Recreation of the painting "Judith Beheading Holofernes" (c.1598–1599) by Italian painter, Caravaggio.
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On December of 2021 I began an exercise where I recreated the works of old masters as a way of putting my art style to the test, and in 2022, these pieces would later become my first major NFT collection: The Redux Collection.
I've never had formal training in the arts, so not only was this collection a self imposed challenge, but also a way of better understanding and learning from these masters. By simplifying these complex pieces into broad "cartoonish" lines and using my chosen limited color palette (CMYK), I was able to zero in and better understand what made each piece great in terms of composition, values, atmosphere etc... and how to maintain certain aspects while using bright colors and what would normally be considered an "upbeat" or "funny" art style.
By the end of 2022 The Redux Collection came to a close, but I've kept certain artists close to my heart, two of them being Artemisia Gentileschi and Caravaggio. One of the very first pieces of the Redux Collection was Artemisia's "Judith Beheading Holofernes", but I've always wanted to recreate Caravaggio's version of the motif as well. So when the opportunity came, I couldn't help but jump on it.
This piece helped me understand that despite me saying that my last Redux piece was "the final piece of that journey", the act of Remixing, or "Reduxing" great works of art will always be a tool for me to better understand works I enjoy and pay homage to artist's I admire.
Hope you enjoy this throwback to my very first collection and a new stage of the "Redux".
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"Judith Beheading Holofernes"
3000x2212px
.MP4
12fps
Hand drawn, frame by frame.
Created in only four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), with all tone variations done using halftones. Additional colors made using overlays in order to keep with the stipulated 4 color limit.
2023