As Dark As Night

‘For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night’

Bitumen and pastel on canvas, painted from a pretty interesting but bad photo/photcopies, it’s taken about a year to evolve to completion. Partly because of learning about the peculiar qualities of bitumen and what does and doesn’t work with it. Not to mention the foreshortening of the head….

So much for the technical aspect…The theme is seduction and betrayal, and the poem above perfectly titles the painting.