jonathanretallickart

Drawing With Paint

Drawing has once again come to my attention. In a recent group critique, a peer of mine commented that I ‘just do whatever’ regarding my painting process. The context was about the drawing element in painting. My friend feels a great need to prove her ability to draw through her paintings but I feel thatContinue reading “Drawing With Paint”

Titles

The beginning of term has been strange. My contact time with my tutors has greatly diminished which has left more time for self directed development and contemplation. I have quite a clear view of how I am going to tackle the degree show as far as the paintings are concerned. However there is one matterContinue reading “Titles”

Opening Up

This post might help to answer the question of why on earth I seem to write an awful lot about canvas preparation and process. I have always been very open to showing my work to people. In fact for those of you who know me, I like very much to shove images in peoples facesContinue reading “Opening Up”

Part Five | Printmaking

Printmaking is so incredibly process driven. I have found that most print makers are more interested in the process than the art itself! That seems quite harsh but from what I’ve seen, that is the main thing that gets printmakers invigorated! I don’t blame them, there is a lot about process which is to beContinue reading “Part Five | Printmaking”

Part Four | Illustration

Illustration was interesting for me. Over the years leading up to university, my work had mainly been illustrative in one way or another. I captured the mental journey after losing a close friend. It was a visual diary of my life, each picture with its own symbolic meaning. I was unable to properly vocalise myContinue reading “Part Four | Illustration”

Part Three | Interdisciplinary Practice

Interdisciplinary practice opened my mind to the possibilities of unconventional drawing techniques but also completely outside of the box creative thinking. The short course in first year was extremely challenging to my beliefs of what art is, the justification of people’s creative process, and how anyone would make a career from doing something uncommercial. ItContinue reading “Part Three | Interdisciplinary Practice”

Part Two | Drawing

I have been compulsively drawing for as long as I can remember. I found it essential to everything creative I do. When doing sums I imagine them and manipulate their forms. Before doing and while doing nearly everything, there I am imagining, even if just for a split second. I have always kept my imaginationContinue reading “Part Two | Drawing”

220X180 Continued

I don’t seem to know when to stop! I got to an interesting stage but then painted over with white because compositionally it didn’t work for me. I wanted to simplify things. The strength of a small composition on a large scale, in a sense, enlarging one of my sketches without directly working from it.Continue reading “220X180 Continued”

Part One | Photography

At the end of first year I had to choose who modules I would take in the second year. It was a tough decision, I wanted to do everything. I worked on how I would use everything I learned through each discipline I tried over the first year. Drawing from previous experience I’ve had throughoutContinue reading “Part One | Photography”

Technical Development

Discovering my primary method of painting: Unashamedly one summer, I watched a video on YouTube demonstrating an abstract art technique using cling film to create ‘flat’ texture. This didn’t have any immediate effect until I came to painting water in my second year in Aberystwyth. I explored a number of ways to imitate the theContinue reading “Technical Development”