Milton that have worked their way into
my subconscious. One can view his
work independent of the text and still
be moved,” says Wayne.
Painted by Siggi Valur and Raffaella
in 2014, the mural in Café Loki in
Reykjavik is one of Iceland’s most
famous renderings of the Norse gods
yet is full of elements inspired by
Blake’s paintings of his own
mythological beings. Indeed, Loki
strikes the same posture as Urizen in
Blake’s The Ancient of Days.
“What fascinates me about Blake is
the intensity in the body
language, and how
powerful his muscled
bodies were,” says
storyboard and fantasy
artist Siggi. “There is such fire and
intensity in Death on a Pale Horse,
where anatomical correctness was put
aside and exaggerated poses take
over. I was bewildered with his drawing
for The Divine Comedy of an
impossible scene called The Circle of
the Lustful – chaotic and horrible, as if
driven by a fear of damnation.”
Above all, perhaps, Blake was a
superb visual storyteller, and his ability
to transcend the text of whatever he
illustrated has influenced the graphic
novels of Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison
and Alan Moore, among others.
For more details of the William Blake
exhibition visit http://www.tate.org.uk.What fascinates me about
Blake is the intensity in
the body language...
The Spiritual Form of Nelson
Guiding Leviathan will be
projected on a large scale on
the walls of Tate Britain.William Blake, The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan (c.1805-1809). Tate
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