This is nude study developed from a painted sketch produced during a recent life drawing class (which can be seen in the background of the photograph of this drawing in my studio). The painting itself attempted to capture the light and colour of the model, whilst this drawing is an attempt to reinterpret that scene in order to emphasise the shapes and planes of the model in the space.
Whilst producing it, as well as my never-ending fascination with Picasso, I was trying to take inspiration from the delicate, spidery drawings of Cy Twombly, and the sensitive, yet tremendously sculptural, Shelter Drawings of Henry Moore.
It’s drawn in pencil on cartridge paper, is A2 size (84cm x 60cm) and is supplied unframed. As per my previous Seated Nude Study, I’ve purposely left the drawing ‘sketchy’ and unpolished as evidence of the process of discovery and of trial and error.
This is a painting developed from a previous preparatory piece, Seated Nude I Study.
I was thinking of the faceted figures painted by Picasso & Braque in their early Analytical Cubism phase and trying to seeing what would happen if I increased the number of planes/facets portrayed compared with my attempts at less faceted paintings such as ‘The Sculpture Garden’.
I’m keen to investigate if it’s possible to find a mid point between the beautiful, flat – almost ‘colour field’ – Abstract Realism(?) of artists like Milton Avery and Etel Adnan, and the faceted, almost 3D approach of the Cubists, in order to try and produce work that looks 2D and 3D at the same time.
It’s painted in acrylics on canvas board and is supplied unframed.
This a study for a potential painting of a seated nude, drawn in pencil on cartridge paper. It’s A2 size (84cm x 60cm) and is supplied unframed.
In it, I’m considering how to represent the planes of the human figure using simple monochromatic tones and varied mark making and smudging as opposed to previous investigations using flat colour.
I’ve deliberately left the drawing ‘sketchy’ and unpolished as evidence of the process of discovery and of trial and error by the ‘hand, eye and heart’ to quote David Hockney.
I was thinking of the faceted figures painted by Picasso & Braque in their early Analytical Cubism phase and trying to seeing what would happen if I increased the number of planes/facets portrayed compared with my attempts at less faceted paintings such as ‘The Sculpture Garden’.
I’m keen to investigate if it’s possible to find a mid point between the beautiful, flat – almost ‘colour field’ – Abstract Realism(?) of artists like Milton Avery and Etel Adnan, and the faceted, almost 3D approach of the Cubists, in order to try and produce work that looks 2D and 3D at the same time.
This is a nude, painted in acrylic on canvas board. It’s painted in a harmonious palette in a style which seeks to emphasize the planes of the figure in space, as well as the interlocking shapes between the planes.
It’s based on a previous painting, Serenity. I was inspired to try another approach to this subject by my ongoing reading into Colour Theory, and particularly, by Josef Alber’s book “Interaction of Colour”.
This painting is part of a developing series in which, once again, I’m seeking to investigate and understand how to use those – notionally ‘simple’ – colour dimensions of hue, value and saturation so as to encourage the viewer to confront the contradictions inherent in representing a 3 dimensional subject on a 2 dimensional surface.
If the viewer is made to feel that the image portrayed is oscillating between abstraction and figuration, whereby, one minute a particular bounded plane is simply an abstract flat colour shape, then the next is recognisable as a foreshortened thigh projecting into space, then this painting will have achieved its objective.
I’d be very interested to hear your opinion as to whether or not you think this approach has been successful, so please don’t hesitate to drop me a line with your thoughts!
This painting was inspired by a life drawing class in the sculpture garden of the Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead, on a beautifully sunny July day this year. It’s painted on canvas board and is supplied unframed.
Its conception is based on a number of books about colour theory I’m reading which have led me to become obsessed with the ‘interaction of colours’. Furthermore, in recent work, I’ve also been focussing on accentuating the abstract planes ‘of’, as well as the interlocking shapes ‘between’, things, rather than just on the things themselves, so this painting is an attempt to further investigate those two, fundamental, topics of colour and shape.
By painting flat areas of colour that, of themselves, are simply abstract jigsaw pieces, but which together, can be interpreted as recognisable objects, the purpose of this painting is to encourage the viewer to go beyond passively viewing what, at first glance, is a calm and serene subject, in order to actively confront the contradictions between the flatness of the picture surface and the coloured shapes, compared with the three dimensionality of the image being portrayed.
In Douglas Cooper’s (1970 p.33) book, “The Cubist Epoch”, we read that Picasso said of his own pre-Cubist painting entitled ‘Dance of the Veils (Nude with Drapes)’, 1907, that it should be possible to “‘cut up’ his canvas and having reassembled it ‘according to the colour indications… find oneself confronted with a sculpture.'”
‘The Sculpture Garden’, is a first, crude, attempt to pay homage to that ambition.
It was presented by Corey d’Augustine whose relaxed, hands on approach together with his evident expertise provided a fantastic introduction to the Abstract Expressionist movement. It certainly caused me to think more deeply about their aims and objectives, and has certainly provided a number of ideas that I’d like to try and introduce into my own art at some stage.
