Best intentions yet work and technology have kept me away from here. Nevertheless, will resume some kind of commentary along with images that hope to appear to here
This is current among a few paintings and is oil on board think 50 x 60cm approx. dims. Status result of many sessions. Been trying to push the layering thing, lots of application and scraping. Colours choose themselves, there is often negating what is on there when I start a new session, hence the busy information on the surface. Some techniques I’ve used before to kickstart it, using ways to create new lines and shapes without intentionally choosing those lines and shapes. Still cant get rid the thought to purposely make a De Kooning painting, as if there was someone waiting for someone to write a manual ( there is a YouTube clip on how to make a DK painting). I have been enjoying the viscerality of this process and that is what I remember of his work, from first time seeing his paintings at the Norman Rosenthal curated RA show from 94. Don’t think his painting ‘February’ was in that show, but is a big favourite and would like to see hopefully one day.
In the painting process I have going there is always a sense of trying to leap onto something, and I don’t read much painting theory etc but it always floats back to the idea of exploration, which sounds naff and aimless but is something more. It is about the composition, the values in or of the composition. I always thought time based media (meaning Film at College) should have been the name for painting actually.
Another thing is the oils thing, which is such a different kettle of fish to acrylics etc, I’m completely set into that come in the next day to find out how rubbish yesterdays effort was, despite convincing yourself it was great and finito.
Why do people paint using spray paint in their oil paintings? There is so much to contemplate with oil yet sprayp. is the street, so has a place in the paint but kills it I think.
I suppose I do paint until the thing is lifeless, or paint the life out of it. Or, is it the chestnut question how do you know it is finished? Then do you really mean to return with poetic answer.
Abstract, abstraction, given up thinking about what this means at the moment I think it is just a hashtag for something I can’t grasp.Titling works just seems a sign for me to stand under the doorway with the bucket of custard waiting propped up on top. Untitled is just tiring.
There is no real intention for this work or rather the objective is most of the time unclear in these kind of paintings but still I am compelled to make marks or perform something with oil on them. An older painting I made that was in the Creekside Open a few years back was called Talk Partner, and is still a good title and reference for the activity.
