Central Saint Martins, UAL

Last week was a bit of an off week in terms of work, I guess they come along every once and a while and need to be accepted. I could have easily stressed over it but that would have just made things worse.

That said its not like I didn’t accomplish anything, I just didn’t keep to my schedule and lets face it a hard task master created that – me!

It had been mothers day and I found that quite hard having recently lost my mum, and I was feeling a bit poorly too – a lot of us were at college, end of term, needing a break kinda tired. Anyway, all my canvases are built now, prepared and ready to paint on. So now all my efforts over the hols will be on painting the portraits, which is nice.

Someone asked me yesterday am I not sick of faces? They had spent a summer doing portraits and by the end of it they were well and truly fed up with it. I’m not, thats not to say I won’t be by the end. But in a way thats part of the challenge. I have this innate desire to paint portraits, I feel compelled to do so. I often ask myself, nae tell myself, “Isn’t it about time you did something else?” But I just can’t pull myself away from the fascination they hold. How different each one is, how a few marks with the brush can capture a likeness and yet the addition of another and you might lose it again….

Thanks for the tip on the printer Sharoon, I have been doing a bit of research and am now thinking of investing in A2…

I rearranged all my paintings this week onto a wall that I can stand back and take in (tutor wanted to see this, as I’ve been working in a narrow corridor up until now). I have a vision in my head of how the whole thing is going to look and I’m really excited by it, so it was nice to get a partial view of this for others to get an idea. It was kinda freaky but very encouraging – highlighted how tricky the final hang is going to be though. Yikes!

Got some more images to share with you. I’m really chuffed at how the progress is going. Some are still giving my some trouble but on the whole i think I’m making progress.

I’ve discovered if I use too big a brush I put too much paint on the canvas at a time and then end up not being able to work with it. I’ve found also that if I use vibrant colours like red or green I need to use them really sparingly as they are really strong and take a lot of work to blend in – like what happened in ‘James” and “Cheiko”. I’ve also learnt a trick from a fellow student on the application of the laytex – use a pipette and an old water bottle and make a squeezy bottle for it, that way I get more control over it – can draw thinner lines, indicate the hair better and not have ‘fingers’ like in ‘Cheiko”. So now I make up a job lot of it and do a load of canvases at once. It’s also easier to peel off this way cause its not been brushed on.

Working on different coloured grounds is kinda scary, the last few have been on yellow, pink and white resp., going back to white was weird!

Spent all day in the workshop yesterday, and wed afternoon, the guys have been great there. Going in today also, getting the remainder of my frames together so that I can crack on and with the portraits during the easter break as planned.

It may seem like a production line, and in certainly has those qualities especially when it comes to the actual making and preparing the canvases. But thats where it stops. Each portrait is considered and all the mark making and colour addition are all very considered. I get in the zone and consider constantly whats working, whats not. What I can improve on, what I should change etc… I only wish I’d spent more time painting last term rather than spending time on my animations, that said it was really satisfying to finish them, even though the problems I faced were due to lack of knowledge and consistency in the creation of the source material. Hey ho, its all part of the journey eh.

Oh can anyone recommend a good A3 colour printer?

Carolyn, thanks for the tip about YouTube, had a go at setting it up but didn’t have much time, will look again.

Managed a chat with tutor, more emotional than I’d have liked! Really wish I’d seen it coming – the mark I mean, seen that my expectations didn’t match up with my tutors, maybe they could have been managed better. Maybe something good will come out of it, but I have to get on and enjoy the here and now, regardless….

Once I sorted my head out I did just that, I got on with my paintings. I plan to paint my fellow students, well all those in 2d anyway. That’s 66 at last count. I plan to create a grid and use coloured grounds. It’s a mamouth task and I have to say I did reconsider in light of the assessment mark but have decided I’m doing this for me. I have a clear vision in my head of what the finished piece will look like and I’m excited by it.

So that’s what I’ve been working on. Part way through the second painting I was trying to find a way of masking off the canvas so I could avoid painting it, leave the ground colour clean, then I discovered laytex, and loving the effect :0). So far I have painted 12. Did I say I have to paint a min of 1 a day? No easter break for me.

Yep, well it’s a tight schedule especially as I’m making my own canvases too. It’s a challenge but a nice one. I’m getting lots of positive feedback from both peers and tutors as they pass my corridor space, which is really encouraging.

Academic tutorials this past week too, that seemed to go well, tutor really engaged with looking at the paintings, how they might fit together, how they might be hung for the degree show etc.. Things he wants me to think about are on my radar already: the hang, the close proximity of each, the disparity in quality across the group – inevitable, deliberate, necessary… I also talked about creating a book/catalogue of the works, he liked this idea, going 360deg, talking a photo to a painting and back to a photo again.

Lots to do, but progress is going well. Workshop guys are being a great help putting all my lengths of wood through the table saw and mitre saw, which is great.

Anyway best get on.