Turning into a Bacchanalia

After the excitement of the Art Prize exhibition opening it was time to get back to the easel and yes another vine! This is going to be Medusa and after some much needed peaceful walks through the vines it was time to get stuck in! 

This time I'm going to draw a few of the yellow leaves too! Here is my gorgeous model …. with tentacles and leaves! I'm working on paler paper this time just because I've got some here. This is Canson Mi-Teintes, I bought it often at the start of my pastel journey and I still like it when doing architecture but only on the smooth side. This Canson paper has two sides; a smooth one and one with a honeycomb surface which one the one hand holds more pastel and on the other hand is visible in the painting which I don’t like.

I'm wondering how many more glorious late Autumn days we're going to enjoy before Winter strikes and how many more vine drawings I need to celebrate a Bacchanalia! 

Bacchanalias were wild celebrations of the end of Winter and the start of Spring, with origins in Greece but broadly celebrated in Rome, although the Senate often tried to prohibit the raucous orgies, they were obviously too much fun and so the tradition continued. 

Drink, drugs, sex and heady music, not surprised it went down well, it sounds very much like the German carnival season which kicked off here on 11 November and from what I hear the people in this village are carnival crazy with two rival carnival clubs and on the final two days before the start of Lent they go around the houses getting drunk, hhhhmmm don’t think I'll be here to welcome hordes of drunk revellers in fancy dress, my Bacchanalia will only be happening on paper!