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Painting of an Alchemist by Paul McMillan, a surreal, figurative Stillife with self portrait titled "The Alchemist"   Genre: Self Portrait / Figurative / Surreal Stillife / with Secret Coded Message
"The Alchemist" (Self Portrait) Including: --Coded message in the book. Can you Break it? --Miscellaneous tools of the Alchemist and more! --Perpetual motion machine. Have I finally made the one that works? --Catapult, my compound ratio design. What's in the sling?   36" x 48" Oil on Panel No. 228   Click on images below for close-up detail
In this Painting of an Alchemist by Paul McMillan, a surreal, figurative Stillife with self portrait titled "The Alchemist", an original 36" x 48"oil painting on panel, I was trying to have some fun by portraying an alchemist succeeding in the act of making gold. Much can be learned from the history of alchemy and all the other intertwined high and low efforts embodied in the wonderful stories to which many were engaged in a pursuit of a worth more valuable than the precious element defining their pursuit. I chose a self portrait of myself as the alchemist central to the subject matter of the artwork.   How would an artist ready ones' self for such an odyssey in a painted image? What would an alchemist need to do their work? All this lead to studying some of the tools of the trade that are in my opinion, absolutely vital to the pursuit of a true alchemist. With the exception of the pallete knife, crystal muller and my self portrait, all the objects within this unique composition were invented purely from my imagination. In addition to the objects relative to alchemy I include a design for an offset balance perpetual motion machine and a compound ratio catapult.   Oh, I almost forgot to mention there is a coded message written on the pages of the open book in the painting. What would a painting about an alchemest be without a secret message? If you want to know what it has to say, you'll have to break the code, if you can.   Disclaimer: I did not say the laws of physics could be broken, "I said you could learn a lot by challenging them."
Perpetual Motion Machine	Catapult	Books, Map, Vial
Ship in the bottle Penny in the bottle Bag of coins	Self portrait	Clock
Right Hand	Book with coded message Message In Code Can you Break it???	Left Hand
Mercury spill	Lamp and Gold	Book and beakers
Bubbling vial	Base with marbles as feet	Beaker-dripping
Pallet	Beakers	Clock and Ink well
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