elephant in the room, "What does this painting have to do with Chinese brush painting".  Here I take liberty in interpreting "Chinese brush painting", and by that I mean painting done with a Chinese brush, and not in the narrow context that the painting has to exhibit the stereotypical image of a classical Chinese painting.  Thus the girl's top thigh is done with a center tip brushstroke with the "tips" hidden for round ends.  The bottom thigh is another center tip brushstroke that extends beyond the waist, with rotating brush shaft at the buttock, such that the brush tip is always following the direction of the brush travel.  Areas that have ink is "written" in and not filled in or smeared in as in a coloring book.  One can say that the entire body is made up of  adjoining brushstrokes as in writing.  So here I am trying to extoll the virtues of the Chinese brush and point out some of the nuances.  Am I being didactic?

A most fortuitous happening for sure.  

Filling in the middle

 Now that I have the front row of Vestals established, and having the clue in the form of a sieve placed in my painting, I need to think about growing the numbers of vestals.

I will fill up the space behind the vestal with the sieve first.  I shall try a pose of the model sitting on the bent over sieve model, in appearance anyways.

I think this is an interesting pose, having models arched in opposite directions, forming an X, creating some sort of tension.

To fill in the space between the two models, I insert a model looking upwards at a 45 degree angle, directing the viewer outside of the painting.

A third model is placed on her knees, crawling over to another model with outreached arm, establishing some sort of a connection.

The Sieve

As I said from the beginning, when I first thought about painting the Vestal virgins, I worried about if the painting could be considered obscene and not suitable for public places.  My plan was to obfuscate with misplaced shadows and lights and outlines to make the obvious less obvious?  Does that even make sense?  

I also alluded to what I've learned about the Vestal Virgins, of the belief that these Priestesses possessing magical power, and as proof of their chastity by rendering a sieve leak-proof.  In other words, they can carry water with sieves.  My plan then was to include a sieve, or sieves in my painting to give it a smidgen of historical facts.  Perhaps not everybody researched the topic and some of us would wonder about the significance of such sieves and beg the question.   This would be an interesting morsel of trivia anyways.

There, this painting is not about nudity but references tantalizing background information about the institution of Vestals.  I feel much better now.

The nude is born with a pencil sketching first.

Defining my light values with ink and flesh color acrylic, and finish up with wavy white and ink lines for definition and highlights.

I am establishing the first hint that this is a painting about the Vestals.  A Vestal fidgeting with a sieve to see if it's still watertight?  Perhaps to validate her status as a Vestal Virgin?

As I am planting the clues I get a sense of going down the rabbit hole.  What to reveal next.