Showing posts with label The Four Humours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Four Humours. Show all posts

Thursday, 8 September 2011

Nottingham Castle Open 2011

Good news. I've had four paintings accepted for the Nottingham Castle Open 2011. This follows from the one I had accepted last year. This time I submitted four of a series, with the hope that they would choose them all, as they really need to be seen together. It worked!

The work is The Four Humours that I've already blogged about in July.

The exhibition will be on at the Castle from 8 October - 6 November 2011, where the works will be on sale.

Sunday, 31 July 2011

The Four Humours Series

Completed a series of oil paintings based on the 'Four Humours' temperamental categories named by Galen as "sanguine", "melancholic", "choleric" and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humours. These humours are traditionally associated with the colours Red, Black, Yellow and Blue respectively. The general idea is that personalities should be balanced, or at least avoid extremes. My natural inclination is towards the Phlegmatic.

I did a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test at work which characterised me as INFP (introversion, intuition, feeling, perception) with borderline INTP (introversion, intuition, thinking, perception). INFPs have been refered to as Healers and INTPs as Architects. Amongst my scientific colleagues I was unusual in being 'feeling' slightly more than 'thinking'. There is no one type that is best, but it is interesting to appreciate that different types are largely inherent and that we should take account of these when dealing with others, and perhaps in our life choices.

These square format paintings combine trompe l'oeil with 'colourfield' composition.

The Four Humours: Melancholic (Somber – Guardian – Sensing-Judging (SJ)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011


The Four Humours: Choleric (Enthusiastic – Idealist – Intuitive-Feeling (NF)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011


The Four Humours: Sanguine (Cheerful – Artisan – Sensing-Perceiving (SP)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011


The Four Humours: Phlegmatic (Calm – Rationalist – Intuitive-Thinking (NT)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011.