Crumpled paper Pen and Ink wash studies of hands scrunching paper

Pen and wash study (still with masking fluid on) 'Hands crumpling paper 1'

 These (1 and 2) are drawn on the same paper that was crumpled for the initial photographs

Masked out raised lines where the paper has been crumpled and then pen and ink wash over

 

' Hands crumpling paper 2'

'Hands crumpling paper 3' Pen and Ink wash (black and coffee) on canvas

Simple box structure with pen and ink drawings and dribbles

Box fixed to wall with re-crumpled paper drawings inside.

Pinned to the wall.

I've really enjoyed this process, I think the ink wash on crumpled paper 2 was the most effective, where I masked the tops of the ridges once the paper was scrunched and flattened and drew on. I am keen to develop this idea and much as I love the saturated colour paintings, these have a simplicity that really appeals to me.

Spontaneous painting workshop in Unstone 12 - 14th Feb 2016. Processes and Outcomes

I attended a spontaneous painting workshop last weekend in Derbyshire with some most unexpected results.

I documented the process of 10 hours painting one single piece with poster paint.

What I expected;
I wouldn't like poster paint
To make mud with the paint
I would be able and happy to do it
 
What I didn't expect;
Extreme frustration
Realisation that I don't quite finish anything
I do more 'thinking' than 'doing'
To write words on the painting
To be so pleased to find a biro in the bottom of my bag!

The end result of 10 hours and lots of layers of paint

The idea was to paint the same picture on one piece of paper for hours without any pre-planning or reference material. To work solely from what appeared on the paper, sparked inspiration and lead to the next part.  I struggled to cope with this way of working. I generally work very fast and this seemed slow and laborious in places for no reason.

However I have had so much learning from trying to work this way, this is a completely new 'style' for me, it feels somewhat 'all over the place' whereas I tend to work in a quite ordered neat, hoovered way. This has shown me how to layer paint, leave scruffy edges, see under the top layer rather than obliterate the first layers. This is also the first time I have painted on folded paper, I like having clean stretches of paper when the paper is unfolded.

I will add a video of the book I have made of the process of painting this picture.

Paintings, sketches and research material for Creative project - Creative hands

Loads of sketches depicting hands at work, physical mastery and tools. (I didn't remember already putting these on, sorry)

'crochet'

 These top three are oil paint and charcoal, one and three on Gesso paper in sketchbook and two on canvas. These have been getting more delicate.

Acrylic on paper in sketchbook 'rubbing down a chair'

I looked at Henry Moore to see what I could do with even more delicacy and pen or pencil (maybe on top of oil paint)

Ball point pen on paper in sketchbook 'rubbing down a chair'

Ball point pen over oil paint base, 'crochet'

 I love the pen drawing, however I don't think the fine pen over oil paint works well, the pen is too delicate over the paint, it worked much better with charcoal over paint. It is possible that if the whole piece had pen it would work better than just the section with the hands.

I feel that I have to look from these sketches to incorporating the foregrounds and the backgrounds, so far the backgrounds are just colour and simple large shapes and are not yet an integral part of the paintings.

I want to achieve a more abstract feel to these pieces, I find it all too easy to try to be representational and illustrative, I am not very good at it and it looses all sense of immediacy.

I have to keep reminding myself I am trying to capture immediacy and be in the moment with the subject matter and with my responses to it. 

New oil painting on canvas

Making a sketchbook, marbling paper and tearing my hair out.

 The amazing process of marbling paper, remarkably simple, beautiful and a complete waste of paper. "I'll just try these colours, on this paper" A whole pack of paper later and I will have marbled end covers for books until the end of days. What a wonderful few hours though, so good we did it again the next night.

The sketchbook covers in progress, book card inners and suede covers. Book block made and ready to go. More pictures to follow.

 

Sketchbook work and preliminary paintings for creative practice project

These are some of the initial sketches and ideas for this creative project, I have begun by looking at the hands of the craftsperson, the dynamism and movement, dexterity and potential for creation.

I try to work on at least two paintings at once so I don't get to tight painting just one, although I like these (the tonal differences, colour and shapes work) they came out a bit too static, no movement potential in them. The acrylic seems flat and a bit dead.

I tried some simple charcoal and oil wash drawings, looser but lacking depth 

I started to feel like I was getting somewhere with these, finding more dynamism, a luminosity, as well as a weight and substance. No subtlety whatsoever of course, but it seems I can't have it all.

