‘Crystallos Mons’
is an orange and black abstract art work created with a series of painted circles
140cm x 140cm (55″ x 55″)
Magnetic Fields
£2500
‘Crystallos Mons’
Sun worshipper
There’s little doubt in my mind about how this new abstract painting makes me feel. The sun was definitely a major contributing factor in its creation and formed the basis for the selection of colours. 
So here we have a dominant orange – not one that overpowers you though; think of it as more like a dense terracotta with a fiery undertone. Added to this is a vibrant sunny yellow, a smattering of purple and a series of orange hues that compliment the main one.
What about that black circle then?
Good point! I choose to mention black in its own context because it has such an important and critical role to play in the painting.
Its addition was decided upon to help focus the eye on the rings that are contained within it. Think about how a vignette works for photographers – it’s a trick they use to keep your eye on the main focal point.
In the context of the painting it’s everything inside the large yellow circle that I want you to take in. Naturally your eye will move around other points but the black does a great job of concentrating your focus on the rings that form within it.
The addition of the thin white ring at the outer edge gives us a suggestion of space and size and of the feeling that this is bigger than it really is. This is yet another impressive quality of light and dark extremes – they help you quantify distance and volume.
The painting
I created it with a slightly different version of my enamel paints – these being a water-based derivative rather than a solvent-based one. it’s because I don’t normally use the rotating table (on which this was painted) in the main paint pod so I have to use a non-toxic version of my paint outside of it.
I particularly like the warmth of the colours and that brings us back to the subject of the sun again. I like the idea of coronas, sunspots and solar mass ejections when I stand back and look at it. That’s just the physicist inside me talking!
What it really is though is a beautifully warm, cosy and reassuring painting that pleases an aesthetic for something whole and complete whilst still being delicate, intense and every inch a Swarez!
