Having not painted for far too long and being surrounded in the studio by work created by India, my daughter I wanted to try a little experiment. We discussed about taking a small canvas and creating an abstract piece between us. The rules were that neither was to discuss their thoughts and intentions but to just create and react to each other's developments. When one of us had finished each stage we just left it on the other's side of the studio to see what they would do to it. The actual canvas a cheap one and had a very old, loose, sketchy painting that India had created in her teens of the both of us, one she didn't want to keep, so it seemed the perfect start by covering the canvas.
My turn first...
I just reacted to the material and the feel of the pint, using a large crude brush as well as a small palette knife. I had also uncovered some raw pigments and incorporated these to see how they would blend with the oil paints.
India's turn...
India felt a lot freer creating this and gave her a chance to experiment with colours and the raw pigment. Her usual way of painting is quite controlled and she likes the detail, albeit on a large scale. The larger the better.
'Having drawn and painted my whole life, I went on to graduate Falmouth University with a BA(Hons) Degree in Fine Art in 2017 and have recently relocated to North Norfolk where I grew up. My practice involves capturing the essence of a person within a momentary shot, a fleeting moment in time, I aim to show the interior thought and emotion of a person through a painting. Instinctively, I see skin tones and flesh with rich, exaggerated colours and tones. This inspires me to work with the movement and application of oil paint to create vast intense portraits. I am specifically drawn to pinks, reds and oranges giving the sensation of heat and connoting life. Focusing on the eyes within my work and the power they hold, I create a personal and raw emotional connection between the stripped back subject and the viewer. My aim is to bring an honesty to the subject, not merely a visceral, visual truth, but the entirety of my subject captured in a moment.'
My turn...
I was keen to add some texture and depth to the piece, so along with more paint I also aded a few pieces of other paintings, these were torn off pieces from discarded painting experiments by India that we had kept to use to create other images. I wanted them included but I also wanted them disguised and incorporated which is why I added more paint and then partially covered them with a continuous swirl, something I had been using last year in my three dimensional work and also links to my current area of interest in networks, communication and isolation.
During the process I have been taking smaller cropped images that could be iterated further in another medium.
India's turn...
I wondered how long it would be before India managed to put some form into the image. A face had appeared, loose but recognisable. She had also used charcoal so completely changed the media and with all the other layers and textures it effected the way the charcoal marked the canvas. The way the previous layers were showing through though made it more engaging.
This rather reacted with the paint when I added more colour but then also tried to use rags and take it back with a view to trying to reveal some of the previous layers. In places it worked but in others it turned it a mushy plasticine colour. So I waited for it to dry before blocking off some areas and applying some further colour to hide and reveal.
We could keep going for ever or for maybe a long time yet but I am wondering if it's time to perhaps do one final layer each. Question is who does the last layer?
India and I agreed to do one last layer each and then leave it alone. I left the painting with India who decided to delegate the decision as to what to do to her partner Ryan. This was fine as we had very loose rules as to what we intended to do. If anything it changed things up a bit. Ryan decided to make holes from the reverse and then trickle down some red paint. We did discuss as to how far we would push this little project before the actual painting got destroyed...
I was quite liking the way the orange blocks revealed previous layers and marks but also covered up other parts of the painting. They also seemed to give the painting a structure, maybe it was too orderly but it did allow various aspects to be given their own space. Although India and I never discussed what the other was intending to do to the piece it was at this point that India said she was thinking of covering the whole thing in white gesso, which was one of the options I had considered. So when it was left for me to create potentially the last layer I decided to start by covering the whole thing in white gesso. I then decided to play with it a bit more and start ragging it off in places and to see what effect this created. Below are a selection of details from this last stage. Sometimes the details are something in themselves and are perhaps worthy of isolation of even separate consideration of some further work in their own right.
The finished(?) piece is interesting in itself but I find it more intriguing seeing various, techniques, colours and marks still visible and in some cases enhanced by the layers on top of the original mark. This was only ever meant to be a fun opportunity and a reason for me to pick up a paintbrush, which is something I have needed to do for a while. Really enjoyed the process and the journey, you never know it could end up on a wall somewhere...
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