Here you can see the sketch in close-up and the marks and colours in mork detail. I was layering the pastel and pencil quite vigorously to search for the effect I wanted. I looked at some images of Picasso dead children for inspiration from a painting that I made a copy of once, ‘The Rape of the Sabine’ which I saw in London in 2010. You can learn a lot through copying a master like this. His work is complex but appears effortless.

Here’s a sketch I made in oil pastel on Friday which I’m calling ‘Safe Now’. the hand in the corner is not Medea’s but that of the nurse. She protected the children as far as she could in Euripedes’ play and tried to change Medea’s mindset but to no avail. When I watched a production of Medea online it was the nurse’s words that stayed with me for a previous drawing when she asked,’What does it make you?’ and Medea answered, ‘ What I am, defeated’.

Here I am showing you the drawing with an apple to give a sense of the scale. I did it in one sitting and forgot to take photos of the stages as I was so into the work. It would have broken the flow. I’m obviously channeling the moment in the story where Jason is told the news about his sons. Who is telling him is irrelevant.

This drawing was made whilst thinking about the relationship between two young brothers and this image seemed to epitomise that.

Here the colour is now coming into the other side and the work is approaching completion.

Here I am bringing colour into the table area in the bottom corner. I’m not wanting to take attention away from the central motif too much.