I've been trying to get back into painting for some time, but a whole range of mental blocks and self criticism was stopping me, not to mention the thought that I might not have enough energy to do so. I've been sneaking up on it, though...bought some canvas boards, got a wee bit of paint for my birthday... and the final kick up the pants was a conversation with my friend Alison, who said all the things that I would have said to someone in that situation... and I thought, sod it, why not?
The real block is about representational drawing and painting, so I thought I'd warm up a bit with some abstracts, my comfort zone. I usually start with nothing, other than a blank canvas or sheet of paper. That's not always the best way to go, however, particularly if your inner critic is perched on your shoulder, giein' it laldy, so... Since I'm guilty of taking hundreds (literally) of source photographs, sometimes playing with them on PSP, and then doing nothing with them, I leafed through my images and found this one.
It was a photograph of a bench, believe it or not, or a part of a bench, the seat, made from a beautiful piece of natural wood. As you can see, I played with the colour and contrast quite considerably, but if you look carefully, you can still see the grain and a few cracks in the wood. As a painter, I'm not interested in making a copy of what I see : that's what photography is for. \(Come to think of it, that's probably part of my block with representational painting...but that's another story altogether). There are lots of different ways to use a photograph as a source: I meant to write a book about it (should I?), but thought I'd just combine a couple of them. One is to pick up the colours in the image, and combine them in a different way, and the other is to look at the underlying structure of the image, and use that as the basis of a new work.
There's a lot going on in this particular image, so I simplified it quite considerably. I don't usually draw as the basis of a painting, but it seemed like a good idea, so...
The lines basically delineate three main sections in the image, with a bit more detail. I used the lines as guidance, not gospel, and ended up with this...
As you can see, I've changed the orientation. If you compare it to the original piece, it uses several of the colours intrinsic to it, but not in the same balance. The lines have disappeared, though if you look carefully, it does still divide into three main sections. I can see there's a lot I would rework, if it had been on board, but I probably won't on this, because it's on paper, which doesn't support layer on layer of paint terribly well. It's fine as a first attempt, though, and I think it will be worth making a version on board, eventually. I'll probably make another few sketches on paper first, though, just to see where it goes.
I took things one stage further on another, smaller piece of paper. Again, it started with lines :
No real resemblance to the image this time, just the basic idea of curved lines, and a using up of the paint from the first piece. And here's how it ended up...
Different palette, this time, to some extent, but similar approach. And, as before, I prefer the other orientation...
Thinking about it, this refers back to the grain lines in the wood. Overall, I'm really pleased with these pieces, they're a good start. I've remembered how much I enjoy painting, and why I prefer oils (though I'll probably stick with acrylics). I'll definitely take this forward...but not today... I've used up all my energy... knowing when to stop is A Good Thing.
