Tuesday 14 February 2012

Cerulean Blue ... inspiration and pictures



Dear friends and readers,

This post places some visuals to Cerulean Blue, a fantasy novel...

I am starting the reproof of it because there are the e-pub errors and because I am sending it out to some new agents who have expressed an interest....

but here we go....

The front cover is symbolic of the picture world and Leon's way through, takes from the outside of Hironymous bosch's triptych of 'The garden of Earthly delights.

Below is a detail of the right hand panel from Hell which Leon studies right at the beginning of the book...

Here is the image of the Inn a painting in the National Gallery where they are blamed for breaking the eggs.

Abe the carthorse is a little known painting I found a couple of years ago, hidden in a corner of the gallery. I have tried to refind it but without success...


But the Alchemist lurks in one of the small rooms still.

Leon Manny and Jude hide in a Gauguin painting until they know the gallery is closed, swimming in a coral sea ....

until it is time to find Uchello's George and the dragon where all is not as the painting suggests...

Here is Horace in the Prince's dining room waiting for Manny to be able to step out of the painted world.


While Stubb's whistlejacket the race horsehas very little brains only brawn...


I was inspired by this painting where the snake in the garden of Eden is not really a snake... It enabled me to mix together the characters of mythology and religion. In this case the snake Jormungard and Ouruboros become one lizard-like serpentine creature.

The Prince and Zoe.....

and for Zoe, modelled on the self portrait by Artemesia Gentillesci she is depicted filled with passion sadness and regret when she becomes the weeping woman of Picasso's Jaqueline.

When they arrive at the Louvre Paris, Manny's money changer is this picture


Without telling you the whole story... when they enter a Surrealist picture world, away from the National Gallery and into the Tate Modern, they enter first Miro's painting

... which leads them to Dali's famous clocks...

and the disintegration of the persistence of memory...

Can't tell you any more or I'll give the ending away!

But back to another strand of the story... the mythical gods like Loki, Blake's Urizen, Orc and Albion and the devil

I found more inspiration from lithographs woodcuts and etchings...

which in turn lead me to write of Jude's journey , the narrow escape from Picasso's Minotaur

and later her friend Barney the dog is modelled on this painting

The view over the lake at the Price's palace and it's golden river is this inspiration....

My son gave me made up names and some great images he has created for the Night Tormentors.......

So the major battle scenes.... are of course...

Hell

Fall of the rebel Angels, by Bruegel

and Kandinsky's composition 6, the abyss


I won't give away the ending... but hope you read it!

.... locations with photos will be coming in my next blog and an explanation...