About the Velasquez Venus Project

Welcome all to the first update of what I hope will be many.

For those of you who know me and my work, it may not surprise you to learn that I have recently got it into my head to paint my own “Venus with a Mirror” or what is more popularly known as Velasquez’s “Rokeby Venus”. Why this painting? I suppose it has been a fascination of mine for a long time now. I remember looking at it many years ago and thinking how absolutely beautiful the woman was. She seemed set apart from any woman I had ever seen in life. I was essentially captivated by the painting. I believe it can be safely said that by looking at the woman in this painting I had experienced my first intimation of the existence of what is more popularly known as the muse.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez probably summed it up best when he wrote:

“That night I discovered the improbable pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty.”

I suppose the lasting impression this painting made in part explains why I paint women or the idea of women. So here I am, many years later attempting to produce a work that will hopefully stand.

I shall do my best. I hope to include an on going blog detailing the progress of the painting. I hope to include a few video feeds as well as preliminary sketches and notes. I hope everything runs smoothly enough. Cross your fingers!

Just to say, Velasquez was from Seville in Spain and auspiciously enough, so is the girl I am using as a model for this painting. I take it as a good sign that all will go well, hoping that talent and hard work doesn’t fail me.

A point of interest regarding the history of the painting is that it was mutilated in 1906 by the Suffragist Mary Richardson in protest for the wrongs done to a Mrs. Pankhurst.