Light painting II in oils

Working in oils this week, I am pushing my technique and experimenting with starting with the light image and then working outwards into the dark space. Working with the creamy texture of the oil the blending of colour is very satisfying and is somehow easier to blend the colours avoiding any distinct lines. By working in this order the light source visually sits behind the darkness so you look into the painting rather than the image sitting on top. I need to wait for the paint to dry before I can decide if its giving me the look and feel Im searching for.... maybe this one is going to be the final piece.....?

Oil on canvas

Its more than a painting....

Taking inspiration from James Turrells light installations (Im feeling ambitious) I want to exhibit more than just a painting at my first public exhibition. My ambition is to create a calm contemplative environment in which to view my artwork. So... I plan to install a false wall in the cloakroom on which my painting will be hung and position some hidden fibre optic lighting which will illuminate a length of the original tiled wall to the left and behind the painting, (using Lee theatrical theatre gel - Ultimate Violet). This gel will also be placed in the fixed lighting on the ceiling to create a soft light., removing the harsh white light. All windows in the room (of which there are many!) will be blacked out to prevent any other conflicting light pollution. I plan to position 1 LED spotlight to illuminate the painting to add the impact Im striving for.

The Space
False wall will stand infront of the fixed cupboard

'Stage Electrics'
Theatrical supplier of lighting gels

False wall in the making

To 'stipple' or not to 'stipple' that is the question!!

Grounding complete on the canvas, 3 layers of acrylic, oxide red, black wash and a violet glaze. Happy with the end result. It has a warm, soft, velvety tonal quality. Now to paint the light... ha.... the difficult bit as I don't want to ruin the canvas! Discovered a technique called 'stippling' basically a very large shaving brush which is made of badger hair (poor badger!) method is all about dabbing the paint repeatedly so you get very soft, muted images - used a few different tonal blues to get a bit of contrast. Not sure if its finished but will take a break and revisit later...

Down in the sculpture room
the only place with enough space to work on the canvas!

Progress with the stippling!

Dark Spaces - James Turrell

An interesting discovery tonight looking through Turrells work. He developed 2 pieces called 'Dark Spaces' which where created with light and only could be seen once your eyes adjusted to the space. In my work for the 'Chequered History' exhibition I am exploring the perception of light and dark and have recreated an image I photographed in a dark room with a blow torch (I nearly melted the lens of my camera in the making!)I have recreated the imagery in canvas using acrylic paint but it feels there are similarities to that of Turrells - the main difference being my work is a little more obvious! The painting isn't finished as yet but Turrell is providing me with food for thought.

Sally Coulden
Photograph: Blow torch - 13 second exposure

Turrell
Serene - 1984

Turrell
Blind Sight - 1992

Frank Auerbach

Autumn in London, a buzzing Tate Britain, the works of Frank Auerbach await! This is an artist who works oil on canvas primarily, his renowned for having sitters that come to his studio every week, on the same day to sit for years !! The final picture looks like it was done at the first attempt but he has actually taken 50 - 200 separate versions that he deemed not good enough, typically taking months to complete a painting. His canvases are often unbelievably heavy mere due to the quantity of paint he applies.This exhibition has been arranged by the decades of his work starting in the 1950's to the present.

A fascinating exhibition which takes you on a journey through his development as an artist, portraits and landscapes that are familiar to him. I specifically loved the fact that he poured so much of himself into the works, he made no apology for the fact he repeatedly reworked the piece until it was right for him even though often the portraits were a mass of paint and looked somewhat abstract to the onlooker. 

His paintings had an energetic feel to them, you could almost feel the intensity which he would have felt when painting it, quite exhausting! Inspiring for any aspiring artist to follow what feels right for them when creating a piece of artwork, don't follow the norms follow your instinct!

 

Stone sculpture - giving it a go!!

I was lucky enough to successfully secure a Bursary from The Bristol Decorative and Fine Art Society which has allowed me to explore the world of stone carving. I'm really interested in sculpture and wanted to give it a go, of course I wanted to go large :0) no point in dithering about so have been lucky enough to be under the watchful eye of Kate Semple a wonderful stone mason and sculptor down in Somerset. 

I found myself an amazing piece of driftwood from a Welsh beach and decided why not turn it into stone :0). Blimey it's really physical work but loving it. Made a model from clay, chose a piece of Bath stone and hey presto!!! Well not quite that easy but I think I'm starting to get the hang of this 3D lark.

Here's a few pictures of progress , not quite finished. Looking very phallic but honestly it is driftwood!!!

My little model

Bath stone 

  

Starting to remove unwanted stone

Starting to get some shape

The master at work!!!

Slight resemblance don't you think??!!

Preparation and testing underway

Lots of experimentation underway with paint techniques - glazing, layering and colour choices to try and reflect the etherial light required for the exhibition. Not sure if I can do it but giving it a jolly good go!

John Hoyland - 1934-2011

Born in Sheffield Hoyland is considered to be one of the most important abstract artists of his generation. In response to the horrors of the two world wars he played a key role in exploring the possibilities of non representational art. Developing large (2-4 x 2 m canvases) Painting in acrylic or oil, his abstract imagery strove to achieve his ambition of creating 'overwhelming' works of art. These were created in a combination of colour and size of canvas. His approach to creating a painting was investigative, he would coax a painting rather than enforce a rigid idea on it, allowing the paint to do the work for him, in contrast to the more controlling techniques of the figurative painter. His early paintings were large-scale acrylic stain works which developed in time to more solid impassive geometric forms with explosive gestural marks. In his latter years his work became looser and dynamic in style.

'Power Stations' a current retrospective exhibition at the Newport Street Gallery, London. Damian Hirst is showing his private collection of Hoylands work (1964-1982). As you enter the stunningly white, vast gallery space, making even Hoylands immense canvases look 'normal' is breathtaking. Visually impactful, huge white walls cleverly lit artificially and enhanced by torrents of sunlight, light coloured wooden flooring. Whats immediately apparent is the simplicity of curation, no fuss or clutter, just the imposing, colourful, bold geometric shapes engulfing your visual senses, we are here to see the paintings, the NSG is the perfect facilitator. 

Gallery 1 (Late 1960's)

Gallery 5 (1971)

Hoylands earlier work leaves you with a feeling of naivety to the childlike geometrical shapes but the work develops by using a broader colour pallet, greater use of the palette knife to build greater texture into his work. As you journey through the two decades and progress through the galleries, for me Hoylands 1980s paintings are his best.Layering of colour, controlled drips, removal of paint and vibrant colour palette makes them magnificently impactful and not just because of the size!

 

I shall be 'stealing with pride' some of Hoylands techniques  and experiment on my next works. His use of multiple different colours as grounding - up until now I have just kept with a single colour, I thought thats what you did, but no!! go for it! By allowing the paint to run gives a directional pull to the painting, controlling the runs adds another dimension so this is something I shall also be playing with - To quote Hoyland " Let the paint work for you, coax it, don't control it"

Gallery 6 (1980's)