Hawaii 3-O 1988

Boris Vallejo made this painting, Hawaii 3-O, with oil paint, and it is very, very smooth! I imagine he started by planning the composition out, then building the bodies in smooth layers and glazes. He may have worked from photos, or even live models. Looking at it, I sympathize with Vallejo and wonder what it must have been like to create this painting. To so meticulously render the muscles of the body, the glossy reflections on the skin, and the sheen of the tropical landscape. It's almost surreal in its perfection. The color palette is very carefully worked out, shifting from warm, earthy tones in the sand to cool blues and greens in the ocean and sky. I think of other artists like Tom Wesselmann, who played with glossy surfaces and sensual imagery, although in a very different way. Each artist is in an ongoing conversation. I am so glad that painting, as an embodied form of expression, embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.