The artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was a powerhouse who, with his audacious anatomical bending and creative restructuring of the pictorial form, inspired the modernity of Picasso and Cezanne. And with his artistic mastery was the hero and idol of Degas. This is my third variation on a work of Ingres and I cannot fully emphasize the extent of my admiration for the creations of this master.

This is my favorite painting of Ingres and I saw it in person for the first time at the Frick in New York two years ago. Ingres began his portrait of Vicomtesse Louise-Albertine d’Haussonville in 1842 and finished his painting three years later. I began this work fourteen months ago intermittently stopping to work on two other paintings and to finish a third. The composition was first drawn in pencil on canvas after my decisions regarding the composition were decided. Then it was painted in the old school Grisaille manner employed by Ingres, with a fully fleshed black and white underpainting. This was done first in acrylic and then in multiple layers of oil until I was satisfied with the shapes, values, and forms. Then thin layers of color were glazed on top of the monochromatic image to build up a structure of color. It is far easier to model forms with two colors, like black and white, as opposed to modeling with three or even five or six colors that might be involved in the subtleties of flesh tones or other objects. This method is both labor and time extensive but yields a result that is solid and rich and also deep in tone, color, and substance. In all I probably spent close to twelve hundred hours on this work from start to finish. I learned so much about the painting process and about my own technical capabilities during this painting’s creation. My own style is very graphic or linear and it is a struggle for me to adhere to the fully realized three dimensional forms constructed by this 19th century master. I have only been painting full time for a little over four and a half years and I am only now beginning to appreciate the levels of comprehension and mastery achieved by a lifetime of a single minded pursuit of a craft by a painter such as Ingres.

The model for my painting is the incomparable and unstoppable Bianca Rose. She was a former student of mine who is now a very successful hair designer and Disney enthusiast. Her beauty and countenance, combined with Disney’s now ownership of Star Wars, made her the perfect choice for me to portray her as an elegant French Princess in a Star Wars themed painting. But, unlike the good princesses of Disney, her figure actually represents the evil Empire in my Star Wars universe (no offense Bianca). The Vicomtesse (French noblewoman) calmly engages the viewer in her immaculate attire while the smug image of the Emperor graces the decoration of the vase to her right. Darth Vader, pictured on her hair clasp in the reflection in the mirror, is shown corrupting the heart and soul of the virtuous Princess Amidala. But behind the back of this gorgeous facade of a shiny well oiled military machine, a rag tag group of rebels are escaping from the bureau upon which the Empire leans. The figures of Luke, Leia and the droids were painted from my own Hot Toys figures which now stand atop my piano (nerd alert). The chairs in the bottom of the work are my own while a little green ceramic box I made finishes the edge of the composition. Like all of my variations, it is both an homage to an artistic inspiration and a reference to myself and my nature.

I have since changed the portrait from Bianca to the model used by Ingres. I was unhappy with the painting so I assumed that it was not having the original face from his painting that I had fallen in love with. This was entirely incorrect. After I repainted the head I realized that it was my ineptitude in mimicking the flesh tones of Ingres, that had bothered me so. I cannot paint flesh like Ingres. I deeply regret this fuckup caused by my perfectionistic instincts.

36” x 48” Acrylic and Oil on Canvas