The idea for this piece came up during a furious brainstorm several days after she commissioned me to do a piece for her. Without a strict sense of direction I stormed for any theme/idea that would be within Catherine's realm of interest. For some bizarre reason I finally landed on Don Quixote, a book I've never actually read but was kind of acquainted with thanks to an episode of a show called Wishbone.
For those of you who are curious Wishbone was a TV series broadcasted in the mid 1990's about a Jack Russell Terrier who iterates classic literature while imagining himself as the protagonist in each tale he tells. Educational plus you get to see a Jack Russell Terrier dressed up in cute little outfits, although I doubt the dog enjoyed it that much.
Moving on, the theme of this piece is about imagination, which is illustrated through Don Quixote's battle with the giants. In the book the "giants" are actually windmills. Many artist like to to paint the scene with Don Quixote fighting real windmills, however I thought it would be an interesting approach to paint what he seeing so vividly in his mind. Four attempts and two years later, here is the result.
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| Unfortunately I don't have access to a scanner, so this was the best available option. The camera just doesn't do the piece any justice. |
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| A caption within the piece if you will. An excerpt taken out of the book. |
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| What I imagine Don Quixote's face to be like. |
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| Don Quixote's Giants. Clues about what they actually are can be seen on their legs, the ring leader's axes and on various articles of clothing. |
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