At the start of this year the main idea I had was that I wanted to create large semi abstract seascapes that had a real atmospheric feel to them. This idea is something different to what I have worked on in previous projects, but it was something I wanted to put into practice for a while so my final degree project seemed like the best time to do this.
Throughout this project I have worked on large scale canvases, small experiments in a sketch book and back to large scale pieces again. The large scale pieces are what I set out to achieve but by experimenting and working in a sketch book to start with I have also created smaller works, although because of their size they do not create such an overwhelming atmosphere like a larger piece would, however I feel like they create a more serene atmosphere when compared to the large dramatic pieces. When I start painting I never really have a set idea of how I want the finished piece to look, this is because working from memory plays a big part in my process, and I don’t normally paint directly from an image. I find this really helps me to keep a sense of abstraction within my work.
Over the last week or so I have spent a lot of time in the studio working on some new paintings. I bought two 36 x 48 inch canvases and this is what I have started to work on. Although these are a lot smaller than my most recent 4 x 6ft canvas I still feel like I am working on a large scale compared to when I first started this project. The fact that I have been able to progress onto a much larger scale is something I am really pleased about, because at the start of this project the thought of working on a large scale was pretty daunting. I’ll post some pictures with a right up about these paintings in the next few days.
Reflection
Now seems like a good time to look back over what I have done so far and where I see my work heading in the lead up to our degree show.
Before Christmas my work was very different to what I’m doing now, but like I said in my earlier posts I really wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and that is why I changed my focus onto my current project.
Once I had got my dissertation handed in I could really focus on my practice and develop my current idea. What I wanted to do was create paintings that had a real atmospheric feel to them. Whether it was how I started painting with more dramatic stormy seascapes, or some of my more recent smaller paintings, which put across a calmer more relaxed view. With this project I wanted to work more from memory rather than working directly from an image. I think this aspect helps me to keep the sense of abstraction in my paintings. What I did not want was a typical seascape depicting a sky, a sea, a sun set and boats in the horizon, which really wasn’t the look I was going for. A lot of the work I have done so far is experimenting to see how different ideas would look. As this was a subject matter that I have never looked at before within my practice I was not really sure how different ideas would turn out, I feel like a lot of the works I have created even while experimenting have gone pretty well. However as lots of what I was doing was experimenting, some things didn’t turn out as well, like colour choices or the composition choices. But that’s fine, that’s the whole reason why I tried these things out first in my sketch book and on paper. Anyway, I am pretty pleased with what I’ve been creating so far and I’m glad I did change my project as I’m really enjoying painting again.
So, in the next couple of months leading up to the degree show what is it that I want to do? Well, I really want to work on a big scale canvas again, kind of around the size I am working on at the minute, which is roughly 6 x 4ft. I think working on a big scale really helps put across the sense of atmosphere to the viewer. As well as this I’d like to try framing some of the small paintings I did on paper, like the two small paintings I put in for our auction as I really liked how these looked. Even though they aren’t big dramatic and atmospheric paintings, personally I find them really calming to look at and that is the atmosphere I am creating with these paintings, a calm and tranquil feel.
When I think about the degree show and what I want to put in I am not 100% sure exactly what I will have up as I am still making work, although I think a big painting much like the size I am working on now would look really good, or maybe even two paintings alongside each other, slightly smaller than the 6 x 4ft canvas I’m using now but still quite big. Then I can have my sketch book, smaller canvases and smaller framed paintings as supporting works.
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner was an artist whose work I had put up in my studio space right near the start of this semester. I first started to look at his work because of his subject matter which linked in with my own project.
I then became interested in Turner’s almost dusky looking seascape paintings as these inspired me the most out of his works. What inspired me was his use of colour; his paintings seem to have an almost muted colour pallet which creates the dusky look, however they are still vivid and eye catching.
I really love Turner’s smaller works on paper as these are less figurative than some of his larger pieces and this is what links in with my own work. A lot of the smaller sketch book work I have done is very abstract compared with the larger paintings I have done so far. However the colours I have used do not really resemble Turner’s softer colour pallet.
I think as my project progresses I will look at Tuner’s work in much more depth. However for now I just wanted to talk about why I have put pictures of his work up in my studio space and what I like about his work.
Today I spent the morning in the studio trying out painting with a squeegee. The images on the right show the results of my experiments.
While experimenting I wanted to try different colours next to each other to see how they would merge together. I also thought about the direction the paint would go in and the pressure I would need to apply to get an even coverage.
When trying this out on paper I found it worked and looked much better when there was lots of paint used as it looked thicker and more of a solid line of colour.
After experimenting a little I tried using a squeegee on to a small part of my 6 x 4ft canvas to see what affect this would have. Im pretty pleased with how it looks and I think I’ll try this technique on other parts of the painting.
