Studio: 18th May

For the making day, I decided to work on my two new canvases as an extended period of time would allow me to address some of the under painting strategies and tonal challenges presented by these pieces. Having delicately under painted already, then having 'washed' colour over the surface, I wanted to sculpt the figures and clothing more distinctly while still maintaining softer, more subtle colour with slight variations rather than the blocks of colour I seem to arrive at when working on a larger scale. My original plan was to work on some drawings when I got to a point where they needed to dry but in the end decided to revisit some of the earlier paintings I started. This turned out to be a good strategy (in a sense I had no choice) and I had had sufficient time away from them to be more object and deal with colour, applying some of the techniques from the larger works.

Building up layers of colour to add pattern and contours to shorts plus further light and dark to vests

Detail showing slight softening of colours and how surface is beginning to be built up in washes/glazes

Added soft purple into hair to create brown and variation from light cast by overhanging trees

Applied broad horizontal stripes with chisel edged brush beginning to create wooden structure of pathway leading into the distance. I'm aware that this is not yet structured enough but I wanted to create light and dark areas as a base.

Images above and below show overall effect before adding definition to hair, face and additional branches. Love the colour balance - using redish tones in foreground draws the viewer's eye to the front where blue recedes into the background. Gradually glazing and layering is going to be important.

Used payne's grey and burnt umber to add dark definition to foreground figure - think this really works well to create depth. It won't be so black/white in later stages. Amelia said this reminded her of the wizard of oz:) not a link that I have made but very relevant in terms of my research.

Detail showing red glaze over shoes to draw eye to bottom right corner of canvas. I have also applied and glazed over red under painting to insert subtle red hues to push this area forwards.

Detail showing Payne's Grey - I love how this looks at the moment, the house is much more solid and seems to fuse better with the body by the use of similar tone and marks. I can carefully introduce orange and red glazes to the structure to keep this section in the foreground.

Beginning to glaze blue/grey over initial marks in the stream. This is more challenging than I thought it was going to be as the 'blue' is at the bottom of the canvas making it foreground but it also needs to be sunk below ground level and recede next to the seated figure.

After lunch addition of some rose madder to face to begin to create contours as the lack of form was beginning to distract from the emergence of this figure. She is beginning to remind me of one of the characters in the corn field painting, particularly the way her head hangs to the side.

I have added white block lines to the 'trees' and glazed ochre over the ground (not a great photo). This works much better as painting appears less graphic and colour is spread more evenly throughout image.

I used a similar technique on this piece and have drawn out the red socks by adding a cadmium glaze. This is the painting which had a red background wash which I really felt didn't work but now I think it's extraordinary how with a little more work, the red create a subtle binding background and the figure emerges quite strongly.

I didn't have much time to work on this one but have begun to add some burnt sienna to the ground and a milky blue wash to the background. This is going to be much trickier to deal with due to the lack of structure in the background - less convincing placement of figure than in the previous two.

Studio shot at end of making day session

Reflection
I would have spent the day in the studio regardless of the Making Day, however, as before I found this a really rewarding experience. Despite the inconvenience of not being able to access internet so having to travel backwards and forwards to engage with the group, having dialogue throughout the day was great. It wasn't a crit session but there was an element of critical feedback/observations which I found useful. The dedicated time also forced me to revisit the pieces I had abandoned for some time; this turned out to be really productive and positive which is not how I have been feeling about this work. We discussed how we could arrange making days similar to the paired crits we did last year, with a check in half way through the day. The key is to gain feedback and act on it immediately - so often the case is that we make something, reflect, leave it due to time constraints, then revisit when the freshness and urgency has gone. On the other hand, I realized that I have gone back to my preferred method of working which is to have multi surface sessions where I can work on any number of pieces which are in progress; this also allows for technical constraints like drying time which suits my practice well. I am going to pursue more paired making opportunities - this is also in my PPP which is being revisited so I need to consider how I am going to do this. I may need to invest in some internet access for my studio although I can sometimes find it a distraction. In terms of my practical progress, these pieces are in early stages but through application of my colour theory research I can already see how the colour balance is changing; it is a delicate process but hopefully I will achieve a more united surface. I can also see how my reading of Marina Warner has influenced these pieces and addresses my long standing interest in masquerade and oddity, but in a less literal way.

