The two paintings shown (top and bottom images) are those which have evolved from the collages I have been making. I much prefer the second painting, but I still feel like it’s not completely resolved. However, I’m pleased with the way I have painted it and I feel it shows that I have loosened up in my approach, helped by my use of large foam brushes. I decided to portray the railings in this way to give a sense of the “identity” of the lido and its relevance in contemporary society fading: it is a place which is becoming a non-place.
I also attempted to include small areas of more chromatic colour in this piece, something which I intend to continue experimenting with.
Last week I created lots more collages using some new photos, as well as some more of Tinside Lido. I have started to bring different types of markmaking into my work, including tracings and line drawings, and I’ve started to play around with layering more using vellum. I think this creates a really interesting effect, and I feel that it really conveys the idea of a barrier or disconnection between a non-place and its surroundings, or someone briefly passing through a space and only being able to take in a certain amount of visual information – the rest is closed off to them.
I think these collages work well on a small scale, and I’ve decided to start experimenting with this before moving on to another larger-scale painting. I intend to start painting them on some 20x20cm MDF, hopefully still using vellum to create layers, and see how this compares to my previous work.
