Description

Remembering How Hard it’s Been (Sirens Oil Painting) is a figure painting of a nude woman leaning against a hard rock at the seaside. She is looking down at the ground as if in thought or remembering her past. The sea is calm before her and there is a string of golden clouds along the horizon. Yet she seems melancholy, as if she is not quite ready to face the serenity of the scenery. Remembering How Hard it’s Been is about honouring our past and our wounds, but also accepting a hopeful future. 

This sirens oil painting is part of my ‘Sirens’ figure painting series and was done completely from life and from imagination, without the use of photography. I first drew a study of the pose with charcoal on paper from a live model before starting the painting.

The painting was built up with many subtle transparent glazes and scumbles in the traditional painting method.

The use of premium quality artist oil paints with large pigment particle size allows for more of an impasto effect, where the brushstrokes are clearly visible, adding to the overall expressiveness and energy in the painting.

Click here to read more about the Sirens Oil Paintings

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Damian Osborne

Damian Osborne is a fine artist from Cape Town, South Africa. Taking inspiration from the Old Master traditions, from nature, and from the people around him (especially his wife), he tries to push beyond the mediocre and aim for mastery in his paintings.

Latest posts by Damian Osborne (see all)

• What’s the Point of Creating When No One Cares? - 24th August 2025
• Fantasia No.6 in G minor (The Cockatrice) - 3rd May 2025
• Rebirth: Starting Over as an Artist — Part 1 - 17th April 2025