Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Transitioning - Painting is for the birds...getting the "flock" out!

Summer is vanishing quickly despite my efforts to prolong it through artificial means...

... there is profuse time to think... and I take this opportunity to learn more about a very successful and engaging Quebec artist by the name of Marc Séguin. I went to see some of his paintings yesterday and plan to see the movie about him tonight. I'm looking for inspiration in the area of strengthening the artistic mind and producing art that engages people in a dramatic fashion...

I've been wanting for a while to go back to raw canvas (I have yards of it left after having produced a couple of paintings) and, coincidentally, Séguin is currently using raw canvas from what I can see. Technically speaking, it's been interesting to see his use of black and grey, in particular, the various shades of grey that he obtains - through the use of oils, fusain and ashes- which almost rival those from Chinese black ink. This is for me just an eye opener in terms of the use of staining techniques that are only possible with raw canvas.

Two thing come to mind in terms of future technical exploration:
  • The production of black and white images with partial coloration to create drama (I've been toying with this idea since 2007, but did not have the technical knowledge to make things happen)
  • The deconstruction of realistic images to create an aura of mystery
While I let these ideas simmer, I want to start 2 series: one depicting "wall to wall" flocks of birds in abstract fashion (I announced this one last year) and, another one tackling the recent economic recession with a twist of humour. Both series will involve birds (I used to be an animal painter), since I want to see the impact of my recent techniques on this rather conventional and potentially boring subject matter.

Time to go back to canvas by the roll!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Behind women's eyes VI final - Not a new apex in spontaneity and technique... but perhaps a glimpse of hope in the color area!

This one was a bit of a struggle technically...

... but I may have learned something about potential color variation and reflection in the rendering of a face. We'll see. I think the time has come for me to leave this series! The initial excitement is gone... along with the prospect of spontaneous gestures!

Note: I decided to leave this one unfinished to give it an aura of "spontaneity"... this is a 30 X 30 canvas.

Note to self: "May as well quit while I'm barely ahead!"

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Behind women's eyes VI - step II... Forced to paint!

Although this is not a portrait, I wanted to get as close as possible to the original model...


 ... however, this challenge was steeper than I expected (further adjustments are needed). I've been using more paint than usual... a sign of struggle. Yet, I want to persist... in case I learn something and I will!

Note to self: "If I don't nail it right away, then it parts from the real me and becomes something else! Still, there remains the possibility of discovery."

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Behind women's eyes VI - step I... Pushing my luck!

I couldn't resist this dramatic face (thanks to Val my model) before switching to another series...


... this could be my path to contemporary portraiture that's got teeth... or my path to oblivion! Evidently, I'm not taking myself too seriously with this series. In a way, I'm trying to lay the foundation for more abstract patterns within the confines of the human face and the body. So far, I've created a feeling of solidity with my use of darks and high contrasts. In the future, I'd like to toggle between blurriness/elusiveness and solidity within the same painting...

Note: I had to revisit my first attempt realizing that working in a narrow studio has its limitations. I required several attempts in the kitchen to duplicate the general proportions of the face in my reference photo. I don't seem to have this problem as much while sketching (the drawing is the same size as what I see)...

Note to self: "The face at an angle is definitely a challenge for me... measuring may be unavoidable since my eye is always 1/4-1/2 " off  with larger formats... and this can be a killer in portraiture!"

Subnote to self: "The way I went about this one was like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole... something I don't want to repeat!"

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Behind women's eyes V final - Still trying to achieve a balance between the finished and the unfinished!

I'm still experimenting with paint application...

... ultimately, I'd like to leave every brush mark alone "sans repentir" and this seems a little easier with the palette knife. With the last few paintings, I've made some inroads... I just need to keep building my confidence level in the face of higher risk taking in paint application.

Note to self: "I figure any spontaneous mark is a good mark!"

Monday, September 20, 2010

Behind women's eyes V - step III... Still exploring at all levels!

With this one, I wanted to depart from extreme darks...

... I may have to restate them here and there... not much work left I think. I'm really going for my own natural way to paint while trying to avoid the monochromatic look for now...

Note to self: "As I experiment, there are hits and misses everywhere, yet colors seem to fall in place... perhaps because transparent mud is more acceptable than opaque mud!"

Friday, September 17, 2010

Behind women's eyes V - step II... Putting myself in danger!

Following suit with the trend that emanated from my last paintings, I try to establish a foundation of dark values for the reflected lights to come...

... funny thing, I feel like not changing "the complexion" of this first pass on the face too much... a new trend for me! Also, with some reluctance at first (I'm scared of green!), I decide to do away with my usual monochromatic look (even if it's only from a distance) once and for all...

I'm on a trend for expression and a relaxed way of painting... and technique may have to take a back seat for a while! All of a sudden, I want to find out what I have in the guts... where the "true me" lies...

This is a 30 X 30 canvas...

Note to self: "For mud to be acceptable, it must be swirled, not stirred!"

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Behind women's eyes V - step I... a point of irony to finish this series!

With this one in the making, I think I have enough of these "soul" paintings (behind women's eyes) to complement the "body" component (Yoga postures) of my upcoming "body and soul" exhibition in February 2011...

