Smooth canvases open up many doorways in fluid mark-making. My plan of attack is to layer up many transparent layers to allow the physical properties of the paint to be shown off to best effect. One thing about my cliche verre images is that I felt they were sometimes quite visually flat and monochromatic. Nothing wrong with simplicity but I am looking further into this dream-like world and for me it is important to have depth in the experience.
The images below are of a recently finished painting showing the build up of layers and how I have explored this particular scene and technique. Last acedemic year I experimented a lot with single layer paintings. This meant that I was working ‘alla prima’ or ‘at first attempt’ which means I am working in wet paint on wet paint. This of course has it’s limits but I attempted to push it as far as I could. This was all very well when working on paper, I could just start again on another piece and continue the exploration. Canvas proved to be a lot harder to achieve adequate results as I could’t paint 300 oil paintings on canvas in order to choose 6 or so as my final images. A different approach was in order…
By painting with multiple layers, in the same manner as if I was to paint in a single layer, I could satisfy my adventure and at the same time end up with a coherent image.
But What is it all about?
It is always difficult to write about one’s own work. I’m sure most artists would agree with me when I say, I like my paintings to speak for themselves. I began painting to portray things that words cannot. However I think it is often important to give the viewer enough written information to experience my world of images properly, but not so much as to make them lose their power. This is a hard task from the creator, as I am so involved in this process that sporadically spews out finished pieces fit for public observation – it is hard to stay objective. From a very young age it was clear I was seeing the world from a rather different perspective to my family and friends. Maybe the only person to understand me as a toddler was a local wildlife illustrator and family friend Phillip Snow. He would encourage me to paint but would never impose his own artistic style or interest on me. He accepted me immediately as an my own person with individual interests and ways of seeing things. One thing I remember him teaching me was to see something new every time I look at something. This means not only to take things at face value but to always delve deeper into what is there. This way you never stop learning through seeing. It is easier said than done but something I strive to constantly keep in mind. And that is exactly what I am doing when I paint, I am not necessarily looking for something specific to result but at most, I look for a reflection of parts of nature which grab my attention and feed off an internal visual museum of curiosities. My goal is not to replicate natures beauty but possibly through my painting produce an artistic serenade to the sublime beauty and power of the natural world, both on the small and greater scale.
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