POSING FOR PESOS

Reference for this Painting was a photo I took in Mexico near Puerto Vallarta of a teenager and his iguana renting themselves out for tourists to take photos.
I declined the opportunity to hold the iguana. I believe the iguana was in agreement with this decision. Of the two he appeared to be the only one smiling for the camera.

The iguana is definitely the center of interest with his orange scaly skin contrasting with the complimentary colour, blue in the shirt.
This Painting plays up the illusion of 3 dimensional depth by reserving all hard edges for the 2 foreground characters.
Along with overlap this makes them appear to advance.
There is also less colour and tonal variation in the background structure and foliage which visually causes them to retreat.

While there is plenty of colourful visual excitment in the foreground figures, the muted background provides a calming rest area for the viewers eyes.

This is definitely an unexpected sight for many North Americans.