7 planets in 7 days: An astrological extravaganza in oil on copper
Join me for some midnight painting! (London time) 11pm-12 midnight, an hour’s session painting the planets in order of their days! We’ll combine the ancient and the modern and cover them all, in their ancient order of the week and updated to include planets not seen with the naked eye. I believe the intensity of the atmosphere and colour nuances of the heavenly bodies can only be achieved in oils (we cover the planets in a different way in water-based miniatures). This unique painting-teaching-performance is a one-off event series and will be recorded but won’t be repeated. You do not need to take all the classes although to experience the full intensity and drama of the experience then I recommend taking on the entire solar system this summer. If, like me, due to UK passport waiting times, you are unable to go on holiday this summer, why not journey on an astrological-astronomical cruise of the solar system in your own studio instead? It’s a holiday out of this world.
Day 1: Monday 11 July THE MOON AND EARTH Monday is of course moonday. While the moon is not technically a planet, for all intents and purposes in ancient times it was/is. It’s incredible that the disc of the moon is the same size as the disc of the sun when viewed from our extraordinary vantage point, the Earth. We cover the crescent moon in miniatures here and there so now we’ll treat the moon in its full circular glory. We’ll also paint our home and perfect planet with its swirling clouds and beautiful blue water. Please note that this session may take a little extra time as we’re covering two celestial bodies in one go.
Day 2: Tuesday 12 July MARS mardi. The red planet, and the planet of war. A cold, desert world that may end up being another temporary home for future humans, who knows…
Day 3: Wednesday 13 July MERCURY mercredi. The planet of communication and movement and the fastest planet.
Day 4: Thursday 14 July JUPITER jeudi. The jovial planet with its signature red spot, a centuries-old storm that is bigger than Earth.
Day 5: Friday 15 July VENUS vendredi. The planet of love, it spins in the opposite direction to most planets (since you don’t always need to go with the flow). It’s also the hottest planet.
Day 6: Saturday 16 July SATURN samedi. The saturnine planet of melancholy with its signature rings made of ice.
Day 7: Sunday 17 July THE SUN Sunday is the day of the glorious sun, our home star.
Day 8: Monday 18 July URANUS a cold, pale aqua-turquoise giant that almost spins on its side.
Day 9: Tuesday 19 July NEPTUNE a cold blue windy giant. Dark and distant, it was located - conjured? - entirely through mathematical - magical - calculations.
Day 10: Wednesday 20 July PLUTO and its ice mountains and frozen plains. It is technically a dwarf planet now and has been demoted in my lifetime! Imagine how that feels from the planetary point of view.
Day 11: Thursday 21 July DWARF PLANETS The dwarf planets of Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris are other dwarf planets. Haumea is an oval planet! And there is even a hypothetical, tentative planet…
Day 12: Friday 22nd July THE POTENTIAL PLANET Deep in the solar system lies a potential PLANET X… how do you paint a potential planet? Let’s find out...
You will need: - An appropriate support - Oil painting materials (comprehensive list on the Forum at www.miniaturepaintingforum.com > under Resources) - Pair of compasses to draw a circle for each planet Please note that while I will be painting in oils on copper, and I recommend it to get the most out of the classes, you do not need to paint on copper. You could paint on another metal, or on canvas or wood. If you do choose to paint on copper, please note that these classes will not cover how to prepare the copper surface. You could also paint on a larger surface doing all the planets in one painting instead of separately. Your surface must be primed/prepared and ready to start painting. We’ll start each session by drawing the planet's circle and proceeding directly to painting, aiming to finish each planet in each session. The aim is to inspire. Since Earth, the Moon, the Sun and Mars are so important for humanity we will cover these in additional classes in different ways later. For now, we will focus on painting the whole planets themselves. It’s intense, it’s extraordinary, it’s midnight churning creation in action… which makes it very similar to the solar system itself.