In HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, an antarctic research expedition goes awry when it encounters the remnants of a prehuman civilization. This story has lingered with me ever since I first listened to the audiobook during the doldrums of a long car ride, and for me it’s the standout of Lovecraft’s fiction. I was immediately captured by that sense of terrible revelation, the human explorers creeping like mice amidst colossal geometry, equally inhospitable and fathomless.
So when the opportunity arose to make a piece themed around Gods and Monsters, it didn’t take me long to settle on an idea. I was determined to plan the piece through more than I normally do. I’m trying to figure out my process for these larger paintings, and in that regard this piece marks a step forward: I planned the composition, the values, and the colors to boot. In the heat of an August evening I donned my winter coat and took reference pictures complete with lantern.
I would of course like more from the piece. There are too many indistinct details left as such not by design but by ignorance or confusion; I don’t quite buy the perspective; it’s too dark; it took too long; I desperately want more stuff going on in the piece, more little details to draw the viewer in.
Nonetheless I am happy with the piece. The perspective was a worthy goal and the composition is fair. But what matters most is that I actually knuckled down and finished it, even though I had all sorts of nagging doubts. Now that it’s on display, I’m excited to move on to the next leg of the journey!