ARTISTS TALKING

# 15 [31 May 2011]

Well, well, well, on the 19th of August 2011 I will have painted 1000 daily paintings. That is one a day for 1000 days, non stop, no breaks, straight through. Blimey, not sure I thought I would do that many, the original plan was to paint everyday for a year to force me to return to painting in a serious way and utilise my new studio as much as possible. It worked. I couldn't stop.

Here's to a thousand more! I already have some ideas of what to do for the next 365 days painting odyssey.

But, back to this year and the 19th of August, I am planning/hoping to utilise the power of the interweb and get as many other artist's and non artists to paint or draw a cake or biscuit and upload it to my flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1000paintings/.

Let's see if I get to a thousand before the rest of of the world does!

Go on and be the first....

# 14 [19 January 2011]

I just read 'Writing art and life' by Tamarin Norwood from these very hallowed Artists talking pages. It made me want tell everyone about my green bananas.

'You see, I bought them yesterday and they were very green, I like green, I'm a painter, I especially like things that are colours that they perhaps shouldn't be, although bananas have every right to be green they are not nice to eat like that, even if they are nice to look at, but you are reminded of the taste of a green banana when you look at it which takes away some of the enjoyment of that lovely soft green colour. Anyway I painted them, because thats what I do, I paint things that interest me every day, I also got two yellow bananas so there would be bananas to eat today'

Art and life.

more about my green bananas and lots of other things I like here :

http://www.danyoungdaily.blogspot.com/

and here for 'Writing art and life' by Tamarin Norwood:

http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/artists_stories/single/983559

# 13 [6 December 2010]

Well, i am nearly (two years) and two weeks into my new daily painting project http://danyoungdaily.blogspot.co.uk and I don't mind telling you that i was a bit nervous this time. Last year when I changed over from a year of oil painted object paintings to a year of watercolour object paintings I was fairly confident that all of those lovely people who had been following the project would still like the new paintings. But this time the shift in what I was painting was bigger and I didn't quite know how it was going to work and what the pictures wouldlook like and even if anyone would like them or even carry on looking at the blog. They did and from the feedback I have recieved they seem to be being very well received. I imagine it felt like when a musician releases a new album of new material and worries that they will alienate thier existing audience. It was and is an invigoratuing experience and i am already planning next years transformation!

Phew!

# 12 [25 November 2010]

Usually when you visit an artist’s web site, or show, you see finished work and the pieces the artist wants you to see. Which means you see the things they have selected from the output from their studio.

With these daily projects you see what I have painted that day regardless if I think it to be ‘one of my best paintings’ (you can visit my other website for that! www.danyoungart.co.uk) There is of course a quality control that I employ for the daily paintings which means you don’t see some of the ‘happy accidents’ that maybe weren’t quite so happy,  but you still don’t witness the evolution of an idea, especially as I set up the paintings to be a series and to follow certain rules which takes away some of the decision making that I would normally do when approaching a new drawing or painting and not those important paintings that don't quite work.

 This year I am changing the format quite a bit and I really am not sure (in a positive and exciting way) what the paintings at the end of the year will look like. What I do know is that I am not going to paint objects, at least not whole objects. One of the big rules from the last two years was that the entire object must fit into the painting, including its shadow. The next 365 paintings will not feature an entire object, they may nor not even have an object in the painting at all. I am going to paint the places where objects might live or backgrounds. Which really is what I haven’t been painting for two years. I have started with the little platform that I place objects on to paint. This is always painted as a pristine white surface that the objects inhabit. In reality it has cake crumbs, grubby fingerprints, paint marks and the odd pencil mark and shadows. So, it is all that stuff I will be investigating over the coming 365 days join me and watch the paintings evolve! www.danyoungdaily.blogspot.com

# 11 [15 November 2010]

I have been negleting this blog a bit, which is a shame because it is a great way to meet like minded artists, if there is such a thing (artists with a like mind that is!) aaaany way it is just over a week to go until I morph (just like Dr Who..) my daily painting project http://danyoungdaily.blogspot.com into next years theme/style/process...all I'm saying is that it will be me making a painting of nothing everyday for a year. I have been making paintings of things for two years now so it seemed the right time for a change!

watch this and various other spaces...

# 10 [15 June 2010]

When I began to paint a picture every day http://danyoungdaily.blogspot.com I knew I wanted to develop my relationship with paint and painting. What I didn't know was that that relationship can be as rewarding/frustrating and complex as a relationship with a real life living person. I have just read Sandra Erbacher's break up letter to painting -  http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/635183 and found myself thinking about my own relationship to it (sorry Sandra I have been in a relationship with painting for some time time now! Two timing medium that it is).

I have felt like 'breaking up with painting' before and indeed spent a few years making digital work but, I 'came back' because, well.. I missed it. I missed the activity, the smells, the way paint feels like sh*t or silk (depending on how well the painting is going) and the thrill of that mark that makes you run round the studio with your shirt over your head like a deranged footballer, I also revel in the historical baggage and accepting my small own part in that history. I am a part of it and thats what is important.

Most of all I missed creating the simple illusion, and now I cant stop making those simple illusions each day... Painting, for me, has become something like an addiction and I would genuinely feel like a traitor if I had a day off from it. Today will be the 569th consecutive day that I have made a picture.

Obsessive relationship...me?

