Recently I was sorting through my drawings and notes in the studio. I came across a large amount of studies that I came up with when working on a painting I finished at the start of this year. When making large pieces in the studio I tend to draw and paint a lot from them, helping me to figure out my next moves. I see this as myself being cautious, double guessing myself and not wanting to make mistakes.
The above image is two pages from my Wales sketchbook from last year. I often place images next to each other like this, it helps create new compositions and form new dialogues.
I then did a small painting from the sketchbook. This is around 20 x 40cm on board. I have spoken about doing small paintings like these before, they help solidify ideas and develop new ones. From this small painting I could then begin to visualise how I could take what was in my sketchbook into something much larger.
I stretched up two canvases and placed them next to each other, totalling a size of 115x150cm. I then painted up a composition, taken straight from the small painting I had done. The problem I always find when working from something smaller is that immediate loss of energy. Scaled up, the painting feels so flat. It lacks depth and struggle.
It is from here that I begin to draw from the painting. Attempting to land on new compositions I can apply to the piece I am working on. I then take these drawings and add colour to them, seeing what achieves a balance and what directions I want to now head in.
And then it is back to the large painting, applying a new composition on top of the previous. It is a constant back and forth like this, applying an idea then stepping back and seeing what is emerging.
It is a long process sometimes. This one took me 5 months on and off in total. I paint and then I draw from that, then I paint from that and draw again. Going from the large piece, back to the studies. I want to pull away from this way of working sometimes, to rely more on my own intuition and not be so rigid when working. I always hold back though, wanting to try things out before committing.
It takes a lot of work to eventually land on something I deem finished. There are a few times when I truly believe something is finished only to come back to it later and decide to carry on working. It is all about balance. Often there are parts of the painting I am really happy with and really fight to keep in, but eventually conclude that by working around them I upset the overall tension of the piece.
Looking back I actually really like this, but I think I regretfully scraped it off quite quickly after doing it. These moments I really like, where new work emerges from working on something for an extended period. Eventually you begin to go off on tangents.
This is when I get most frustrated with painting. The times when nothing seems to be working, banging your head against the wall as yet another idea brings nothing to fruition. There are times when I want to take the canvas off and start entirely again, but with this I felt there was something worth sticking with. All the layers beneath give the work a depth, if I were to start again I would lose that working out.
I decided I needed a new perspective, so I flipped the canvas around and sanded it right down so i had a flat surface to rework on.
Then i drew further studies from this new perspective, still wanting to retain the initial composition. I did these really quickly to avoid overcomplicating.
This part felt close, the painting was beginning to be cut down to just a few required elements but I didn’t like how certain parts looked like I was just colouring within the lines.
I finally made it here. Right at the end I just used my intuition to apply the stretch of green across it, wanting to avoid more drawing and planning. It cuts the painting down, making it softer and more complete, less of elements put together and more a total piece.
I like knowing how much is underneath it all too, the effort and adjustments that went on. If you look, the blue and the yellow in the bottom left have been there pretty much from the start.
This is my favourite thing I’ve read all month. This process is fascinating x
Thank you for being so generous with the process! Super interesting, loved following all the twists and turns.