ALL SOULS EVE

2024 Leftovers and Palette Gremlins #3

Oct 02, 2024

Against a dark, abstract backdrop, a redheaded beauty poses surrounded by ghastly faces, but she seems more conjuror than captive. Her knee is raised as if she's springing upward. Cobwebs stretch behind her and swirl around her upraised hand. A gray bat flies off from her abracadabra flourish. The sorceress is bare-chested wearing long white skirts with a red and yellow belt that dips in a V. The bottom of her skirts blend with creatures at the bottom of the panel, a transition from ghostly white to tormented gray. The background is pure hellscape that suggests perhaps a gnarled tree or the infernal stone of a cave. On closer examination, it seems to be made of twisted souls. Orange background show through at the panel edges, criss-crossed by tendrils, cobwebs or what have you but still providing a vibrant pop of color. — ALL SOULS EVE (2024), Acrylic on Canvas, 9 ½” x 7”

With leaves starting to fall and temperatures cooling, the color patterns on this scrap of canvas shifted me right into the Halloween spirit. Clearly something possessed me to paint all of those ghastly faces.

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Abstract paint patterns (white on black and yellow/orange) that inspired ALL SOULS EVE — Initial paint patterns that inspired ALL SOULS EVE

Additional images from ALL SOULS EVE

LEFT: Detail from ALL SOULS EVE featuring a redheaded posed against a dark backdrop of ghastly faces. Cobwebs stretch behind her and swirl around her upraised hand as a gray bat flies off with an "abracadabra" flourish. The sorceress is bare-chested wearing long white skirts with a red and yellow belt that dips in a V. RIGHT: Detail from ALL SOULS EVE featuring the skirts of the redheaded sorceress blending with the ghastly faces of the backdrop. — Details from ALL SOULS EVE

New Original Art in Our Shop

Original painting, Created in 2024 by Michael Whelan, 9 ½" x 7". Custom-framed in Wood Moulding. Description: Against a dark, abstract backdrop, a redheaded beauty poses surrounded by ghastly faces, but she seems more conjuror than captive. Her knee is raised as if she's springing upward. Cobwebs stretch behind her and swirl around her upraised hand. A gray bat flies off from her abracadabra flourish. The sorceress is bare-chested wearing long white skirts with a red and yellow belt that dips in a V. The bottom of her skirts blend with creatures at the bottom of the panel, a transition from ghostly white to tormented gray. The background is pure hellscape that suggests perhaps a gnarled tree or the infernal stone of a cave. On closer examination, it seems to be made of twisted souls. Orange background show through at the panel edges, criss-crossed by tendrils, cobwebs or what have you but still providing a vibrant pop of color. — ALL SOULS EVE (2024), Acrylic on Canvas, 9 ½” x 7” **$2,000**

This small original painting is available in our shop for as long as it lasts!

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About Leftovers & Palette Gremlins

Leftovers are spur-of-the-moment doodles or sketches created with paint left over from a work in progress. (Ever since my poor art student days, I’ve been loathe to discard any usable paint or other art materials!) Many of these quickies end up in the trash, but some give rise to an idea that merits development into a full sized painting.

Palette Gremlins are small creations inspired by random or accidental shapes in my immediate environment. Usually these gremlins are found on a used palette, but nearly as often they spring from an unintentional mark of paint on a piece of paper or a suggestive shadow in my studio.

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