Thursday 21 November 2013

Studio Observation Paintings

The drawings, from which these paintings were inspired, were all completed sitting in the studio space. The compositions were constructed and altered by placing objects within the frame, such as: hanging canvas, paint-covered overalls and "the artists chair".

The intention of the paintings was to was to further explore the relationship between colour balance and composition. This took the form of initiating the painting process with carefully constructed grounds from various coloured household emulsion paints. This experimentation produced success to varying degrees, with the backgrounds with a higher tonal register (lighter colours) creating a better surface to build on top of.



Studio View #7
116 x 116cm
Oil, Acrylic and Emulsion on Canvas



Studio View #5
116 x 116cm
Oil, Acrylic and Emulsion on Canvas



Studio View #6
116 x 116cm
Oil, Acrylic and Emulsion on Canvas



Overalls with the Artist's Chair
116 x 116cm
Oil, Acrylic and Emulsion on Canvas



Tuesday 12 November 2013

Still life paintings

These paintings are all based off drawings of still life drawings done in my room at university or in the studio. The drawings were intended to represent the juxtaposition of forms within the scene. Some of the still lifes were impromptu, while others were staged or recreations, whether with other replacement forms or an imaginary addition to the composition.

The main focus of the paintings were to experiment with different colours as a base for the painting and to explore elements of the translation of a drawing to a painting. However the paintings are intended as stand alone pieces to work without the supporting sketches.



Door with Hanging Coats
100 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil and Pastel on Canvas



Studio Recreation of Hanging Coats #1
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas




Light Beam with Hanging Coats
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas




Studio Recreation of Hanging Coats #2
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas



Condition of Studio Wall and Floor
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas



Reacreation of Room Corner
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas



The Artist's Chair
90 x 90cm
Acrylic, Oil, Pastel and Emulsion on Canvas


Wednesday 23 October 2013

Appropriation #1

The painting was named 'Appropriation #1' it is first in a series of works to be created exploring the same themes. Although it is clearly not a direct appropriation (meaning the use of borrowed elements to create a new work) of the objects originally sketched, the intention of the painting is to reflect myself as and artist and a person. As the paintings are largely abstracted the way they are created, use of form and colour is mainly generated as work is done on the canvases. The decisions made during painting, use of a colour here or use of a form elsewhere, are unconsciously informed by my thoughts, feelings and experiences. This is what is being appropriated within the painting.

The painting is created on four separate, identical canvases, primarily for transportation reasons. It is an attempt to try different methods to make my work more accessible, without compromising on the scale. This design also enables the paintings to be expanded, as more canvases can be added if more space for expression is needed. Alternatively each section of the painting can be viewed as if it were it's own painting.


Appropriation #1
224 x 224cm
Mixed Media on Canvas


Production of 'Appropriation #1'


The painting is based of an abstracted sketch that was done in my sketchbook of a view that I happened to be looking at. The objects are of no significance to the painting, merely a method of designing a composition.

Original drawing in pastel, paint and water.



Further painting building up the main areas
Creating a 'background'


Painting added in a multitude of media, including
Acrylic, Gouache, Glass Paint and Poster Paint.



Wednesday 24 April 2013

Before They Left II

As a follow up to "Before They Left" I decided to repaint the same canvas. I left "Before They Left" unfinished before assessment and when i came back to it I felt as if the painting was no longer appropriate to the way I was working now. While the first was more about the content of the painting and it's story the way I had progressed focused more on the painted surface and the qualities with in that surface than the conceptual background of the painting. Although I allowed parts of the original show though and kept the name of the painting to link it back to its original state.


Before They Left II
240 x 240cm
Acrylic and Chalk on Canvas

Screen Printing

This is an attempt to try out screen printing, which is a technique I hadn't tried before. Screen Printing involved cutting a separate stencil out for each colour in news print paper. I then attached these separately to a silk printing screen, which I scraped printing ink through uniformly in order to create a flat area of colour.

I then used some of the prints I created to make a larger painting.


