Angels Mermaids and Fairies at the Fountain of Youth



Another worldclass resort where you can have whatever you wish... Dancing Waters --- in case you haven't noticed --- is a fountain of dancing nymphs and enchanting mermaids where you can rejuvenate your body from just a sip, a dip or a swim. Talk about instant gratification...hmmm.

Well, painting portraits is one way to go. I can almost hear the model tell me: "Make me look younger" . Or even beyond that. One could be immortalized...on canvas. Magical stuff.

I'm getting into more and more mystique and enchantment here in (on) Crystal Island as I start to feel the place where I can actually paint anything I want... with fantasy art and illustration. That said, I like to look back to the classics and it's not at all awkward to combine images and mythology of the past with today's contemporary fashion. It seems like the painting of Resort Themes has virtually liberated me from any contextual constraints and I'm excited about creating more in this genre!

For the longest time, mermaids and fairies, nymphs and satyrs and other sexy and classic subjects have always been part of my art. For I was fascinated by the stories and how much of our English language borrowed their root meanings from these myths. That and all the illustrations and fantastic paintings of the Victorian artists, Pre Raphaelites, Salon painters and Royal Academicians---well, their paintings were simply irresistible! After all,they lived in a sexually repressed society and those bohemian artists knew how to bring out the Antediluvian demons in them. So one can say that Art plays a really healthy part in society...and now I invite you to come for a swim and meet someone enchanting from another world and time.

More Angels, Mermaids and Fairies...and Pin-Up

So join these ageless beauties while you're here on Crystal Island. Isn't it amazing how ageless beauty and fantasy go hand in hand so naturally? Now you begin to see why I'm painting a lot of sexy mermaids! You'll find angels, waifs and fairies too in other fountains of youth in other parts of the island. In future I will paint Disney beauties, Jazmin, Cinderella and more. But each will be sexier than the usual family entertainment fare. Siren is an example of the Little Mermaid gone wild.

I tend to relate so much of my art to women's physical beauty. I've seen and studied so much of it in the movies and other media and so much more in Art...paintings, pin-up, sculpture, mosaics, fashionable portraits and contemporary fashion shows etc. Even when I paint from life, a photograph or straight from my head, I tend to idealize. Some people think that painting every wrinkle and unbeautiful reality is honesty. That's subjective---and I respect that. I suppose my exposure to glamour art and the media has entrenched a natural tendency for me to seek all idealized facets of beauty. And there's nothing dishonest about it, for distortion in art can be used either to express realism or to idealize. That said, I do know how a great artist like Vermeer can make an unbeautiful daughter look beautiful in paint----without idealizing her. That most certainly attests to the exquisite way he painted.

The ideal beautiful woman has certainly changed over the centuries. With changing tastes and norms, many of the best representations of beautiful women were associated with royalty or noble men---for they were the ones who could afford the rare talents of a master. And they became the tastemakers for centuries! Occasionally, you'll come across a simple commoner who has inspired a young and naive artist to paint her... and I see a lot of beauty in that. Perhaps more. Today, you can find so many more beautiful women---thanks to modern cosmetics... and cosmetic surgery. Amazing what people go through in search of the fountain of youth. Blame it all on Hollywood and the media!

I personally like more rounded forms when painting women. I don't know if this came from years of studying classical paintings and sculpture. I always look for the ideal proportions and the seemingly casual pose, and yet more curves in all the right places! How can anyone ignore that? Whatever happened to the curvaceous calendar girls and hourglass figures like Marilyn Monroe? That's sexy! Most men wanna have something to grab. Don't be fooled by these overly slim supermodel displays. I see too many anorexic looking models with bony arms and clavicles everyday...and they don't spark any inspiration in me. Maybe it's just me.