Painting Performance: What I have taken from the Tutorials.

Although my work hasn’t particularly been reflecting of abstract-expressionistic work, or that of Performance art, André’s tutorials have most definitely made me think about my application of paint. The way I apply paint, and the visceral nature of paint has allowed me to change my mark making techniques in order to allow me to create the tactile qualities I am looking for in my work. I am more focused on what materials can do to a painting, such as applying products such as soil or flour, in which I brought forward to our performance to play with the nature of thick, natural paints as opposed to fluid, running paint on the other side of the performance, and looking at how these would harmonise in the work. I also think different mark making techniques will be vital to the work in future, using different materials such as sticks, rags or even windscreen wipers to create different textures in my own work.

I also think it as guided me in my sculptural work as well as my paintings. I have started to look at expressing a portrait through touch and feeling the figure as opposed to photographical work or life drawing. I think that this touching o the face and the process that goes into the sculptures can be somewhat a performance within its own right, and the sculpture being a product of the performance afterwards.

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Life Drawing Studies

As a Draughtsman I find that life drawing is an important practice in order to sketch, as it allows you to train your eye, but also play with regards to mark making and even abstracting work. I think it is a necessary part of being an artist, and even after a few lessons your use of line can change significantly.

In these studies I have not only practiced my use of line, but also tried to emulate Cezanne’s mark making techniques and the way he would paint – whether it was a full portrait or a lightly painted landscape study.

 

Travelling sketch pad

Over the past couple of days I have been very fortunate to visit Pembrokeshire caravanning, whilst also returning back to Aberdare. This has created plenty of opportunities to incorporate coastal views, architecture and terrain landscape into my sketch pad . I have been inspired by the landscape paintings of Peter Prendergast and Kyffin Williams whilst on my walks, and hope to reflect their use of paint into my own studies.

Cézanne’s unfinished landscape sketches are also something I’m keeping a close eye on with regards to my own work, as he gives the viewer only the necessary bits of information on the page; with a simplistic line stretches across the page suggesting a mountain, or a wash of green almost scribbled and sketched to give an idea of foliage. These are things I have to consider when creating my own landscape compositions.

Dog Drawings, 5 seconds

Dog drawings, 5 seconds

Subject: Paul Cézanne

I’ve decided to open up the Subject course by looking at the works of Claude Cézanne and his selected works exhibited in the Cardiff National Museum and Gallery. I haven’t decided upon a specific painting as of yet, due to the fact I am interested in the mark making techniques that came into development in Cézanne’s paintings through the changes of Impressionism that came into place during his lifetime, the prior works that inspired him and how this effected works in more recent years.

Approaching this from a painter’s and draughtsman’s view, I intend on beginning with preliminary studies and sketches through a travelling sketch pad, interpreting still life, landscape drawings and the bodily form in my own style, and in relation to Cézanne’s own works.

His use of line and perspective is often exaggeurated and sometimes unrealistic, this combined with thick, impasto brushrtokes allows for depth into the work. I have been trying to emulate this in my own work, using brighter layerings of colour to leave an impression on my paper. This has been noticeable in my sketchbook works, where I been more conservative of my use of line and colour such as how Cezanne does in his loose, unfinished sketchbook studies.