Rusalka 2: A Painting About Light, Age and Artistic Translation

December 18, 2025

Why This Painting Exists

Rusalka 2 began on my 50th birthday, which feels like an important detail in hindsight.

Turning 50 has a way of forcing reflection. Not in a dramatic way, but in a quieter, more honest way. That morning, I watched a short film about an 87-year-old man from Okinawa who still runs every day. One line stuck with me:

“Nobody gets old by the number of years. We grow old by deserting ideals.”

That idea stayed with me as I started this painting. Aging isn’t just physical. It’s mental. It’s enthusiasm. It’s whether or not we continue to believe we can still do difficult things. That mindset applies just as much to painting as it does to running.

Rusalka 2 is an artistic translation of that idea, staying curious, staying uncomfortable, and staying willing to push past what feels safe.

The Rusalka Myth and the Spark Behind the Image

The painting is inspired by Rusalka, a figure from Slavic mythology. Rusalki are often depicted as mystical female water beings, sometimes benevolent, sometimes dangerous. I’m drawn to that ambiguity.

The reference image came from Graphit Studio, and like many images I choose, I couldn’t fully articulate at first why it grabbed me. I just felt the spark.

That spark alone is never enough to carry a painting to the end.

Over time, I’ve learned that enthusiasm has to be translated into clear artistic intent. Otherwise, the painting collapses halfway through into frustration or imitation.

Turning Inspiration Into Clear Artistic Language

Before putting down paint, I wrote notes. Not poetic notes. Practical ones.

I ran the image through the fundamentals of art:

Composition
Value
Hue
Saturation
Edges
Brushwork
Shape
Focal point

These fundamentals are not optional. Every painting deals with them whether we acknowledge them or not. Writing them down forces clarity.

For Rusalka 2, several things stood out immediately.

Composition: Keeping the Viewer Locked In

The composition revolves around opposing curves.

A sweeping curve at the top formed by the waves
A counter-curve at the bottom formed by the submerged fabric

Together, they create a circular movement that keeps the viewer’s eye centered on the figure’s head.

Light also plays a compositional role. The lighter water near the top contrasts with the darker head, increasing focus. It’s a simple move, but extremely powerful.

Color Decisions: Limiting the Palette for Strength

This painting lives in blue.

Blues dominate almost the entire surface, but that uniformity allows for contrast to become explosive where it matters.

The focal point uses:

Warm reds and oranges in direct sunlight
Cooler blues and green-blues in the water and shadows

By shifting the water toward greener blues and keeping the dress more purely blue, I could separate forms without relying on heavy value contrast.

The skin tones remain warmer than everything around them, even in shadow. That temperature contrast is subtle but essential.

Pushing Beyond the Photo: The “Train” Idea

One of the central ideas guiding this painting is something I think about often.

Imagine “Detail” being spread over miles of train tracks and your on the train.

At one end of the track is hyper realism, perfect copying.
At the other end is abstraction.

Every painter has to decide where to get off the train.

For years, I stayed closer to realism, and got off the train there. With Rusalka 2, I wanted to push further. Less blending. Harder edges. Broken color. Visible decisions.

I’m getting off the train further down the tracks and the town I step into is unfamiliar.

That push creates discomfort. And that discomfort is necessary.

If a painting feels too comfortable, it usually means I’m not learning anything.

Experimenting With Surface: Baking Soda Gesso

For this painting, I experimented with adding baking soda to gesso to increase absorbency.

The result was a surface that felt almost like sandpaper.

There were pros:

Reduced glare
Faster matte finish
Forced thicker paint application

And cons:

Brushes wore down quickly
Broad coverage was difficult
Paint did not slide easily

Ultimately, I don’t think I’ll repeat this surface. It was useful as an experiment, and it forced certain behaviors, but it’s not how I want to work long-term.

Still, experimentation matters. No one can tell you exactly what materials you should use forever. You have to find that out yourself.

Light on the Face: The Hardest Problem

The biggest challenge in Rusalka 2 was making the sunlight feel real.

It’s easy to paint “bright paint” and “dark paint.”
It’s much harder to paint light itself.

I spent multiple sessions refining how light rolls over the forehead, nose, cheekbone, and back into shadow. If that transition doesn’t work, the entire painting collapses.

I constantly asked myself:

Does this feel like light, or does it feel like paint?
Is the warmth justified?
Are the edges doing too much?

These questions never stop. They’re the work.

Background and Foreground: Avoiding the Halo Effect

One mistake I see often is painting objects cleanly up to their edges.

That creates a halo. It looks artificial.

In Rusalka 2, I intentionally painted the background into the hair, then painted the hair back over it. That overlap creates depth and avoids stiffness.

Foreground and background should always interact. Nothing exists in isolation.

Push past the fear of losing the drawing or having to do more work repainting an edge.

This builds confidence and a better painting.