Male Nude 01

This was a custom portrait painted on unstretched cotton canvas. I combined loose paint splashes with thick oil brushstrokes, using diluted shadows against heavier layers of paint to accentuate the light across the body. The canvas was primed with a transparent gesso to preserve its raw texture, creating a contrast with the richness of the oil paint. Subtle touches of gold were added to the midtones, catching the light and shifting as you move around the piece. To complete the painting, I incorporated Sylvia Plath’s Mad Girl’s Love Song as a small love note to the viewer.

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)