This idea hatched a few days ago...I must have been looking at a reproduction of Grant Wood's iconic American Gothic - painted around 1930 - or just possibly one of the many parodies it has spawned over time. So I reckoned why not a Maltese parody on the subject. We have our own iconic neo-Gothic cemetery and our local gravediggers have a reputation of sorts - specifically that they are often insensitive to the point of uncouthness during burials...understandably a poignant moment for the relatives and friends of the recently departed.
So I find myself drawing a rough sketch of what the picture/composition might look like just a couple of days after completing work on my previous drawing - a luxury in the sense that I now have something to chew on, an idea that needs development, and questions that I will ask myself. What will the characters look like? Will I add a couple of tools of the trade - like a wrecking bar for instance - thus consciously imitating Grant Wood's pitchfork-carrying countryman? Will the scene be at night or should I go for a dreary daytime grey sky? Which part of the cemetery should I include as backdrop? The magnificent main chapel or the main gate as in this preliminary doodle?
A few sketches will definitely help clear these dilemmas. What is fairly certain is that the long process of composing a picture has started and I am enjoying it.
Practically that's enough for now!
This blog post will be updated with progress on this drawing as I plod along...
a monochromatic scale is also an option.
(no pun intended)