It was only a matter of time before I featured myself in one of these paintings via a discreet cameo appearance "à la Hitchcock" ...

... evidently, this could be considered a new low in conceptual art, i.e., to think that what's behind a woman's eyes is merely a reflection of what's in front of them... how daring (just kidding)!

Note to self: "Successful contemporary artists nowadays use art to make powerful, shocking, borderline acceptable statements about the human condition, war, life and death. As my ability increases (albeit rather slowly), it's becoming tempting to unleash my acidic/cynical sense of humour and graphic capabilities against specific aspects of society and human behaviour that could be considered as suboptimal, ironic or downright hilarious... something to mull over... as a potential side-line besides my normal production."

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Behind women's eyes IV final - Is an art of simplicity installing itself despite myself?

Following the advice from many (including the muse), I finished this painting with very few palette knife strokes to preserve the effects of the initial creative impulse...

...by wanting to use strategic darks as opposed to a fully dark background as foundation for this painting... I inadvertently ended up approaching my watercolor sketching style which favours the use of the Japanese pen brush before the application of colors. Moreover, the use of a more flexible palette knife led me to produce marks very similar to the ones produced by a Chinese brush loaded with black ink. The old adage "rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée" is coming to mind in a bold fashion. In a way, this is the closest I've come so far to a "signature" painting!

As usual, this kind of artistic development forces me to take stock...

This series so far has sent me to all sorts of creative paths (encaustic effects, metallic paint, light over dark, stylized rendering). A very natural and simple way to paint (for me) is slowly taking place after 3 years of heavy duty acrylic painting. I think, I need to embrace it and vanquish the angst associated with leaving certain ways behind! A saving grace, I will remain true to my pivotal painting principles...

Note to self: "I'm as close as I can be to retaining the results from an initial creative impulse. The challenge will be to improve the craftsmanship while remaining true to this principle."

Subnotes to self:"Abiding to broad painting principles is more important than going after a certain look... I want my art to be liberating! Also, it's becoming apparent that the achievement of high contrast right from the outset is key to the retention of the first creative impulse with colors. For now, I still need the foundation of a good underpainting to limit the amount of pussyfooting around when applying colors."

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Behind women's eyes IV - step II... gotta find opportunities for that turquoise!

I seem to be slowly resolving this one one layer at a time...

I've made some timid attempts at the turquoise... I seem to have hangups when attempting to use colors that are too remote from "more acceptable" skin colors. I'm dreaming about painting a face in loose style with the most outrageous colors... but without loosing pure realism... at 30 feet!

I still have some of that gooey encaustic gel left... may as well pour some over this painting while I'm cogitating on how I'm gonna finish it!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Behind women's eyes IV - step I... a busy week with non artistic endeavours...

Last week was a busy week installing the new flooring in the laundry room and assembling a patio heater in an attempt to prolong the fleeting summer season. Assembling a patio heater is somewhat akin to assembling a barbecue... the first ignition is the scary part... particularly if there are screws and bolts left after the assembly!

At any rate, we did manage to make it work... and make a few happy campers in a cool summer night!

I'm lining up my next "face with an attitude"...

... for some reason, this foreshortened face had me dance for a while. Hopefully, the color phase will be easier. I'd like to introduce some turquoise to the palette I've been using so far for the rendering of faces.

The first color pass with primarily the palette knife seemed to have a life of its own...

... my intent was to lay down dark areas first but I got carried away and started testing colors at the early stage. This is a 36 X 36 canvas...

I'm developing a liking for the palette knife, a crude tool that supports a "one stroke at a time" type of formula. I now want to use the brush in the same fashion... thus getting closer to my ultimate objective of the "one stroke" painting!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Behind women's eyes III final... Getting the nack of it!

What came out spontaneously with the previous painting became a little more difficult with this one...

... therefore, some freshness was lost to searching for optimal paint application and color strategies. Nonetheless, there's been some key learnings with regard to the expansion of my recent "light over dark" strategy...

Note: For this one, just for fun, I used a special gel that mimics encaustic... with interesting results that will prompt further investigation on my part...

Note to self: "What the heck, I'm still experimenting!"

Subnote to self: " The larger the format, the better, for what I'm after... loose canvas by the roll is my salvation... otherwise, I'll have enough wood to build a house!"

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Behind women's eyes III - step III... Going the route of color separation, albeit timidly!

I guess my quest for the ultimate technique is not over yet! With this second color pass, it's becoming apparent that I'm trying to go deeper into an area that I've been shying away from...

... i.e., separating colors by not blending them after they've been applied with a sweeping (or mopping) motion from either the brush or the palette knife. Eventually, I would like to go for improbable color combinations. For now, I'm trying to find my way with this new approach (for me), which evolved from the previous paintings... pretty much by accident... or just naturally! In a way, wanting to leave distinct marks on a black background led to wanting to do the same when using colors.

Some adjustments led to this "close to final" version:

Note to self: "Now that I think of it, I should stick to what comes naturally for me when applying paint and go for results as opposed to technique! I think this is the path to my personal style..."

Sub-note to self: "I should stop painting when I start thinking!"