Painting

Exploring Composition, Scale and Articulation of Paint Surface

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As previously discussed, I wanted to explore the use of layers and process-led painting in this work. I started off by laying down cropped sections of my manipulated photographs in the bottom right hand corner of the work. I painted over some of them in part, but left others as they were. I also filled in some of the blank areas of the board with paint and charcoal including the large black and white textured strip you can see going through the painting which I painted black only. I then poured PVA glue over these areas and added some paint in some places, as well as white tissue paper over the huge section I had just painted black. Once this was dry I went over the glue with paint, emphasising different parts of the grid-like structure which I had taken from the dense parts of the original image. I chose to act in this way mostly from what I had learnt from my previous experimental studies. I knew how the different substances were going to react on the whole and I was trying really hard to explore the form of the painting as much as the materials. The articulation of the surface was a particular concentration in terms of the original image, which I have tried to obscure effectively without completely losing it’s identity.

After creating a very textured and layered area in the painting, I chose to contrast this with a plain, flat area of bright yellow. I wanted to create some space within the composition as so far it was quite dense. I finished the area to the right of the river by adding sandpaper, and tissue paper which I contrasted with charcoal and blue chalk pastel. I also used one of my manipulated photographs again which I thought led into the textured part of the painting really effectively and linked with the bottom area. Part of the image got ripped off when I removed masking tape from it, but I liked the effect that it made as it was a similar texture that added contrasting pale colour. I continued the effect given by the print using paint towards the top of the work.

I wanted to use this again so I began building the bottom left corner of the painting with one of my prints and added paint to it inconspicuously. I then painted the area above, a flat bright red colour that I wanted to communicate with the flat bright yellow area. I added triangular, grid like structures using thick, textured paint which I stencilled with masking tape, much like the other sections of the painting that are built with jagged lines. I continued this effect but more simply with sandpaper and masking tape which references the way the painting has been made.

I chose to highlight the river in white, but partly outlined it with red so it did not seem disjointed with the rest of the painting’s bright colours. The white to the bottom right of the painting moves the eye around the composition so the viewer can view the work effectively.

After spending so long working on this piece I don’t currently feel sure as to wether it is a success or not but this should come with time. I feel happy however that I have explored composition, scale and articulation of paint surface, whilst considering how the image, it’s surface and the materials are being read in relation to the original image.

Exploring Composition Structure

Drawing

In order to experiment more with scale and form, I have decided that my next piece of work will be a much larger 65cm x 100cm painting. As I was feeling unsure of how to approach a piece of work that size, I decided to do some drawings to explore the form, composition and possible outcomes of the painting. In the first drawing I made, I attempted to create what I had pictured in my head to be what the painting was going to look like. I wasn’t considering use of colour at all, and I wasn’t worried about the structure being too strict. This is why I chose to use charcoal over other drawing materials. You can see that there is still a close relationship to the original image in the drawing, but it has been broken down and simplified into an easier composition to approach. I was hoping that this could be a good starting point and guide for the form of the painting. I was also trying to tackle the denser parts of the image, as I fear creating a painting that is too busy or too decorative.

Leading on from this, I considered making the painting using very few guidelines (physically drawn onto the work), which is an unusual thing for me to do. This would allow me to be freer with the composition and the form of the work. It would also show me where to put down my first layer(s). I therefore made a rough sketch of the key parts of the image. I chose which sections were important by studying the original photograph and the manipulated versions of it, which were very helpful. I used charcoal again as it is one of the most free drawing materials and I didn’t want these lines to be set in stone.

In my final drawing I jotted down some ideas of what I could potentially do and use in a painting of this size and with this amount of freedom. This was just a way for me to remember my ideas and visualise them in relation to the original image and the new painting to be.

