Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Coyote and Crow, a Diptych

Elise Mesnard
My newest series Coyote and Crow creates a diptych with larger than life figures, inspired by Native American shamans embodying the god or spirit they wished to invoke. Coyote and Crow were both trickster spirits who brought misfortune to the humans through their play but also acted as a balancing act in relation to the other gods. As Coyote and Crow are both very cunning they naturally fought quite a bit against one another. In the diptych, I show the heated gaze between the two and have placed them in an otherworldly atmosphere in which the shaman would enter to cross the bridge between the unseen divine in nature and the physical mundanity of our existence.



The completed images shown here are preparatory drawings for the Coyote and Crow paintings, I feel that drawing them out and fully working on the problems within placement, composition and rendering- helps me better carry out the final painting (which is on two 5' x 5' canvases, as opposed to the drawings, which were only 4' x 4')
Crow (Left) and Coyote (Right)
 Conte and Charcoal with Gesso on Panel, 48" x 48" each


"Crow" Underpainting



Starting the "Coyote" underpainting


Elise Mesnard
"Coyote" figure portion of the underpainting almost complete!

Getting to work on the paintings, wish me well!

xox Elise Mesnard

Alchemy Series

Started working on my new series on the pseudo-science of alchemy in its old-world medicinal setting. Originally inspired by the Plague Doctor, for each painting I have an herb associated with the old practices of medicine or with alchemy or witchcraft in general. Left is Mugwort, center is Belladonna, and right is Datura. Then I have the three base component alchemical symbols, Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury. And at the bottom I have a representational object- A mortar and pestle, an animal's skull, and a rounded glass vial. 

Working on Belladonna