Bird Orbiting A Black Hole by Mark Sheeky

G263D Bird Orbiting A Black Hole
Oil on canvas panel
Dec 2010 to Jun 2011, Size 460x175 mm

Detail from Bird Orbiting A Black Hole by Mark Sheeky

About this painting
This idea jumped into my head while on the train returning from collecting a painting from the R.B.S.A. gallery in Birmingham. I had a clear vision of a white bird flying around a black hole, a reflection perhaps of my location away from the city, or of Birmingham away from London; either way I was the bird, a tiny speck flying around an all-consuming void of nothingness, not pulled in and not escaping, but ever circling in the cold expanse of outer space.

The image obsessed me and I began painting quite soon after, but alas - the first version was totally unsuitable, I tried to rush it and give this grand idea the glance of a tiny platform. A second version was begun on a wood panel with more preparation but still(!) this idea resisted me, the seemingly simple idea requiring more concentration and forethought than one would at first imagine, the contrast between the extreme detail of the tiny bird and the great swish swish of the barely but significantly chromatic space clouds made the task a challenge. When painting blacks, the exact quantity of darkness is necessary.

A third version was painted, smaller this time and I was happier with it, but I eventually cropped the image, clipping the top and the bottom off the black-hole to give it a sense of largeness. The idea was spawned on March the 14th 2010 but the painting was not signed until June the 8th 2011.

Bird Orbiting A Black Hole (Original)
Price: £380.00
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