I woke up early this morning to complete this painting, "Mermaid Queen." This is a commissioned piece: my friend wanted a goddess-like mermaid with lots of flowing hair and tail, and a little ambiguity within the painting to make you come back for a second look. The mermaid is nestled in her reefy nook, caressing or examining a venomous nudibranch who shares her colors. There is a tiger shark reposing in the reef.
A lot of the gold and green in this painting is done with metallic paint, which unfortunately doesn't show up in this photo.
I struggled a lot with the lower right quarter of the painting, trying to get all those beautiful sea-life forms incorporated without making the painting too busy and distracting. I hope I succeeded. If not, you may see an updated version of the photo soon!
Mermaid Queen. 16" x 22". NFS.