One Month Reflection
At this stage, my discovery of Marina Warner was pivotal as her themes and ideas feed into many of the concepts I have been struggling to articulate. I have now set up some paired making opportunities; we are planning more independent making days, Cat and I are going to start a drawing dialogue project to initiate collaborative work which could lead to exhibition, and I have a foot in the door of group making in the studios. I have decided not to invest in internet for the studio just yet, I still live close enough to go back and forth and realized that I can use this as a positive opportunity to work in smaller, additional surfaces (painting and drawing) which can be transported in my box of stuff. This will support my exploration of ideas while I am evolving the bigger pieces and waiting for them to dry. I realize looking at these that I have been 'avoiding' going back to the initial paintings which could feasibly be presented as finished work in September. Realistically, I will need to wait until August to do this if I am to balance them with Carnival, school exhibition and my other work.

Studio: 12th May

Under painting with prep drawings - the angles have changed and figures have been substituted. Using the colour studies (top) to inform colour based washes to draw the eye in.

Great day at the studio today - fantastic to be set up ready to paint and have real time to work on it. I now have 2 square canvases on the go, both in the very early stages. I have adopted strategies from last project in terms of my approach to layering and (in future) glazing, combined with the colour theory I have investigated so far in this unit. Certainly, it is already clear that I am using a different colour palette in order make the paintings less saturated. I have also reduced the dark under painting but have introduced another process where I have painted the white highlights after a few washes of colour. This is intended to begin to sculpt form and neutralise some of the cadmium and lemon yellow I use in the early stages. I still want to use this combination of colour but need to deal with it more sensitively, thinking about my Euan Uglow research. Also, I have applied a background wash (a development from my red, yellow, blue paintings) but this time using different colours to try and bind the backgrounds in particular, together from early in the process. Here are some photos of the stages...

Detail - can see how the subtle shades are on her neck and vest fabric

Used white paint (which I never use) to bring out highlights and add structure to the figures. Works well to unify them and show the bodies to be more joined.

Initially under painting - hoping that this will add depth as I build up the layers

I left the figure in the background very late to paint and decided to subtly under paint because the shadows are really important. Quite like the way she is looming out the landscape and how it is ambiguous what she is standing on.

This has a really different colour palette for me - the red, greens, browns and blacks create a more subtle overall effect. I'm really pleased with how this is coming together compositionally where I have introduced some red in the foreground, which I intend to glaze over as I build up layers.

Reflection

Very happy with painting progress so far - brushstrokes are energetic and colours are soft and subtle by my standards. I have worked largely with a sharp edged brushed which has enables me to quickly and accurately block in areas of colour. As a pair, I like that one is pressed up against the canvas, filling much of the foreground; the other begins to suggest space and places the viewer lower down making the environment seem vast. I have recognized a similar curve in both which is intended to draw the figures or viewer through the picture space - a pathway or route out. One has dark shadows and heavy use of under painting (although less dominant than in previous trials). The other I have kept light so currently there is a pleasing tonal contrast between the images. There is much more movement in these pieces than I have used in the past - a result of the photographic series and response to instability and sense of falling. There is still a sense of hybridity and I hope reference to metamorphosis - I'm looking forward to working into their surfaces as I know they will evolve immensely over the coming months.

One Month Reflection
Looking back at these very early stages, much of this mark making is covered, but the subtle colour decisions cemented how the pieces would evolve. For example, the pink,blue, green of the twins seen in these early stages are still quite prominent as are the earthier shades of the other piece. Although I had made compositional decisions through digital collage and drawing, these simple shapes embedded areas of shadow and have become the bones of the painting for vast landscape and foliage to be built on.  On reflection, when I started these pieces I began slightly quicker than I might have done if the time scale for the unit was longer. However, the nature of the reflective practice unit is that my reflection must be exposed, so all my thinking has been documented in real time, either on this blog or in my electronic annotations which will emerge as a 'book' of the journey when the work has finished.

Studio: 4th May

After my epic canvas making session, I have 6 4x4 ft canvases to work on. I have decided to work in a standard format so these pieces are interchangeable and will visually link but not necessarily be part of a deliberate series. It also appeals to me that they could be rotated and still fit with some sort of chronology or suggestion of anti chronology.

This is a detail from the top left of a new painting. You can't see the drawing of the whole image from the photo. I had to redraw her twice as I placed her too far left which made her disconnected (not in a good way) from the other figure. I haven't yet found a face for her - it's only about 6cm - but will keep looking.

This is the figure with house appendage from the bottom right of the composition. I have made her more crumpled than in my drawn plans and wrapped her arms around her legs to give the impression of the weight from the house on her back. She is also faceless, although I have a plan for this.

