 On the Camino no satellite GPS is needed: the shells and painted arrows point the way! My Prado Museum experience was a perfect counterpoint to walking the Camino. The bottom band of Painted Steps is the place for painted studies from the works of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes and Hieronymus Bosch, El Bosco, the two artists’ work that I spent the most time with in Madrid. This bottom band starts as a horizontal stretch of bare paper interrupted by vertical pillars and patches painted in to indicate placeholders or niches.  I’m using this space for visual footnotes or commentaries, or as a Greek chorus, or as emphasis, like drawing a line under a word. To see Bosch’s and Goya’s work in one building, the Prado Museum, was fantastic, hitting the jackpot! The Bosch are all in one room: The Adoration of the Magi Triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, The Haywain Triptych, the Table of the Seven Deadly Sins, and Extracting the Stone of Madness and others. The triptychs are displayed on large plinths, opened, free standing and showing the backs as well as the fronts. The backs of the ‘doors ‘are painted in monochrome grisaille, somber, meaning to be closed during Lent. And opened splendidly to reveal the inside. No reproduction of Bosch of any size or close-up-ness prepared me for the gorgeous colour, crystal clarity, and focused wealth of information in these works.  Hieronymus Bosch The Haywain Triptych Oil on panel . 1512 - 1515 The Goyas are in a few separate places in the Museo. The Black paintings taken from the walls of the Quinta del Sordo (country house of the deaf man) in Bordeaux, stretched and hung in the Prado in the 30’s, are together. There are the rooms of paintings Goya was commissioned to make as cartoons for tapestries. There is gallery with the Royal portraits, with the centerpiece- The Family of Carlos IV 1800). (near to Velasquez’ las Meninas – (The family of Felipe IV 1656)  La familia de Carlos IV 1800, 280cm x 336cm The first one I chose to paint is the royal family of Charles? Carlos IV, a group portrait of parents, children, cousins, whose familial dysfunction had lethal consequences. The painting is huge, the figures seem life size. The occasion is formal but the individual portraits are intimate. I spent a fair amount of time over 3 days with this painting, looking, going elsewhere, returning, taking a break at the Prado café, returning again and discussing it with my partner. It’s amazing to see it close up and real. The brush strokes are so loose and relaxed, and super descriptive…the chiffon layers of the dresses, the grosgrain ribbon of the ‘Order of the Golden Fleece medals (that everyone is displaying) the velvet breeches, brocade, skin over flesh……  You can see the magic happen. The brushstroke of paint and the picture of the thing –spark in my mind - become ‘real’. Brilliant!! This is the power of human imagination- a species-selected trait. Copying, making studies of existing art works, is new to me. Also representational painting is not something I’ve used much, being more a drafter or constructor of images. So basically I have to work out a method, technique, process, skills... I’m painting from a number of reproductions wildly different in size, colour, tones, levels of detail. These reproductions are to the real-life painting as Skype is to a real hug.  To start I made multiple sketches from the various sources on drawing paper, layering and tracing adjustments in my attempts to ‘copy’ the painting. I became aware of how complex this painting is, not formally, but in terms of the human relationships. It took a lot of looking and sketching to see these gestures- the way Isabella’s strong arm divides the composition, her holding her son’s hand proudly…her son - her achievement in bearing heirs, timid Carlos peaking out behind his cousin his little hand around the waist of the tyrant-to-be- Ferdinand,  gouache on paper 16cm h x 22cm w first state I sketched “The Royal Family” in place on the right hand panel of Painted Steps. I blocked it in with pencil lines, noting that the soft paper would not lend itself to erasing, my usual MO. I am going to add, change, shift, with paint itself, relying on the layering and opacity of gouache. I will have to learn to paint!  second state  Charles or Carlos (Christopher Columbus Cristóbal Colón Cristoforo Colombo) And in the course of making a picture of this painting, I wandered down many interesting avenues: the Order of the Golden Fleece (a 19th c ‘club card’), Spanish history of succession, revolution, classism, and the Spanish shoe industry, as well as family gossip. It’s not an easy painting. I put it aside and work on other parts.(TBC) And so the basic structure of Painted Steps is established and most bands ‘activated’. In the top band I intend to paint variations of the Camino shell motif and yellow arrow that guide us along the hundreds of kilometers. I want to paint in some of the artwork I saw outside, recent public art made for the Camino, as well as historical works.I'm not exactly sure where it will go.  infographic / composition diagram   The basic structure is in place, all I have to do is paint it!
On the Camino no satellite GPS is needed: the shells and painted arrows point the way! “Stay calm! Be brave! Wait for the signs!” * *Thomas King “The Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour” CBC Radio1997 to 2000
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