As mentioned before, the course is free (unless you wish to purchase a certificate) and is highly recommended.
The artwork above is my attempt to replicate Ad Reinhardt’s ‘black painting’ methodology (see Corey d’Augustine’s youtube video from the course below). Also below is the text I submitted to the course in support of my attempt to recreate his work.
Course Submission:
Objective:
For this assignment, I chose to attempt to recreate a piece in the style of Ad Reinhardt, since I had found him the hardest Abstract Expressionist artist to understand.
Approach:
As advised by the Course Tutor, I filled three separate jars with a mixture of Mars black together with proportions of Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine Blue and Viridian Green, plus large quantities of Low Odour White Spirit. I then shook each jar vigorously for several minutes, after which they were left to stand for 3 weeks in order to draw out the linseed oil medium.
At the end of this period, I poured off the clear layer of solvent and separated medium to leave a ‘sludge’ of pigment at the bottom of each jar.
I took a brand new 60cm x 60cm brand new primed canvas and marked 9 equal squares on its surface using pencil.
I then filled the squares of the canvas with pigment from the jars in the following configuration:
Blue
Green
Blue
Red
Red
Red
Blue
Green
Blue
I tried to keep within the lines of the square and made every attempt to minimise evidence of brush strokes. I ensured that the edges of the canvas were painted with the appropriate colours of their adjoining squares. I applied 2 or 3 coats to ensure an even covering with no bare canvas showing through.
Results:
The resulting picture is attached. It is incredibly matt, but there are some areas where the canvas shows through faintly so I would like to apply more coats. I didn’t test/adjust the colours during the separation period, so they appear extremely black (although they did have a faint cast of their relevant pigments in the jars, and I have caught glimpses of the colours in certain lights, although the light was fading when I completed it, so I can’t check it properly until tomorrow.)
Producing this painting raised more questions than answers:
I struggled with hairs and dust. Did Reinhardt paint in a ‘clean room’ to prevent dirt ingress?
If, as the Course Tutor advises, Reinhardt was not too particular about the edges of squares, does this mean that he was happy with ‘overlaps’ between colours? Does that mean that colours are varied at the joins between squares?
My pencil lines disappeared after the first coat and, with the colours being so similar in hue/value, painting up to the lines became harder and harder. How did Reinhardt ensure that he kept his squares? Did he redraw them after each layer?
My colours appear too black. Did Reinhardt develop a ‘recipe’ to ensure repeatability of his paintings?
The Course Tutor describes Reinhardt as being a non-gestural painter. Whilst I wholly agree that there was something truly ‘meditative’ about his approach to painting, my experience was that I was very conscious of the ‘gestures’/directions of my brushstrokes. Could Reinhardt’s paintings be ‘gestural’ with the gestures deliberately hidden/only apparent to those ‘in the know’?
I’ve read elsewhere that a number of the Abstract Expressionists were interested in Theosophy. Was Reinhardt’s meditative approach to painting inspired by this?
Painting this image just once felt like painting a black hole to me. What was Reinhardt painting for all those years? Death? Nothingness? The Void? The gateway to Hell?
In conclusion, I found this a fascinating project and the painting is now hanging on my wall (although I’m scared to look into it…)
This is my latest painting, which is entitled ‘Up and Down South Stack Steps’. It’s an imposing triptych painted in acrylics on 3 large cradled panels (see picture below for an idea of scale). It’s painted primarily from memory in an effort to recreate the experience of descending South Stack‘s 400 steps.
The panels represent stopping at various points down the steps, gazing up at the vertigo-inducing cliffs of Holy Island, then soaking up the beauty of the low sun burnishing the quicksilver sea, before clambering down to experience the thrilling sights and sounds of the roiling waves in the narrow channel between Holy Island and Ynys Lawd.
It was inspired (once again) by David Hockney’s theories on alternative approaches to monocular/photographic paintings with a single viewpoint. Each panel is intended to encourage the viewer to feel that they are able to look in multiple directions both within each panel, as well as between the three panels (which, hopefully explains the title being ‘Up and Down…’ rather than ‘Down and Up…’) The ultimate goal is to induce a slight feeling of vertigo, as if one has been tied to a ship’s mast.
I hope to submit it for inclusion in the Art for All competition in the Ucheldre Centre in Holyhead where it will be on sale for £1200 (EDIT: price adjusted after *ahem…* ‘advice’ from my wife…) The exhibition opens at 5pm Thursday 20th July and runs until 5th September so please drop in as there will be a wide range of work on display by a number of artists.
In the meantime, please see the image below for an idea of the scale of the work.
The following life drawing class figure studies (and one worked up image) have been added to the Figures gallery. More figure studies are available on my Blog, although many of them are experiments, so please be warned that the quality is rather mixed and some of them are downright terrible…