PVA Painting

Experimenting with PVA glue

Last term, I stumbled across a new way of working which was a complete accident – PVA glue that had dripped off of my work and onto the studio floor, mixed up with ink, created a very unusual and exciting piece of work in its own right. I tried this again during the creation of my last painting study – as I poured PVA glue and ink down the work, I allowed it to spread out onto the studio floor. You can see the stages of this process above. I sadly realised after this glue had dried that I had used slightly too much ink in order for it to spread out effectively amongst the clear PVA glue and I was left with quite a solid colour. I think I may have made it how I wanted it to look while it was wet without considering the fact it would change and disperse. Luckily, some acrylic paint got picked up off of the mod-roc in the piece the glue came from, which gave this work some extra contrast. I also added a nail to the work before it had dried and allowed the PVA glue to dry around it. This was a reference to the work it had come from, where I was experimenting with the three dimensional articulation of surface. I wasn’t wholly pleased with this piece but I wasn’t unpleased either. I had also learnt that for next time, the less ink added, the more effective it should turn out.

Painting Study

Exploring Form & 3D Surface

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In my previous work and recent painting studies, I have been using some quite physical materials such as tissue paper, string, synthetic grass etc. These are all materials you could consider using in collage-like work, that you expect to have a physical, three dimensional presence. It seems strange, however, that I have sub-consciously been using them in a very flat way. I therefore tried to experiment with this idea, making the painting much more physical and bringing out certain connotations to sculpture and objects in the work.

Looking at the image that I am planning on working from in my next work, I decided that it could be useful to experiment with this more physical way of working through exploring the three dimensional articulation of surface in relation to the image. I considered the contours of the landscape shown in the image, and decided to focus on the river which would obviously have a raised river bank. I therefore decided to use string, mod-roc, and corks to show this quality. It is now very important to look at the work straight on, otherwise the corks can look very disjointed with the rest of the painting. I think this is due to the sudden drop at the left of the painting. It may have been better to have made this section raised with mod-roc, and only had the river at the original level of the board.

The left of the painting was made with another cropped section of one of my manipulated images, covered with PVA glue, dappled with white acrylic paint and a small amount of blue ink. I added chalk pastel around the corks to try to make them look more connected, but I don’t think this work too well – it may have looked better before. I wanted to explore how the white acrylic paint would look over a dark background when spread through glue, and I also wanted to try using a small amount of coloured ink to see how it would appear in this context. You can’t see the blue ink too clearly, but I think it adds quite a nice subtle quality.

The river was made with red, orange, yellow and white ink poured down PVA glue. I am disappointed with how this turned out. I think I added too much ink which resulted in a very concentrated substance. I chose to add a large amount of paint and some chalk pastel to the mod-roc to give it a speckled, bright quality that connected to the image I glued to the painting at the start – you can see all the stages the study wet through above.

I don’t think the study was a huge success but I enjoyed working in a different way and I now know that this more three dimensional way of working within a paint surface isn’t really for me.

Painting Study

Image and Substance

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In this piece I was interested in how the paint and other substances that I used in the work would behave and how I could articulate them in relation to the original image. I continued to work in a layered, process led way but perhaps not to the same extent as my previous painting study. You can see some of the stages the painting went though in the images above.

Firstly, I painted the wood black. Using PVA glue, I then attached one of my cropped manipulated images. The image had the same proportions as the wood I was working on, but was slightly smaller, allowing for a thin black border. I then poured PVA glue onto the board, so it covered the image and its boarder. In the glue, I created a sort of drawing using a palette knife dipped in white acrylic paint, and left the glue and the paint to dry. I didn’t use too much paint, and therefore when the work dried I was left with weedy thin lines of acrylic paint over the previous layers. The PVA glue was so clear that you could not tell that it had been there at all. Unsatisfied by the lack of clarity the lines gave, using a ruler and a pencil, I started drawing extra lines on the painting that I planned to paint over with acrylic paint. I found that when you pressed down with the pencil, a strange, almost grey cast appeared over the image, which I used to my advantage. With some extra lines of white acrylic paint amongst this grey cast, the painting finally had the clarity I wanted.

The paragraph above explains how the different substances behaved within the painting, which was a very experimental process that I have now learnt from. The way I have chosen to present them in relation to the original image is very important. Obviously, I have used one of my cropped manipulated versions of the original image which strongly references that, however, it also presents the idea with a certain freedom. The part of the image I chose to use has been so far manipulated and altered that it is effectively giving the painting permission to alter the image further – it is not strict.

