Lord of the Dance

“Energetic and Uplifting” is how someone has recently described this modern art painting. I’m inclined to agree. I think you just can’t beat the combination of red, black and white in art, the skill is understanding how to turn them into something that makes you go ‘wow’.

The sheer exuberance of the riotous and rather magnificent central feature never fails to make me smile. Huge swathes of solid, confident colour dominate the graded background layers.

It really does remind me of dancing figures; free to express themselves as they wish and rejoicing in a defiant celebration of the joy of movement. I don’t know about you but I think they’re all holding hands at the top?

The dominance of the red figuration is tempered somewhat by the black ones that lie behind. A clever use of directional change prevents you from scanning the painting too quickly whilst still maintaining that all important left to right movement – something that was essential to get motion into the piece.

One of the very cool things I love about this painting is the way the red has dried – forming complex ridges in the paint. You’ll see what I mean in some of the close up shots. I wanted to get this effect to add an extra dimension to the piece.