CIEL

Couple Tom and Barb Clifton commissioned Ciel (sky in French). It was to go on the ceiling of their dining room. The painting includes a portrait of both Tom and Barb. The bodies were from models. The challenge with this painting was twofold. Both were problems of perspective. I wanted the image to look OK from wherever a person stood in the room. I solved this problem by using different vanishing points for each person. So that as you move around the table, the person on the ceiling facing you will come into proper perspective. In addition, the correct view would have hidden most of the models’ bodies. I solved that problem by building a model stand 7 feet off the ground with an incline. This incline enabled me to see most of the models’ forms. The slope had to be steep, but not so much that the models would have slid off. It worked well but gave me a stiff neck every drawing session I did for the painting.