Homage to Royo - for Henry1850

Permit me to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to Henry1850. In a commentary he opened on another of my images, we both conjectured how long before 3D could stand on its own against oil painting. Henry wondered if "...maybe some day a Royo would be possible."

The remark inspired me to re-visit the famous Spanish oil painter, José Mateu San Hilario (aka Royo)'s portfolio. A quick browse zeroed me in on a piece Señor Hilario named Gitana (gypsy).

He painted it in the Impressionist style (for those interested I've placed a link below to the image in my Stash) but I've never been a fan of Impressionism or its cousins, Expressionism and Abstractionism, which combined have dominated the art world for the past century.

sta.sh/029lltguzeny

A few things came to mind as I studied the piece. Like my homages to Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta, I did not want to simply duplicate what had already been done by masters. However, I did want to make its provenance unmistakable. I also had zero motivation to study and learn the PS filters or any other software needed to recreate an Impressionist style especially since I wanted to keep my interpretation a pure 3D piece and not play on oil and canvas' field in order to emphasize 3D's strength and ability to compete.

And so even though it would be technically more challenging, I used an atmospheric volume in order to really showcase 3D against an oil, even one painted by a master.

The pose is tweaked, especially the right arm, which in Royo's piece is completely out of proportion (Impressionist's privilege??) to the gypsy's torso. I changed the fan's coloration to better offset (IMO) the roses on the right and after long debating whether to open her eyes, in the end I deferred to Señor Hilario's choice.

The image is lit by just two Points with their lumens cranked up since the atmospheric volume prevents their light from becoming harsh and glaring. One Point sits elevated in the right rear (your viewpoint) giving the impression of a window, its lumens set to 500,000. The other is straight up above the fan and slightly forward of Antonia lit at 100,000.

For those 'artistes' who complain I'm just using products made by others, well, they're just props, unable to do anything by themselves. Besides, do Señor Hilario's roses have the translucency mine do? 😊

Finally, there are a lot of incredibly skilled artists on dA who can more than hold their own against any oil painter including a few with whom we have to be patient until they tire of putting watermelons on females.

Thank you, again, Henry. I had great fun putting this together and I hope 🙏 "some day" has gotten a bit closer. 😊