Illustration Friday - Chair

I was inspired this week by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' Grande Odalisque to create a luxurious reclining figure, but in an outdoor setting. Above is the first pencil sketch I did before starting the line details with micron pen.



The term odalisque refers to a female slave or concubine in the harems of the Middle East, especially in that of Turkey's sultan. The odalisque was a favorite subject of many 19th and early 20th century artists, who were intriqued by the exotic sensuality of the imagery they associated with the East. Artists such as Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted many representations of indolent odalisques, and Henri Matisse continued this tradition into the 20th century.



This fascination with the Orient is also evident in the other arts of the time. Poems such as Kubla Kahn by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley depict great Eastern rulers of yore, while tragedies such as Salome by Oscar Wilde, the opera Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, and the musical The King and I by Rogers and Hammerstein all depict Eastern characters and themes.

The above illustration shows my almost-finished pen work. I may add some detail in the dress and background, and then add color with a combination of marker, colored pencil, and acrylic... after which I'll post the final piece.

2/7 edit - I posted the almost-finished piece above.