# 9 [3 March 2010]

A big thanks to Bicester Community college year 11s art group for these questions and good luck with your still life project. I thought it might be interesting for everyone else, so here you go!

Did you like art at school?!

DY: Yes, very much, on my first week at secondary school I got lost on my way between lessons and was found by my future art teacher (Mrs Byrne) where I was given a lovely antique pearl handled gun to draw.  A great way to make friends with the Art teachers.

Are you naturally good at painting or did you learn it?

DY: I have always drawn and painted so, it is probably a healthy mix of lots of practice and enough natural ability to keep me practising.

Have you got better by painting/drawing everyday?

DY: Yes, definitely! That was one of the things that started me on this project, I wanted to see how good I could get at something by doing it everyday.

 
How do you select your objects?

DY: Lots of different ways is the quick answer, but I have a set of rules which I break every so often but that’s what rules are for (especially if you have made them up yourself!)

One key rule is the objects have to be a certain size, for the first year of oil paintings the size had to fit your hand so I would be able to paint most of the objects in a similar scale. But this year I have made the paper different sizes, which has allowed me to paint slightly larger things and smaller things! Another important rule is that the objects have to have something to do with the day they are painted on, even if it’s just that the object caught my eye and I wanted to paint it on that day. Another rule that I haven’t broken is that the object has to fit entirely on the board/paper. Which means I never paint a small section of a larger object.

Lots of them are food related/half eaten why is this?

 DY: I eat food everyday. The half eaten aspect is a useful device that allows me to include other textures into the painting, for instance the jam doughnut painting would be a squashed brown ball with no jam visible if I didn’t half eat it. So by taking a bite or two I can reveal both the jam and the fluffy pale inner dough of the doughnut, helping the painting tell the story of what it is to be a jam doughnut! It also stems from an early painting in year one when I suddenly realised as I bit into a rich tea biscuit that I had found my subject matter for the day! Plus, I get to taste what it is I am painting while I am painting it.

When do you paint them? Same time daily or not?

DY: It does vary a bit but, during the week I tend to paint in the evening around 8 to 9 o’clock but the weekend can be very different.

Do you have a proper job?

DY: Mmmmm sort of! I work as a Fine Art Technician at The University of Gloucestershire and also teach evening classes in painting and life drawing

Have you ever missed a day during Dan Young Daily? If so why?

 DY: No, I am hugely proud of the fact that I haven’t missed a day in the last 465 (and counting) days. I have had two close calls however, one evening I was working late, got home about 9ish had something to eat and relaxed into the evening then suddenly realised at about 11 o’clock that I hadn’t painted so, very quickly made a painting of a lime and just got it listed at I think 11:55. The other close one was a few weeks ago when Debbie (my partner) cut her finger and we ended up in casualty until 11, we rushed back and I made a painting of a dressing and micro-pore tape.

Do you allow yourself to paint the same object twice in the year?

DY: No that’s another rule! I do allow myself to paint the same thing in different years, although a few days ago I did paint an elastic band and the next evening I painted the same elastic band but incorporated into my elastic band ball. A minor infringement of the rules.

# 8 [3 March 2010]

part two:

How long does each painting take?

DY: The oil paintings took anything from 5 mins (I think only one was that quick) to a couple of hours but most took around an hour at most. I think it got quicker throughout the year and could paint and post in under an hour on a good night. The watercolour paintings are very different because I need to wait for some areas to dry before I can move on to other areas so they can take a bit longer to finish but I am probably not working on them for as long. I am lucky enough to have my studio at home so I have a developed a great technique where I nip upstairs to paint in the ad breaks during TV programmes and allow it to dry while I watch tele. Other times I will make several other paintings at the same time and rotate which one I am working on.

Are you inspired by any other artists?

DY: Yes all the time, just thinking about that way of working by painting several watercolours at the same time is something that JMW Turner did! I have always been inspired by Velasquez, I love the way he uses lively brush-marks to describe things, the impressionists for similar reasons as well as their use of colour. There are a whole load of other daily painters I look at who are a constant source of inspiration and competition.

Who is your favourite still life artist? Why?

DY: I love 17^th century Dutch still life paintings, Eduard Manet, Jean-Baptiste Chardin, Georgio Morandi, Lisa Milroy, Claus Oldenburg…

But favourite I think has to be Van Gogh mainly because of the everyday nature of his paintings especially the still lives. I like the honesty of them, like the famous painting of his boots – possibly made because he has just taken them off, or painting a bowl of potatoes because he has them in his kitchen and will eat them later. I love the way he shows us the things (and places) he has around him and tells us so much about him and his life, and those around him.

Do you take suggestions on what to paint each day? Can we influence your decision?!
 

DY: It all depends on how good the suggestions are! How about you give me three ideas and we will see……

# 7 [21 January 2010]

My internet presence is growing! not only can you follow http://danyoungdaily.blogspot.com you can also find out more about my other work by visiting my new website www.danyoungart.co.uk where there is a selection of the daily paintings and others some from a few years ago and some newer stuff...enjoy!

# 6 [26 November 2009]

I have finished my painting challenge to paint an oil painting every day for a year visit here; http://danyoungdaily.blogspot.com

and have promptly started a new year of making drawings everyday! If you like there are now over 365 paintings to look through and find out what i got up to last year!

I may have an addiction because I dont feel like I can stop...Blogging or painting! I have a little seasonal project planned next month so keep following my daily pictures and watch out for more daily doings!