Under their noses a Womble may be

Decided to paint some more pictures of the creature that dwells in my flat and causes vast amounts of happiness and mischief in equal parts.

I'm also exploring different styles within digital painting to find what I enjoy the most.

Dog.png
2000 x 2000px
Digital

Dog3.png
2000 x 2000px
Digital

Dog4.png
2000 x 2000px
Digital

New subject, new medium, old technique

After having somewhat of a success with transferring my painting style to digital I decided to evaluate my recent work. While visually similar to work I like doing in order to achieve the style I was left wanting more of the freedom I love but in a digital format.

In order to achieve this I decided, instead of aiming for a digital painting that resembled the final product of my painting style, I would employ my own painting techniques and processes in a digital format and experiment. 

Dog1.psd
Digital

Original base drawing

Mixed edges to create a matte background.
(Similar effect as if applying water to pastel drawing).

Built up layers of colour focusing on areas of colour,
rather than the orignal drawing.
Final step: Drawing back into the image to add definition.

Swell

Working at Five Guys I had a great time and met some really awesome people. Over my time there I created a fair number of drawings inspired by the people I met and the conversations I had. One of these drawings was inspired by a creative conversation I had with my manager David "what shape would you be?". I was entirely surprised that someone in a busy work environment would indulge my ridiculous questions and answer, especially with a well thought out and creative response.

With us both recently leaving the store, I created a digital painting to commemorate the great time I had working with Dave. I am currently also working on some of the other drawings inspired by my time there so there may be more to follow.

Swell,jpg
Digital

Swell
7 x 7cm
Biro on Receipt paper

No Studio, no work?

As I don't currently have a studio up in Glasgow it limits my options when it comes to making a mess, or as I like to call it painting. In regards to this I attempted to create some digital work based off the Mr. Painters series. I have also been developing some (hopefully amusing) animal designs which also feature in the paintings.

Mr. Painter at his Desk
Digital

Mr. Painter's Race
Digital

Mr. Painter's Mural
Digital

Mr. Painters Degree Show

These paintings were completed over the final semester, since March. The aim of the body of work was to create a fun, light-hearted body of work to make people smile, while also developing the painting skill and communication of ideas through the artwork.

The exhibition space also contained the artist chair and overalls as well as a paint brush. This added to the humourous atmosphere while also adding contextual clues as to the origin of the paintings.

Mr. Painter's Degree Show
60 x 60cm
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

 

 

Mr. Painter: Origins
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter's Dream
60 x 60cm
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

Mr. Painter's Inspiration
60 x 60cm
Acrylic and Oil on Camvas

Mr. Painter's Palette
60 x 60cm
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

Mr. Painter's Preparation
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter and Little Miss Sculptor
60 x 60cm
Acrylic, Oil and Pen on Canvas

Mr. Painter's Rest
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on canvas

Mr. Painter Cont.

These two paintings were completed last semester and submitted for assessment with the paintings within the previous post. They developed the series combining successful elements from the previous paintings. These two paintings depict the direction of my most recent paintings which will feature in my degree show, combining the use of straight edges and freehand, expressive painting. 

I invite everyone to come see the degree show as it will contain artwork by some great artists who are peers and friends of mine. 

Show dates : 6th - 14th June 10am - 5pm at Loughborough School of the Arts.

Mr. Painter Always Tries to be Tidy
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter Ran Out of Space
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter: Origins

“Just what do you spend your time doing” is the first question I get when people find out what I study. The Mr. Painter series of paintings takes a light-hearted, comedic approach to explaining the studio practice of a painter. The paintings demonstrate the circumstances and decisions behind my studio practice with use of artistic license of course. The series matches the importance of humorous dialogue and content with the formal qualities of paint.

The dialogue is developed from the character "Mr. Painter" who I had previously created based off a culmination of my own identity as an artist, the idea of "the painter" as a stereotypical identity and Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men. Although the paintings are executed in a subtractive abstract manner, it is possible to deduce the scene with help from the title.

Behind the comedic exterior the paintings examine a discourse of painting, exploring formal qualities of medium, techniques and painterly decisions and examining the place of painting within contemporary art. I have spent the term exploring painting through a series of studies, working with oil and acrylic to explore colour, composition and the limitations of the media in relation to the Mr. Painter series. Below are all the finished paintings from the series, ready for submission next week. However there are a few more uncompleted ones.

Mr. Painter Sitting in his Chair
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter Likes to Work Alone
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter Sometimes Re-uses Old Canvases
60 x 60cm
Oil and Pastel on Canvas

Mr. Painter Forgot his Brushes
60 x 60cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Mr. Painter Couldn't Resist a Good Flocking
60 x 60cm
Flock and Acrylic on Canvas

Cyanotype Prints

My most current work uses a process called cyanotype printing which is a photographic printing process. It involves coating the surface, in my case canvas, with a mixture made of the chemicals ammonium iron(III) citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Combined this mixture is highly photosensitive and stains blue when exposed to UV light. I exposed the paintings to UV light with digital negatives from pictures of me working in the studio.

The paintings are based off colourful drawings i did of a character called "Mr. Painter" who is a creation mimicking the archetype of a painter combined with my own personal features to create an identity. These paintings comment on painting itself combining photographic process and painting to expand the boundaries of painting and comment on what identifies myself and also others as "painters."

These paintings, among a couple of others with be displayed in a charity exhibition in St Lawrence Church in Long Buckby on the 6th and 7th of September.

Artist in Study #2
120 x 120cm
Acrylic and Cyanotype on Canvas

Artist in Study #1
120 x 120cm
Acrylic and Cyanotype on Canvas

Artist at Work #1
120 x 120cm
Acrylic and Cyanotype on Canvas

Artist at Work #2
120 x 120cm
Acrylic and Cyanotype on Canvas

First Paintings of a New Semester

Due to the unavailibility of the printing inks that I required, (ordered from the shop, but they hadn't arrived yet) I decided to paint some studies based on how different circle forms and compositions react to the square canvas they are placed within. I started out with a blue canvas in an attempt to relate to the cyanotype printing technique (monochrome blue), that I will be trying.

I created the painting specifically with different colours, depths and forms so I could view how these different element transfer through the digital negative process and on to the cyanotype printing process. I will use this as a base point to evaluate the success of various further prints as it will allow me to gauge how the process treats various elements within paintings, such as shadow, depth and the conversion of colour to monochrome.

While the first painting contains a simple form with cool colours with a large tonal difference, the second is designed with a larger variety of colours. This is so I can evaluate the success of simple designs versus chaotic designs after they are processed and printed. The third painting was focusing more on the use of warmer colours to see how these colours would transfer into the monochrome blue of the cyanotype print.

Circle Study #1
60 x 60cm
Acrylic, Emulsion and Pastel on Canvas

Circle Study #2
60 x 60 cm
Acrylic, Oil and Emulsion on Canvas

Circle Study #3
60 x 60cm
Acrylic and Emulsion on Canvas

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

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

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.

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