Paintings about the Inklings - C S Lewis

Painting based on The Great Divorce

I have recently started following a gallery on line who is planning an exhibit based on the Inklings, a group of writers including C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. I have been excited about this project because I am a reader, and I love some of the works by these authors. As I read more about them, I found that they were especially interested in works of fiction as a means to communicate truth. Armed with that thought, I chose to begin several paintings based on works of fiction by Inklings authors. The first work I chose to consider is The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. 

One of Lewis' more popular books, The Great Divorce is an allegorical tale in which people from The Gray Town ride a bus to a bright, solid world in which they are exposed as ghosts without much substance. They are offered the opportunity to stay (and change) if they choose. This book has been a favorite of mine since college years, if not longer. 

Each of the paintings I am working on is a work on watercolor paper, and they share a color palette and  size/shape. For The Great Divorce, I chose a vertical composition with the idea of drawing eyes upward - a reference to choosing Heaven. Since this was the first of the series, this story instigated the color palette with green and gold being the most pronounced in relation to the bright world's green grass and golden apples and sunshine. 

Caricatures of characters

Interestingly, the parts of the painting I am most drawn to are parts that are extremely difficult to see! I chose to use micaceous iron oxide to represent The Gray Town and the people who travel from there to the bright world. Micaceous iron oxide is a gritty, gray paint with some sparkle, and it is transparent when painted with an acrylic medium. On this painting, there is a thin vertical line of this paint that is more easily felt than seen, which suggests The Gray Town itself. Then I chose a few of the characters that are described in the book to caricature and paint with the same paint so that they are visible, but transparent. 

I hope that this painting is not so cerebral that it is a failure as a painting! I think the series will be stronger as a whole than it is with each individual painting. Stay tuned for works based on fiction writing by Tolkien and Owen Barfield. I am excited to (finish and) share them! 

10" x 10" image on 11" x 14" paper
Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper
Ready to frame


Click here to view or purchase on my website.