HOMO HARMONICUS COLORATIS

TEACHING THE MISCHTECHNIK

       This painting was created as a demonstration piece during The 2024 Summer Seminar at Torri Superiore Italy. I wanted to show the students how different colours can blend in the eye of the beholder ('the optical mixing of colour') when a semi-opaque layer of white casein sits between various colour layers applied in an oleo-varnish medium (the Mischtechnik).

HARMONY, COLOUR & PROPORTION 

       The initial drawing was made for the Anthropos - one of the main figures in my first large-scale paintings for The Apocryphon Chapel, called The Upper Aeons. The Gnostic Anthropos is both male and female - a hermaphroditic figure that is later divided into Adam and Eve. 

     While writing Sacred Codes, I went very deep into the study of Human Proportion and the Classical Style. Proportionally, the standing figure may be equally divided into four parts at the nipples, pubis and knees. Stylistically, the figure combines the Classic Greek musculature for both male and female anatomies.

     The Anthropos stands against The Harmonic Armature - a geometrical shape that measures out the Diapason halves, Diapente thirds and Diatessaron quarters for any composition (you can read more about Harmonic Composition in the section on The Halls of Wisdom). 

     At the same time, I have layered colours so that they combine harmonically in the eye of the beholder. I began with yellow and violet at the top and bottom, then added a semi-transparent layer of blue and red on top, to the left and right. After that, I worked towards the secondary and tertiary colours in the composition and the figure.

     All in all, I think of this painting as an exercise rather than a work of art - but an interesting exercise nevertheless... All these investigations are explained in detail in the chapters of my book Sacred Codes.