Hi y’all,
Welcome back to the blog! This week, I’ve got an update on the Milton illustration project and a high-key pitch for you to submit your best Iliad-related poems to Consequence, where I work as the assistant poetry editor.
For those of you who haven’t read last week’s post, I’ve recently started work on a long-time goal: illustrating the angels from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. If you’re not familiar with the poem, it’s essentially a retelling of Genesis/the fall of Adam and Eve (but much more exciting and stuffed with drama). At one point, Milton describes the angels’ anatomy as “vital in every part”, capable of taking on whatever shape they please, and similar to the “fluid air" (check out last week’s post for the full passage).
Over the past week, I’ve gotten through two more pen and ink studies of the angel anatomy, this time of the back view of their torso. As usual, I started with a regular, human anatomy study:
Human torso, back view
then distorted it:
Angel torso, back view
I’ve also worked up a procreate study of the back view of the angel torso, like I did for the front view. I decided to get a little more adventurous with the lighting and mark-making here. While it was more difficult than the last Procreate study, I think I also learned more along the way.
Angel torso, back view (Procreate)
I also managed to get through the first study using oils. As I was working on it, I kept thinking about how the medium naturally translates Milton’s idea of the angels’ bodies being like the “fluid air.” In future oil studies, though, I think I want to get more out-there with the color choices and the background. Live and learn!
That’s it for this week on the Milton project. Outside of that, I’m very excited to announce that we have an open reading period through the end of March at Consequence. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the journal, we’re dedicated to art and writing on the culture and consequences of war. This coming issue, we’re launching a special project — “What is War Poetry?” — in which we’ll be asking fundamental questions about the historical development and importance of war poetry. For the first installment, we’ll be tackling those questions through the lens of the Iliad, the ancient Greek epic composed by Homer about the Trojan War/the beef between Achilles and Agamemnon. Send us your best poems that touch on the Iliad here! And stay tuned for future special issues. Next up: the Bhagavad Gita.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for tuning in and keep creating!