Venetian Mosaic III
These two color versions of the Venetian Mosaic III were completed on 29 and 30 December 2023, after my original hand-drawn pen and ink Mandala, completed on 27 December 2023 (shown here below).
In the above version of the Mosaic, I attempted to emulate the original colors of Venice’s marble pavement though the colors I have chosen are certainly more vibrant than the marble floor in Venice. I then created a second color version (below) using a different palette of colors.
Below these two color versions is my original pen and black ink version (diameter: 27.5 cm). I added a little Gallery at the end of this blog to show my previous versions, I & II, of the Venetian Mosaic.
The Motif for this Mandala is borrowed from a section of the vast marble pavements at the Basilica of St. Mark, Venice, built between 976 and 1094, the second period of Byzantine art (Middle Ages), and is based on the principles of marquetry. Imagine the precision and craftsmanship that was involved in cutting and polishing all those beautiful marble stones! The Basilica of St. Mark is one of the world’s greatest wonders; every square cm is filled with such extraordinary beauty, creativity, and artistry! It staggers the imagination.
Ascertaining how to draw the complicated geometric patterns of this Mosaic, based on Sacred Geometry, had its challenges and I had to scratch my head a few times. I drew this motif several times trying to work out the exact geometry. This was my 3rd (finished) version. During the process of “practicing” the drawing several mishaps occurred along the way, including (frustratingly) smudged ink (start over again), black ink placed in the wrong spaces that should have been left white (start over again), etc. It's so easy to make mistakes, but mistakes are essential to the learning process. I think that each time I had to start over, the technique got tighter and more precise. The rings around the center of the Mandala were very delicate to draw and it was not easy to achieve accuracy (having to divide the circle by 128) in that rather tight, tiny space; however, I believe I got rather close in this attempt.
The border designs for this Mandala are my own, having deviated from the original Mosaic’s design.
I printed these two color versions and also the black-and-white version of Venetian Mosaic III yesterday on beautiful Epson Archival Matt Paper, A3+ (329 x 483 mm: 13” x 19”), and was delighted with the sharpness, contrast, deep blacks, and brilliantly vivid colors produced from the Epson SC-P900 printer! It is an excellent machine! The diameter of the Mandala for these prints is 29.5 cm.
Original pen and ink version of “Venetian Mosaic III”:
“Venetian Mosaic” versions I (left) & II (right). These are shown in The Gallery section of the website and as the above examples are also available in the Store in sizes A3 a smaller A4 size.
The version I has a border closer to that in Venice (though the center of this Mandala is different, especially in the color version, from the original), and version II shows a different border that I created. (More marble to cut precisely).
