In November 2020, I had many visits to the National Gallery looking at the paintings of old masters: Rubens, Raphael and Goya.  I found myself transfixed on an image by Peter Paul Rubens called Minerva protects Pax from Mars, also known as Peace and War.  These symbolic, painterly images, colours, rhythm and movement, and the composition would take your eye on a journey from the bottom left corner to the top far-right corner and then move around between the figures with your eye Jumping from one figure to another in a circular movement.  The dramatic colour scheme and contrast of dark and light and this bold red, placed so perfectly around the canvas to keep you entertained. 

 

I decided to make many sketches from this of my own, and I hope to continue to use these as source material to paint a larger oil painting when possible.