I have wanted to paint the Lascaux caves for a long time. Jane M Auel inspired this painting. I tried to wrap it around the viewer by painting on a bent board.
Because Jane M Auel uses artifacts to write, I had a blast figuring out how she got her inspiration for the main character’s (Ayla) horse. “Whinney” is the big horse on the left with her mouth open.
I attempted to paint the rock of the cave and all the carving, wetness, and exact color. I hope to go to Southern France someday and actually plein air the cave if possible. Tourists are only allowed in the replica adjacent to the real cave, since their breathing and bacteria trekked in ruined the original.
Lascaux is pronounced similar to “let’s go!”. It’s 13,000 years old. 600 paintings are inside, mostly horses. It is not a hunting scene.
I noticed that the animals have huge horns. Are they unicorns? They also have tic marks. Is that their age?
