University Campus Suffolk

I have said that I want to continue with this current project after I have left university and in my sketchbook I have been thinking about the things I could look at in the future to push my work to the next level.

– Size: The current size of my work is something that I really like, the 6x4ft canvases in particular I have loved working on. I don’t feel restricted, as I have done when working directly into a sketchbook. If money allows I really want to keep working on this sort of size, maybe even slightly bigger!

– Orientation: Also think about changing the orientation from landscape to portrait or even to working on a square canvas. These are all things I will have to experiment with and see how they look.

– Colour: A lot of the artists I have looked at use varied and sometimes unrealistic colour palette. I have mainly been working with the same Prussian blue Hue as well as mixing in some white and sometimes bronze, black, green and sand. I think I might try a more varied colour palette adding reds, yellows, purples and oranges. This would achieve a more abstract look like I set out to achieve.

Looking back over this last year of uni and thinking about the work I have made and I can honestly say I am so pleased with the paintings I have created. At the beginning of third year I had a very different idea in my head of the work I wanted to make, mainly because of the link with my dissertation and studio practice. But when my dissertation was completed and I got back in the studio I really didn’t feel a connection with the work I was making and couldn’t see this idea progressing any further in a positive way. Plus if I couldn’t enjoy and connect with my work then how could I expect the viewer to.

But after changing my project to the current one I really enjoyed being in the studio again, which I am so pleased about. It would of been horrible not enjoying my last year of uni because I wasn’t enjoying the work I was making and it would seem silly to continue a project I didn’t enjoy just because the topic linked with my dissertation.

This project has given me the opportunity to look at artist’s work I already knew a bit about as well as discovering new artists like Samantha Keely Smith, Paul Bennett and Jessica Oliver.

The paintings I have created have been exactly what I set out to achieve and I think looking back over my work from this year I can see a real progression since I started the final year, as well as since starting uni in first year. When I first started this course I dont think I would of planned to be working on a large scale like I currently am. But now whenever I imagine a piece in my head that I want to create I cant think of it being much smaller than the paintings I have up for the degree show.

I have had some ideas about how I want this project to continue after I have finished uni and have mentioned them in a previous post. So hopefully once I leave uni and move back to Harwich I can continue my practice on the current scale I am working on and that my painting technique will improve over time so I can create some really amazing pieces.

Seeing as I have my work up ready for the degree show I have started working on some small paintings in my sketch book testing ideas I have had for larger paintings.

Just because this year is coming to an end doesn’t mean I am going to stop with this project. I have enjoyed working on this project more than any other I have worked on before, so I really want to continue with this theme of work.

I have been testing some small ideas for working portrait rather than the landscape canvases I have currently been working on. I’m not sure exactly how this will transfer onto larger scale but it’s an idea I can try next hopefully.

The last week has been really busy with sorting out the studio ready the degree show and assessment. Im feeling really good about everything so far, I got my walls painted, helped move everything out the studio and then put three of my paintings up on the wall.

I had originally planned to only have my two big canves next to each other on one wall. However after sorting through my paintings and getting things organised I had another painting that I really liked and wanted to show rather than have it as supporting work in the assessment. Luckily there was a wall free next to my other paintings. So I am now showing three paintings in the degree show.