University Campus Suffolk

We all have those painting days!

Not every completed painting has to be shown. I’ve recently finished a painting of a girl with a very attractive and interesting face, however it may not fit with the overall tone of the work I have been doing. The source photograph showed the girls face with all of its strength, the problem was with translating this into paint.

Firstly I tried layers of strongly blocked in paint but this didn’t work, it lacked subtlety. Then more blending and realism was tried which rectified this, but the painting still lacked life. The eyes seemed to be the problem, they were rather flat, so more realism, more tones and small highlights were added.

This cured the lifelessness of the eyes but not my dissatisfaction with the painting. It seemed with corrections made it was then too polished. The technique of tearing away layers of the cardboard was tried to bring a little more texture and roughness to the work.

This changed the look, but not the tone. The girl does indeed have a strong face, however when translated into paint and painted to an acceptable technical standard her glamour overwhelmed this strength, overwhelmed the subject matter and to me, became the major and perhaps only feature of the painting, there didn’t seem to be anything else there.

It certainly didn’t fit with the tone of my chosen subject matter and I’m not sure if I want to show a painting where beauty is the only feature. After all the work, I’ve had to walk away and accept this painting as a failure.

10 years

Titles can be a very important part of the identity and meaning of a work. The best ones can add more layers for a viewer to explore or, if the artist wishes to direct them to where they want them to go. Personally I like to leave the viewer with options as to the title and the works meaning.

As far as titles go my preferred way of working is usually to leave them till after the painting is complete. However, sometimes they can become apparent even before a work has begun. After viewing Thailand based Ernest Zacharevics’ untitled painted portrait work on found wooden boards I was encouraged to put to use a found wooden fence panel of my own.

My original intention was to paint a detailed and highly finished piece like Zacharevics’, but when thinking what the fence panel meant and what they brought to the work I decided against it. I discussed in a previous blog about fences demarcating the boundaries of land, property, the ownership of these and their purpose in keeping people out so I decide that a very simple flat portrait would be enough.

The properties of my painting surface were already giving me enough meaning, I didn’t need to go crazy with the detail like I usually do. When drawing out the face in pencil on the panel it kept occurring to me that the vertical lines of the panel were reminding me of prison bars. Again links with my subject matter were obvious, a persons situation if damaging or distressing can be a trap, a cage or a prison, and the length of time they find themselves in that situation can be a sentence handed down to them.

The title then came to me. With these other layers added I decided I should simplify the painting even further to a single tone stencil like image. The title came from a simple answer to a simple question from an interviewer:

“how long have you been living on the streets?”

“10 years.”

What happened to the Agencies?

Having ran into difficulties finding suitable models to paint from life I was glad that I had not put all my eggs in one basket. From the outset I intended to paint also from found images and to include these with life paintings. However with a lack suitable sitters and time running out found images became my priority and focus.

There were many problems with communication with my chosen agencies, it has been difficult to contact people often due to their time constraints and heavy workload so visits to homeless centres have become less and less frequent.

Added to this many people have been reluctant for various reasons to have themselves painted or photographed, those that were enthusiastic have often been unsuitable due to problems such as scheduling and things just not working out compositionally.

The process of finding sitters for life paintings with this subject matter is a very very slow one when relationships and trust must be built, but much important and valuable work has been done and this remains an ongoing commitment of mine.

I am glad that I committed from the outset to include imagery from other sources. The found images have proved to be an extensive education. The sheer scale and variety of people with accompanying histories, interviews and stories have increased my knowledge and understanding immensely not just of this huge and complex issue but of humanity and society itself. They have truly been a revelation and I have felt privileged to portray these people.

Stay on the case.

I have been lucky enough with this project to find plenty of bang on context, with many major contemporary artists dealing with the same issues or working in a similar way.

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare addressed homelessness with his 2012 work “Crisis Man”. His aim was to awaken some “empathy in those who have for those who do not… There is always a possibility your wealthy world could come crashing down at any time.”

Shonibare was an obvious contextual reference for me after having the thought of using an antique suitcase as an integral part of a portrait of a man who had become homeless through addiction.

The suitcase has very obvious links to homelessness. Having something to keep a small amount of possessions in and to be ready and able to move on at very short notice. Only the suitcase, in this case, is no help or solution to the homeless persons chronic lack of mobility in their situation.

The homeless are often caught in a trap of not being able to get away from their environment and the problems that put them in their situation.

I decided to paint this mans portrait not on the outside of a closed suitcase, but on the inside of a suitcase flapping open. You may want to get away, but you cannot travel or move on with your suitcase hanging open. With the suitcase loading the work with meaning the painting itself needed to be kept as simple as possible.

I painted with one single tone leaving the patterned suitcase lining to show through, giving what I believe is a nice visual effect, he is there but not entirely, just what I hoped for.

In titling this piece I used something the man said when interviewed.

“ I don’t run fast enough”.

The man obviously did not mean he could not physically run fast enough, but that he could never get away from the problems that continually impacted upon his life. He summed up in very simple terms a certain aspect of himself and provided me with a pertinent title.

http://www.stephenfriedman.com/news/archive/2012/yinka-shonibare-mbe-in-crisis-commission-exhibition-at-somerset-house-london

“Gotta stay on the scene”. James Brown

It would be easy to drift off course and to bend my project to suit the work I’m making, so to stay on the case, I do need to restate some of the main aims of my work.

To choose to portray people in a homeless situation, who have been in a homeless situation or live with the threat of homelessness.

To address the variety of people in these situations and not concentrate on a certain group or stereotype.

My criteria and brief in how to portray these people:

*Non judgemental

*With respect

*With Equality and fairness

*With Truthfulness

To understand that ordinary peoples lives have a story, an epic quality, that they have as much weight, meaning, depth and drama as any King, Queen, dignitary, hero or icon that may have ever been considered worthy of a painted portrait.