Degree Project

In my dissertation I was exploring the roles of control and chance in the process of painting. I always thought that chance was very prominent in my work, in the way I let ink/paint run and mix together, letting the medium take control. And when I add water to the canvas, the water takes control of the paint. Methods like this are evident in my work where I have added ink to wet paper, allowing the ink to bleed out or in my Crown Pools project where I pressed two canvases together with the medium in between, so I couldn’t see what I was doing.

But actually,

if I actually stop and think about it, I have a awful lot of control over the painting.
I have control over,
where I spray/ pour the water
what colours I use and where I put them
(if adding ink) what direction I encourage it to go in by tilting it

Now that I am aware of this, I could experiment with having more control over the canvas, or less, or both and then compare the differences. So how would I do that? If I wanted to lose more control, perhaps I could really emphasize the role of water in the painting, immerse it in water, run it under a tap or put it in the rain, or throw it on from a distance. But the hardest thing to do would be to leave it, and not make any changes.

Or, if I wanted to control it further, this could involve giving the mediums precise directions and patterns to follow and using a paintbrush more often, but then this would create more linear results which won’t be as visually pleasing.

Alternatively, I could just acknowledge the fact that I have a large amount of control over the canvas, and just carry on experimenting. Since my work now is more about creating a sense of depth and mystery, than about the amount of control/chance in the process.

Keith Tyson uses processes and systems in his work as a way of understanding how the universe works and how we came into being.

I have always adored Keith Tyson’s paintings, especially his series of Nature Paintings. They are stunning and have beautiful lines and shapes that develop apparently by themselves with no intervention from the artist. He poured different paints and chemicals on to hot aluminium and allowed them flow, then it was set in a halfway state. He said he was letting nature make the painting and he was trying to lose as much control as possible.

Some of Tyson’s Nature Paintings were named after the force that created them, like air, fire, earth and water. In my work I really want to use water a lot more and make it almost a main material that I use. This will allow me to lose some control and also emphasize the mysterious power of water.

I have seen Deep impact in person at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in 2011, and noticed the glossy sheen, due to the aluminium surface, which you can’t see in a photograph or online, which is something I like in my work. Sometimes I spritz a dry painting with water and it often looks better wet than dry, which is one of the reason why i like to give my paintings some kind of varnish like PVA as it gives it a glossy finish as well as protecting the many layers.

I started a painting back in October. It’s about 1m x 1 ½ m. So it’s one of the biggest paintings I’ve ever done. I decided that it was going to have many layers, that I would build up over time, at its current state it already has about 5-6 layers. The mediums that I have been using on this work are acrylic (watered down), inks, glitter and a lot of water.

A problem that has been raised when working on this painting is that due to the amount of water that I’m putting on the canvas, it becomes weighed down slightly which causes paint etc. to all flow in one direction, ending up in a puddle in the middle. Although this creates a good density of colour in the middle it leaves the edges a bit weak and you are able to still see the canvas in some areas.

So for now there’s not much I can do but persevere with applying paint to the edges only to try and build up the same quality of depth as the middle. But in future works, maybe I need to think about not making the canvas as wet, or working on flat canvas (unframed) on the floor, allowing the paint to gain more freedom.

Overall I’m really happy with how it looks at the moment. I wanted the amount of layers I have put on the canvas to create a sense of depth and I feel I have achieved that. The dark colours create an intense mystery and an almost eerie quality. I like that it reminds me of both the sea and space, both are places that we don’t fully understand.

And bear in mind, it’s not finished yet…

Water has always been involved in my work somehow, whether it’s a painting inspired by ripples and reflections, or the use of water on the canvas to react with the paint.

I feel that one of the reasons I am drawn to water is that my star sign is Pisces, and I also think this is why I am drawn to the colour blue.

The colour blue has been constantly in my work for about 2 years now, it is a colour that can mean so many things at once and provoke lots of different emotions.
Pale blues can be tranquil and calm,
a strong ultramarine can mean power and strength,
and dark blues and navy’s, provoke a sense of sadness and mystery.

(Back to water now)

In my previous projects I have been inspired by only the surface of water, I.e. ripples, patterns and reflections. And the water I was looking at was puddles, lakes, and swimming pools for my collaboration project with Crown Pools (Ipswich).

This project had health and safety limitations where I was only allowed to use the surface pattern for studies and photographs, but in my other projects where I have had no limitations, I have still only concentrated on the water’s surface.

I also use water in the process of painting, I water paint down to provide fluidity and wet the canvas to allow the paint and ink to flow better. A wet canvas allows ink to bleed out and create beautiful lines and patterns.

So thinking about how to push my ideas further, I need to challenge myself. I decided that only looking at the surface of water was not enough. I want to push forward my ideas about the natural world and make paintings about the sea. I want to start looking much deeper and think about the sea’s mystery and power when making work.

My process for this project will stay on the same grounds but I will challenge myself more and be more experimental. I will be using A LOT more water in the process too. I also want to build up many layers in my paintings to give a sense of depth.

(And finally, back to blue)

I don’t want to completely move away from blue, as I feel it has an important role in my work. And though I do want to explore other colours, I will also be exploring the deeper mysterious qualities of blue.

Fiona Rae is one of the first artists that I came across when beginning my studies.

Her work is very colourful and intriguing. Explosions of paint obscure patterns and drips, whilst quirky characters hide amongst the beautifully chaotic scene.

I find her work extremely visually pleasing and it inspired me to experiment with drips and layering.

Images courtesy of : The Timothy Taylor Gallery