Visions of quixote 1989

Octavio Ocampo made 'Visions of Quixote' in 1989 using oil on canvas. Look at the details in this painting; the figures, the landscape, it’s like Ocampo is building the image from many tiny components. You can almost see him building it up stroke by stroke. I wonder what it was like to create this? The patience involved, the decisions about where to place each mark, each little face. The browns and yellows create a kind of warm, dreamlike atmosphere. It makes you wonder, what is real and what is imagined? This reminds me of other artists who create layered images, where one thing turns into another. It's like Ocampo is having a conversation with them, across time and space. Like the rest of us, artists are in a constant dialogue, building on what came before, finding new ways to see and feel. And I think that's really beautiful.