The section of the image that I have chosen presents a very dense part of the image – something that I am concerned about when making the larger work. I have tried to distract the painting from the density of the photograph by painting the grid like designs much larger, clearer and simpler. The busy, decorative aspect of the photograph is then effectively hidden in the background – it is still present, but not a focus or distraction to the work.

Painting Study

Articulation of Surface


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I did this painting study in preparation for my larger work. I practised working in a freer, more process led way, where there was no preconceived composition or idea. You can see the different stages of the work in the images above. I thought about the image that I will be working  from in my next work and how I should articulate my top surface so that it either relates or deliberately doesn’t relate to my original image.

I also explored how new substances reacted to each other. For example, I used sugar with paint and found that it dissolved into a shiny, wet looking texture. This can only be seen when it is used over a plain surface however – I added it to all parts of the painting but it only shows at the top of the painting over the plain black paint. I don’t think that the sugary smudge at the top of the painting works that well compositionally, but I thought that for the purpose of this study – exploring the articulation of surface – I should keep it there to reference back to.

I considered the original image which shows a number of hills, fields, trees, rivers etc. in birds eye views. I therefore decided to use tissue paper over PVA glue to create a lumpy, surface, referencing the contours of the landscape. The black layer underneath added contrast to the white tissue paper and brought out the bumpy texture. I added white paint and chalk to emphasise this further. It definitely has some connotations to mountains and other  aspects of landscape.

The mixed up, most layered section at the bottom of the painting, contains parts of the photograph I will be working from in my next major work, after it had been manipulated with colour. This gives the work a strong connection to the image which might be what I want to work towards in my larger work. The bright orange and blue of the photograph contrasts well with the black and white, although I considered adding some more colour to emphasise this. I thought about the way the image was taken – on a journey to Turkey. I thought it could be interesting to reference this idea of travel amongst the work, and therefore I cut up train tickets and merged them amongst the paint and photograph. The orange colour contrasts well with the black and white and brings out the colour of the photographs which became quite hidden amongst all the other layers. This busy part of the painting was a way for me to explore how I was going to control the more dense sections of the image.

Overall I consider the purpose of this study to be a success, but I am unsure of whether it is a success in it’s own right. I added the orange and black stripes at the end to try and add some balance the painting, which I think worked to some extent.

Exploring Imagery

Photo Manipulation

Considering this newly found interest in layering and process led painting, I thought it could be interesting to use a photograph itself as a layer or part of a layer amongst paint. This would bring an interesting relationship back to the original image within the larger painting. Therefore the articulation of the paint in relation to original image will be more obvious. I also thought that particular sections within this already cropped image looked really interesting and unusual in these new colours – I was drawn to that.

Exploring Image Structure with Colour

Composition

Moving forward, I wish to expand from material trials into something that experiments equally with composition, scale and articulation of paint surface – experiments that explore form as much as the material medium. It is important to remember what paint does (how it behaves as a substance ) and what can be done in ‘painting’ (how paint is articulated as and in relation to an image. It would therefore be productive to concentrate on how images, surfaces and substances are read.

Taking this into consideration, I have decided to explore the use of layers and process based painting in my work. This will allow me to be more free with form and surface, and will also allow to discover the limitations of particular materials. Previously, I tried manipulating my chosen photograph in order to obscure the image and experiment with colour. The purpose of this was to change the colour palette I was working with in my painting, by seeing what colours worked best in the manipulated photograph. The purpose is different here. I intend to create a larger work in order to experiment with scale, form and composition, and manipulating the photograph in a more section based way using colour, I am emphasising different parts of the image. I can therefore see which parts of the composition should be a main focus and which parts should be more subtle. It is also helpful in terms of layering, as I can see smaller areas within larger areas that I can work with in this way.

This new interest in layering and process led painting was triggered by an artist talk I heard at Chelsea College of Arts by the painter ‘Gabriel Hartley’. I saw his work at the Wimbledon Space last year, and realised that it could be a great inspiration for me. His exploration with form and composition through process led painting is particular relevant to my work right now.