I am really pleased with this, added at least some subtlety without loosing the loose easy feel, hoping to develop these further and see where I can take them.

This is the new base layer of the next painting,oil on canvas.

I may have enclosed this too far with the dark around the edges. Hope not?

Revised project proposal

Creative Project Proposal CAAD 5007 

THE CREATIVE IMPULSE

                 

“Fire never burns in the same place twice” Batty Thunder Bear

The previous interpretive project inspired me to work through the additional medium of oil paint, and to look at light and dark, the subject of fire has sparked inspiration to capture a moment in moving time.

The initial up welling of a concept for me is largely subconscious and takes time to start to float to the surface, and takes shape only when I interact with resources and tools. As I learn best kinesthetically I find a physical approach, where my inspiration is channeled through my body and tools as if they were one, more beneficial to my practice.

       I am always looking at ways to express the relationships between things or people, how the synergy of being and paint can create something so much more than the two contributing factors. I particularly value the phenomenological approach to art when two apparently separate entities create a thing, of a unique moment in time without preconception or formula.

I have looked at the philosophy of Martin Heidegger in relation to being a part of the world around rather than just an observer of it.

“It is the work that first lets the artist emerge as a master of his art. The artist is the source of the work. The work is the source of the artist”

        I have been reading ‘The Thinking Hand’ Juhani Pallasmaa; craftsmanship, the process of making, the immediacy and authenticity of the combination of man and materials motivate me.

I watched the film ‘Being in the world’, it explores creative mastery, the risks of becoming proficient and the meaning disclosed to our being.

“Being in the World is a celebration of human beings, and our ability, through the mastery of 

physical, intellectual and creative skills, to find meaning in the world around us”

Concept

I experience the spark of creative process, moment by moment through being there in 

somebody else’s synergism and the spark becomes shared

I will look at people who have significant skill in a specific area, for example my partner is a 

professional carpenter, my mother a chef and my son training to become a singer.  These 

people are around me all the time, to observe and interact with, they are my family which is 

already an integrated part of my life and process.

I aim to represent their skill or the essence of their mastery through abstract and/or lyrical visual language. To capture colour and movement, intent and enthusiasm in the moment, both theirs and mine together

I will inform this project by using a phenomenological approach to self-expression and learning 

to use the optimum materials in response to stimuli, to create spontaneous/immediate unique 

work.

To make artwork that represents the air that is displaced when the hammer hits the nail or to 

capture the whirlpool nature of mixing a cake and the seamless join of the maker and their tool.

When mastery is happening I am often there, often engaged and integrated, it is a natural 

progression to sketch, paint or photograph these moments. As these moments happen and 

are recorded, they create a narrative perfect for making artist’s books.

This could be interpreted as Heidegger’s ‘Ready at hand’, using a skill that comes as the most appropriate to do the job, bypassing analytic thought.

Genres

I am inspired by the work of Anselm Kiefer, he also being a great fan of Heidegger; his use of Phenomenological expression sparks my own. His use and range of materials is vital to his mastery. Kiefer’s work is an experiential eruption in response to modern German history.

Gerhart Richter, fits into many genres, his work can move between genres dependant upon what he is working with and how he chooses to express his ideas, from conceptual to abstract to photo realism, his ‘ready at hand’ box of skills appear unlimited. His fire never burns in the same place twice.

The work of Kevin Sinnott masters the dynamic relationship and is vital and immediate. The people within his work are all connected and totally integrated within their environment. They are Being in the World.

SWOT analysis

Strengths –

A foundation of meaning within the potential work. Working with a project that inspires me and leads to work that is not just deeply personal but relevant to a world where people don’t always feel that they are a part of that world.

Weaknesses –

Tendency to run to far and too fast with the work rather than take time to fully explore specific areas fully.

Getting caught up in being representational and trite with making art.

Opportunities –

Opportunity to explore phenomenology and to gain greater insight into the synergy of relationships

A chance to explore the greater depths of technology as a part of the material response to this project i.e. Blog

Opportunity to raise something social and political within my work (which will be a first)

Threats –

Choosing a project plan with too much possibility, must be ready to fully develop one area rather than try to cover as much as possible.

Giving in to frustration when I try to ‘think’ my way around a project and then making work that lacks imagination or originality.