This piece has the very first stages of under painting. I didn't like the effect from the 'ghost painting' I tried out in the previous pieces so I have been quite limited in my use of dark under painting for the time being. I have also applied a wash of cadmium yellow to begin to sculpt areas of flesh and cadmium mixed with ochre as a ground in some areas as this was the colour I felt was most successful in my tests. The figures are intended to suggested splitting and doubling, or merging in reference to my reading of Marina Warner's Fantastic Metamorphosis...

Reflection
I am really relieved to have found an anchor point for my work to move my ideas forward. It always seems to prove more fruitful when I can work on multiple surfaces (of different varieties), so to have started 2 larger pieces along with the others I have on the go is almost a relief as I can spread my attention and move between them, giving thought and drying time. I'm pleased that I am beginning to show my exploration of hybridity visually. There is a playful element to these new pieces and also a sense of awkwardness in the composition; I hope that these will start to link in with my idea of implying a narrative. It will take a long time to work through the process of glazing and hopefully achieving a more subtle colour balance so now seems an optimum time to evolve what is happening on canvas. I'm thinking about repeating some of the same characters across multiple surfaces so there is a suggested relationship - this is quite far away from actually happening but as always my ideas move more quickly than my practice can evolve.

One Month Reflection
Having now worked on these pieces on four more occasions, they are beginning to take shape and there are some changes in composition that I have made. In particular, this is adding structure into the background to add depth. I have been working on these pieces on opposite walls as I although I want them to link, I don't want them to have the same colour palette. I have thought more about using the same characters on multiple surfaces; I like the idea of including a more prominent figure from one in the far background of another, like they are creeping into the scene. This might help to create a sense of place and lead the eye through the composition. I made a decision at the point when I chose these compositions which address division/multiplicity (twins) and the body with architectural space. I am imagining these in a series where I also explore more animalistic/anthropomorphic, and crumpled falling, crawling bodies as there are more dimensions to this idea than are currently apparent in my work.

New Photos

Finally! I have taken some more 'movement' photos! Over 600 in fact, largely on continuous shoot plus some video footage. A brilliantly bright day resulting in super Peter Pan shadows which I hadn't anticipated. The great thing about these photos is that they are not so much staged, but a record of play and the girls became absorbed in the game, playing towards and away from the camera. Just a sample here of the type of imagery...soon to be featured in part in future paintings:) 

Studio: 20th April

I am still feeling that I am exploring ideas through photography and drawing which is highly important at this stage in the project. However, I am really keen to get going on some painting having  made a whole wallop new canvases. I also have in the back of my mind that it takes me a really long time to 'finish' my work so I have my eye on the September deadline. Clearly I still have several months left it I want to get this stage right, to collect source material which is good quality, to carefully plot my intentions and compositions and to allow my work to develop to a point where the length of the painting process doesn't hinder the progression of my ideas.
I have been making some mock up compositions on iPad using brushes...these are to crudely exploring composition by bringing together different elements in a range of environments. From these I have created a series of drawings looking at composition and colour.

First session of drawing construction - based on ipad cobble with transplanted legs

Adapted drawing with ink - moved the house to more of a diagonal and tried to map out where the edges and areas of shadow might be

Forcing the foreground figure to the edge of the composition to create a more awkward series of diagonals throughout the image

3 squares experimenting with using colour - quite like how gestural this drawing is, potential for a brooding sky perhaps

Studio wall for painting inspiration - combined size approx. 4x4ft

Reflection
It is usual for me to use drawing in this way as I tend to work digitally to create collages or physically join images together. I found this process useful for a couple of reasons; I was able to deconstruct and build onto my drawings so the original dimensions of the paper didn't define the final size of the composition; and I had to re-train myself to draw - the drawn line takes a greater commitment than digital manipulation where you can quickly adjust whole figures. It also allowed me to quickly explore tone, shadow and how colour could be distributed roughly to create foreground and background. I know that quite quickly I need to gain some more photographic source material so I can use these in my work - the images need to be spontaneous and compliment the nature of these drawings. I really feel that I have made progress in my work and moved from a 'bad' place to a stage of greater confidence, structure and flow:)

One Month Reflection
Having now taken more photos, I feel in a position to go back to drawing to develop more compositions for painting. There is an element of waiting involved; I am trying to judge when is best to plan and begin larger scale paintings. At this stage (to allow for drying times), I can begin to make more drawings which I can select from at a later date to make into bigger work. In the back of my mind, the MA show is lurking; I am not making decisions about the work I will make but now is a opportune time to generate lots of possibilities from which I can select and develop finished work. Looking back at this post, this was quite a turning point for me as I could see the potential and movement in my ideas and how my research was coming into fruition. These pieces are still displayed in my studio and are still providing a reference point for my original colour intentions.