Stencils and Original Plan


Print - Paris
42 x 30cm
Printing Ink on Paper



Recuring Print
120 x 130cm
Printing Ink and Wood Sealant on Paper and MDF



Wednesday 17 April 2013

Oil Painting

Two oil paintings based on the previous sketches using Wax medium to create an impasto effect. The wax medium allows the paint to be spread on thicker and unless used in overly large quantities does not effect the colour produced. The problem i found with it is the wax needs to be mixed completely or the surface of the painting can become grainy. In addition to this the wax medium is better to use while it is heated slightly.


Wisp
70cm x 50cm
Oil and Wax on Board


Wisp II
90cm x 65cm
Oil and Wax on Hardboard

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Sculpture from flat panels


In order to attempt to realise the small sketches and drawings from my sketchbook on a larger scale I attempted to create the compositions out of sections of MDF. The first one was a direct re-creation of the composition from a drawing in my sketchbook using painted pieces of MDF and also painting other sections on the board itself. To follow the drawing i also left the background of the piece the same as when i found it.


Paris - On the Internet (Relief)
70 x 50cm
Acrylic on Board and MDF

 The next method I tried was identical to the previous one, except I did not paint the sections of MDF. Instead I stretched canvas over the board and used charcoal to draw in the edges of the face. The dark lines created by the charcoal pressing against the edges of the MDF sections became the shapes which define the face.


Untitled (Relief)
80 x 60cm
Pastel and Charcoal on Canvas stretched on Board


Next I tried the same as in Paris - On the Internet except on some of the sections of MDF i used a belt sander to add an angle to one side so when it was nailed down it protruded from the board, creating three dimensional shapes within the faces.


The Argument
70 x 50cm
Acrylic on Board and MDF

Using left over scraps of wood, glued and stapled together, I created a sculpture of a woman with her body lying back on the right and her face enlarged to the left.


Woman in two parts
Acrylic on MDF
15cm (Height)




William Utermolen

William Utermolen drew mostly self portraits and to begin with they were completely figurative. His late self portraits documented his descent into Alzheimer's disease. He represents his feelings about his condition with remarkable clarity presenting his sadness, anxiety and even anger at the loss of some of his basic functions.

The artists website can be found here.


Self Portrait (1955)
28 x 21cm
Pencil on Paper


Self Portrait (With easel - yellow and green) (1996)
46 x 35cm
Mixed Media on Paper


Head I (2000)
40.5 x 33cm
Pencil on Paper


Wednesday 6 February 2013

New Sketchbook Work

Starting a new project I decided to throw around some ideas in a sketch book and have completed a number of small works based on the people working around me in the studio. They are intended as an impression of the person, not a life like replication and movement and drawing from life was key, hence why I did not use photographs.



Paris - On the internet
20 x 17 cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper


Penny - Online
14 x 14cm
Pencil, Biro and Pen on Paper

Ben - In the studio
16 x 14cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper


Paris - View from the seat
10 x 16cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper

Thursday 10 January 2013

Assessment

I've set up my work for assessment now, this is how the work appears. Most of the large works had to be stacked up due to the space available, still I have managed to get more space than most people.


Paper works laid out on the floor.

Large Canvas works stacked against a wall.

Sketchbooks, Small Sculptures and drawings presented on a desk.

Large Drawings rolled up and held by string so that they don't fall over.
If available i would have liked more space to have them unrolled for easy access.

Before they left

The final large creation of this semester. It started out as a crazy drawing where i just drew free hand and created a strange dialogue between a dinosaur, a frog and a mosquito. This then evolved into a full colour, abstract painting utilizing various methods of applying colour.

Before they left (2013)
240x240cm
Charcoal, Pastel and Acrylic on Canvas
 

Before the final additions of acrylic.


Before any acrylic was added.


Just colour in the main features, no background colour.


Original plain charcoal drawing.

Christmas Break

A couple of new paintings started over the Christmas break. The are on a smaller scale compared to the previous ones, but that was due to transport issues of larger paintings. First one is based a small section of the previous larger painting that i wanted to recreate and the second one is an appreciation of the colour orange using shapes from previous paintings.

Tree Scape
24x24cm
Acrylic on Canvas


Orange
24x24cm
Acrylic on Canvas