Painting

This is a new painting I’ve completed (I think) in the last few days. I wanted to post it at the end of what has been a productive month in the studio, with the beginnings of some new edgelands inspired work such as this, and the new drawings.

In case you are wondering what this unusual image represents, it’s a group of parked HGV lorries reflected in the canal at night. The painting has been developed from a recent photograph, and I was attracted to the image’s formal, abstract arrangement. It reminded me of earlier Modernist paintings such as those by William Scott, or some of the St Ives painters. Only grittier. The canal, not the sea.

It was also painted differently, built up and rubbed back down to an underpainted bright red ground, which is something I’ve not done in a long time, preferring to work from white up. Making the pastels on coloured paper grounds lead me to try this, and I’ve really enjoyed rubbing back the paint to reveal the red, as much as applying the paint itself. It gives the painting a deeper lustre and depth, although that’s not that apparent in this photograph. It’s good not to cling too tightly to habits of working…