These are some drawings
I’ve been working on this week. I love drawing and the way it allows you to
really explore a subject. For me, the process of making drawings like these,
worked on over some time, where things are erased, repositioned, built up, are very
different to the paintings I make which are executed quickly. Making these
drawings this way allows me to make the paintings that way. These are made from
photographs taken, which I’ve now embraced more as a way to generate ideas and
record reference material. I acknowledge that very little of the work I have
made in the last couple of years could have been made without a camera.
Still, I could never work
straight from a photograph to a painting- I need to explore the image using the
hand and eye, through mark-making, in an attempt to think about the formal
elements more as a way of reaching the essence of the subject or image. I hope
that doesn’t sound too fanciful… I’m hoping to develop these drawings into
paintings in the next week or so.
I also still love being
directly in front of a subject to make observational drawings, and responding
directly to the subject in the moment. This is more akin to how I make my
paintings. It is very exciting and I get a real kick out of it (well, you find
‘em where you can!). These are some i-pad paintings I made in this way on a
recent holiday to Wales.
The light can change so
quickly in front of your eyes that it is a real chase to capture something and
make creative decisions using the digital paint, but the i-pad is a great tool
for this. I was thinking today about the possibilities of exploring some of
landscape under the M5 in the daytime, moving out of the nocturnes.
I was very touched to receive these groovy cufflinks from an A
level Art student, Nilupa, yesterday as a ‘thank you teacher’ gift. It came
with a funny card gently poking fun at the language and terminology I use in
the classroom when I teach.
I’m off to a wedding next week which gives me an
excuse to wear them. All I need now is a shirt.
