Idomeneo: Re di Creta
by Kristin Serafini
acrylic on gallery canvas
24″ x 48″
$1200 SOLD

This was the first big canvas I did for the “movie poster” series. Unlike the Closer to the Composer set, I started out with the most detail for the first one (instead of working up to more complexity). If you look closely, you can see just about the whole plot hidden in the darker blue lines. The insanely jealous Elettra with her penetrating eyes and shiny gold eyeshadow, the anguished King Idomeneo, Prince Idamante tied up for sacrifice, and (lower left) the beautiful Princess Ilia who volunteers to take Idamante’s place. I also snuck in a menacing sea monster peering into the picture from the top left.

I had fun with the ridiculously elaborate style of this painting. I painted the aqua wash for the background first, and then drew over the top of it (with pencil first, and then the paint brush). The pencil drawing went very fast, and I just let the lines flow all over the place. Some of the shapes come from the variations in the wash behind the lines. Painting it in took forever. With the 4 August deadline rushing up so fast, it was pretty clear that all 7 couldn’t be this ornate…

-Kristin Serafini