| Alexander was reputedly a strong,
handsome commander with one eye dark as a black night and one blue as a burnished sky. He lead his army on his faithful black stallion Bucephalo and was accompanied
by the best military formation of the time, the Macedonian Phalanx which
was armed with sarisses, the fearfully brutal five and half meter long spears.
Parmenion, the general shown here
on the left of Alexander, was also called the Lion of Macedon, and had acquired
great popularity within the army. As King Phillip's (Alexander's father) general his reputation was of a general who had never lost a battle. During the siege of Tyre, the Persian king Darius sent a letter to pay ransom of 10,000 talents for his family
and cede all his lands west of the Euphrates to Alexander. On that occasion Parmenion advised Alexander to accept. "I would accept,
were I Alexander." Parmenio said ; "I too, were I Parmenio!"
was Alexander's famous retort.
It would appear (depending on which newspaper you buy) Alexander was a little full of his own importance ... JH
I am now nearing the stage I call
presentation. Remember this painting is not only about art, it is also
a narrative about lateral thinking - and about communicating that idea.
The construction of the painting is pitched to the exotic, to sentiments
of heroes and villians.
Some specific late alterations are
examined below and relate to the final view (next page).
1. More detail in the sky line.
2. People on the balcony of one of the buildings.
3. Blocks of stone to give texture behind ladder.
4. Tackle rope hanging from right building.
5. Hands, faces, legs and feet re-adjusted and detailed a little more.
5. Sheep made to look more like sheep and less like large dogs.
6. More orange on the tiger. Here I introduced a new color not used in
any other mix. This is a practice I would warn beginners against unless
like here you need some counterpoint.
7. Redened up the foreground to allow the yellow middle distance to balance
the blue of the sky - more drama.
8. Adjusted some overall values.
9. Had a shower, changed, found my wallet, switched out the light and raced
down to the nearest bar. You don't want to know the rest ...
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