Henry Darger Responses & Carlo Crivelli Research

I was first drawn to Carlo Crivelli's painting of St. Martin because of its expression, use of gold leaf, and most of all, the use of objects extruding the canvas. Through researching Crivelli, I discovered the Renaissance technique of Trompe-l'œil, where the illusion of 3D is mimicked perfectly entirely in 2D. Way before photography! ...though with the help of camera obscuras. Crivelli's art "includes raised objects, such as tears and "jewels" modelled in gesso on the panel".


I cut every hand out of two Metro newspapers, along with two expressive faces, and created this creature. He's inspired in technique by the work of Henry Darger, and in expression by Hindu deities. This idea could be taken further by considering the symbolism of the objects held by and the positions and gestures of the hands, the facial expressions and other elements of the creature or creatures, and its or their environment.


And I responded to Henry Darger's work by going in this circuitous route around Photoshopping, beginning with combining the eel and two separate desert scenes, printing them, then tracing them using pen and ink through my underlit glass table, then watercolouring the entire surreal scene.

While the colours are brilliant, vibrant and delightful, what's lacking in making this a truly Darger-esque, or indeed project-relevant, illustration is a scene, figures, or a narrative. This painting produced good results, but needs to be taken in a figurative and symbolic direction, in relation to illustrating the course.