Makeup & Concept: Casey Trujillo
Photo cred.: Casey Trujillo
Model: Casey Trujillo
2019

Painting Planets Series: Mercury

This small but mighty planet is the innermost member of our Solar System. Although its orbit around the Sun only takes 88 Earth days, one rotation is 59 days. Mercury’s color to the human eye is grey, however I was inspired to paint this planet based on NASA’s MESSENGER photos which enhanced the planet’s chemical and mineralogical differences. Mercury is comprised of 70% metallic and 30% silicate material with virtually no atmosphere.

In Astrology, Mercury is the messenger of information, ruling our communication and way of thinking. This planet enters retrograde a few times each year, appearing to move backwards in the night sky. However, this is just an illusion based on our earthly perspective. This phenomenon catches a bad rap for its influence in creating mixups and delays, but Mercury in retrograde is a beautiful opportunity to slow down and take space for introspection.