Before They Left II

As a follow up to "Before They Left" I decided to repaint the same canvas. I left "Before They Left" unfinished before assessment and when i came back to it I felt as if the painting was no longer appropriate to the way I was working now. While the first was more about the content of the painting and it's story the way I had progressed focused more on the painted surface and the qualities with in that surface than the conceptual background of the painting. Although I allowed parts of the original show though and kept the name of the painting to link it back to its original state.

Before They Left II
240 x 240cm
Acrylic and Chalk on Canvas

Screen Printing

This is an attempt to try out screen printing, which is a technique I hadn't tried before. Screen Printing involved cutting a separate stencil out for each colour in news print paper. I then attached these separately to a silk printing screen, which I scraped printing ink through uniformly in order to create a flat area of colour.

I then used some of the prints I created to make a larger painting.

Stencils and Original Plan

Print - Paris
42 x 30cm
Printing Ink on Paper

Recuring Print
120 x 130cm
Printing Ink and Wood Sealant on Paper and MDF

Oil Painting

Two oil paintings based on the previous sketches using Wax medium to create an impasto effect. The wax medium allows the paint to be spread on thicker and unless used in overly large quantities does not effect the colour produced. The problem i found with it is the wax needs to be mixed completely or the surface of the painting can become grainy. In addition to this the wax medium is better to use while it is heated slightly.

Wisp
70cm x 50cm
Oil and Wax on Board

Wisp II
90cm x 65cm
Oil and Wax on Hardboard

Sculpture from flat panels

In order to attempt to realise the small sketches and drawings from my sketchbook on a larger scale I attempted to create the compositions out of sections of MDF. The first one was a direct re-creation of the composition from a drawing in my sketchbook using painted pieces of MDF and also painting other sections on the board itself. To follow the drawing i also left the background of the piece the same as when i found it.

Paris - On the Internet (Relief)
70 x 50cm
Acrylic on Board and MDF

 The next method I tried was identical to the previous one, except I did not paint the sections of MDF. Instead I stretched canvas over the board and used charcoal to draw in the edges of the face. The dark lines created by the charcoal pressing against the edges of the MDF sections became the shapes which define the face.

Untitled (Relief)
80 x 60cm
Pastel and Charcoal on Canvas stretched on Board

Next I tried the same as in Paris - On the Internet except on some of the sections of MDF i used a belt sander to add an angle to one side so when it was nailed down it protruded from the board, creating three dimensional shapes within the faces.

The Argument
70 x 50cm
Acrylic on Board and MDF

Using left over scraps of wood, glued and stapled together, I created a sculpture of a woman with her body lying back on the right and her face enlarged to the left.

Woman in two parts
Acrylic on MDF
15cm (Height)

William Utermolen

William Utermolen drew mostly self portraits and to begin with they were completely figurative. His late self portraits documented his descent into Alzheimer's disease. He represents his feelings about his condition with remarkable clarity presenting his sadness, anxiety and even anger at the loss of some of his basic functions.

The artists website can be found here.

Self Portrait (1955)
28 x 21cm
Pencil on Paper

Self Portrait (With easel - yellow and green) (1996)
46 x 35cm
Mixed Media on Paper

Head I (2000)
40.5 x 33cm
Pencil on Paper

New Sketchbook Work

Starting a new project I decided to throw around some ideas in a sketch book and have completed a number of small works based on the people working around me in the studio. They are intended as an impression of the person, not a life like replication and movement and drawing from life was key, hence why I did not use photographs.

Paris - On the internet
20 x 17 cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper

Penny - Online
14 x 14cm
Pencil, Biro and Pen on Paper

Ben - In the studio
16 x 14cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper

Paris - View from the seat
10 x 16cm
Pencil and Pen on Paper

Assessment

I've set up my work for assessment now, this is how the work appears. Most of the large works had to be stacked up due to the space available, still I have managed to get more space than most people.

Paper works laid out on the floor.

Large Canvas works stacked against a wall.

Sketchbooks, Small Sculptures and drawings presented on a desk.

Large Drawings rolled up and held by string so that they don't fall over.
If available i would have liked more space to have them unrolled for easy access.

Before they left

The final large creation of this semester. It started out as a crazy drawing where i just drew free hand and created a strange dialogue between a dinosaur, a frog and a mosquito. This then evolved into a full colour, abstract painting utilizing various methods of applying colour.

Before they left (2013)
240x240cm
Charcoal, Pastel and Acrylic on Canvas

 

Before the final additions of acrylic.

Before any acrylic was added.

Just colour in the main features, no background colour.

Original plain charcoal drawing.

Christmas Break

A couple of new paintings started over the Christmas break. The are on a smaller scale compared to the previous ones, but that was due to transport issues of larger paintings. First one is based a small section of the previous larger painting that i wanted to recreate and the second one is an appreciation of the colour orange using shapes from previous paintings.

Tree Scape
24x24cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Orange
24x24cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Large Untitled #2

In response to my experience of creating the previous 180cm square I decided to push against the boundaries of both the current work space that I am allocated and the canvas making workshop by increasing the size of my next canvas to 240cm. This proved to be a challenge to make the canvas frame, stretch the canvas and to finally paint it. Stretching the canvas was never entirely successful, although I was able to achieve enough tension for the painting to be workable.

Large Untitled #2 (2012)
240cm x 240cm
Pastel, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

CoBrA

The CoBrA group were a group of artists (founded in 1948 in Paris) that wanted to break away from the current expectations of art in Paris. CoBrA stands for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, the cities from which the artists in the group came from. These artists aim to create works spontaneously, which is largely the theory behind my own work. I attempt to create works from the emotions I  am experiencing in the moment of painting and in turn hope reflect myself through my choice of mediums. I do this instead of creating from preconceived notions or content.

An great example of a CoBrA artist that has influenced me is Asger Jorn. He utilizes a varied range of contrasting colours which is what I have been trying to achieve in my most recent work, in addition to creating a tactile surface to the painting with bold brush strokes.

Asger Jorn
Untitled (1945)
175cm x 121cm
Oil on Canvas

Large Untitled #1

This Painting is the first in a series of large paintings combining the use of both acrylic and oil paint over a base of pastel. This was in an attempt to move away from previous works, introducing a larger range of colours and tones. Up until this point I had refused to work on canvas, preferring instead to construct large boards.

Large Untitled  #1 (2012)
180cm x 180cm
Pastel, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas