My painting Dominion shows a a massive skyscraper towering over a vast city, stretching to the horizon. It envisions a time where the growing disparity between rich and poor has resulted in the wealthy elite living in a citadel of luxury, while everyone else lives crammed in squalor below.
Here is how this painting came together. I started by making some small color studies. The composition would be very dramatic, with an immense structure jutting into the sky. I would accentuate the height of this tower by having it extend past the top of the frame. To reinforce the discrepancy in living conditions between the two economic groups, the skyscraper would gleam in the sunlight, while the city below would be lost in shadow.
I also made a more detailed preparatory drawing using a colored pencil.
I hadn’t yet decided upon my color palette, but I knew I wanted there to be some golden undertones in my painting, so I started the under-painting with washes of gold and yellow paint. I then decided to reverse the gradation of my sky so that it became brighter at the top, instead of towards the horizon. This gave a lift to the sky, letting it flow upwards. The tower would therefore need to become darker than the sky in order for it to stand out.
I then began working on the sprawling city towards the bottom. I decided to leave certain areas empty so my gold under-painting would show through. I liked how this added a dynamic feeling to the composition. The only thing I struggled with was the horizon. I didn’t like how the city ended so abruptly. I opted to taper the horizon gradually, so the buildings would fade into the distance.
Finally, I needed to resolve the tower. Up until now I hadn’t determined how I was going to paint this structure, but I knew it had to look immense. I studied photos of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as reference. Rather than driving myself crazy painting every single window in my tower, I decided to paint it very loosely, with only hints of detail. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.