FORCES OF NATURE series

I've been working on this series called, FORCES OF NATURE, for maybe five years. The idea was to give myself a 'grand project' outside of my illustration work, but using the techinques & skills I've developed for Illustration. It's based on the ancient concept of allegorical figures representing, in this case, anything I see as a force of nature. Traditionaly, allegorical figures were used to represent ideas like Wisdom, Justice, or Liberty, like the colosal statue in NY harbor. Seasons have also been represented by figures. I set out to do 12 of them, so they could become a calendar, perhaps, but I haven't been pursuing that too hard. In fact, I've been taking my time with them, for a change. The illustration business is pretty high pressure and you don't often have the time to really develop ideas over time. So giving myself a defined project like this keeps me focused and provides a framework for developing long-term ideas. So far, I have: The Storm, The Tides, The Stars, The Night, The Day. Previous versions of The Sun and The Moon are being re-worked. Other themes that I'm considering are: Time, The Volcano, The Forest and the four seasons, done individually. The Wind might also be an exciting one. The project started out digitally, posing models, or using shots from previous photo shoots and going from there. More about models and shoots later. Now I've taken to painting these in oil about 36 inches by 24 inches. This fits in with the leisurly pace I have set for the series and allows for further development.