Even a Child Could paint that

LOL, but I've never seen a child pick the paints, prepare the canvas and do an abstract painting  based on a specific event. Twombly said,"My line is childlike but not childish. It is very difficult to fake..." When I first saw Twombly's painting I felt like it was just a bunch of wonderful mad splotches of colour. I thought I'd try and give it a go at copying it and maybe in the process learn something. Twombly's painting refers to the naval Battle Of Lepanto. This painting is one of 12 and as one reviewer stated "the luminously intense sequence of panels is meant to be absorbed as a single image, a panoramic portrayal of war on a heroic scale, the view standing in the middle of a battle that ends the destruction of the turkish fleet."  As I worked more on the painting I realized those splotches of colour against the blue sky and water are explosions and destruction. The colours representing the colours of the Ottoman empire, such as royal purple, and red. 

Anyway my attempt pales in comparison, but 

I did learn or at least achieve a better understanding of the painting technically/conceptually and I learned a little about Cy Twombly and the Battle of Lepanto in the process.  After I finished it I decided to add a few more drips and cover it with epoxy resin and a sprinkling of glitter (my reference to gunpowder and sparkles).  

A little bit trivia: legend has it that the croissant was invented in Vienna to "celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman attack on the city, with the shape referring to the crescents on the Ottoman flags." culinary legends

LINKS

Skills that come from copying the Masters 

Art Story of  Cy Twombly, his education, key ideas, artistic influences and legacy .