SPOILER ALERT: Don't watch this if you'd rather not know exactly what this painting is about. 

Question:
What is the painting "Veritas" about?

Another video dedicated to talking about your art on video. You can learn more about this topic in my interview with Marcus Sheridan at passionatepainterpodcast.com/episode58.

About "Veritas"

Veritas is about Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate.  I’m fascinated by this character in history, as it is written that she suffered from recurring nightmares leading up to the crucifixion of Christ and repeatedly cautioned Pilate not to hurt him.

Destiny being what it was had its way, but I’m fascinated by this story of a woman who would be later canonized in the catholic faith, who was apparently receiving psychic messages in dreams.

In fact, Jesus was apparently accused of using sorcery to send her the dreams. 

So one of the things the painting is about is the struggle to do the right thing when no one will listen. The other thing it’s about for me is struggling with dogma versus spirituality.

Fun photo shoot facts:

I discovered the shadow at Claudia’s feet in the shape of a cross in the photo reference I took and kept it in. It was from the overhead trellis in the colonnade. 

This photo shoot was taken with the model in full costume as you see her, in the colonnade at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California. Being so near to Hollywood, those around us took the photo shoot in stride and many gathered to watch, assuming we were on location for a film.

Again, my encouragement to you is to start a conversation with potential models as you discover them — safely and without getting arrested of course; please use common sense — I don't recommend just walking up to a complete stranger on the street.

I had this painting in my heart for over a year before the right model appeared. And while she wasn’t a complete stranger (she was the mother of one of my children’s classmates), we had only met in passing in groups a couple of times. But as soon as I saw her again, I knew she was my Claudia. I started a conversation and discovered that she is a creative, like me, and felt she would "get" my invitation. I gave her the “This might sound crazy, but I’m a painter” schpiel, and she was in. 

In full disclosure, it turns out she is also an actor and thus open to modeling gigs. But As I’ve mentioned before, I’m rarely turned down when asking a model to pose. They are often happy to do it in exchange for one of the preparatory sketches of the piece. In this case, I gave the model a watercolor study as payment and we were both happy.

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