A JOURNEY WITH NO DESTINATION

In life we look for security, stability, routine, the hope we don’t get lost when travelling. All of this gives us some comfort but it can make life seem very dull.
Painting offers an antidote to this. There is no destination. Chance and accident are welcomed. A well formulated plan can be quickly discarded when the painting offers us a better and unforeseen outcome.
In many ways painting is beguiling, it offers us a journey into the unknown, you only need the willingness to follow.

Landscape. Day 1

A SEISMIC SHIFT

This painting looks like an unlikely collaboration between Grant Wood and Kenny Scharf. I like this balance between realism and simplification. I would not use the word ‘cartoon’ although some of the shapes in this painting almost have that aspect.

What is interesting is that despite a cartoon like appearance there is a serious attempt to depict space and structure. I find this approach to landscape far more interesting than my earlier more conventional interpretations. I think I would have lost interest very quickly.

Anyway, this painting is finished.

The ploughed field

NO TIME FOR PROCRASTINATION

It’s not every day that I go straight to the studio after breakfast. Normally I can fill an hour with unnecessary and meaningless tasks.
I am finding the chaos and haphazardness of the landscape still finds a subtle balance with the landscape. Even though mans shaping of the landscape looks random it still follows the contours and undulations of the land. That is what I have been trying to work on this morning. I think the underlying structure of the landscape is becoming more apparent.

The ploughed field. Day 4

CRUDELY PLOUGHED

Apologies for the tabloid styled headline .
The aim of the day was to establish the ploughed field. Not following the delicately scored lines that exist but to create a crude ‘expressionist’ response to the landscape. I wanted the same energy and approach to finding shapes that I have used in the rest of the painting.
I quite like this cartoon like interpretation of ‘ a ploughed field’. It’s almost there in terms of a final state.

This painting appears wildly out of control and I like the appearance of this mad chaos. It does reflect how the landscape has been haphazardly carved up.

The ploughed field. Day 3

A LESSON NEVER LEARNED

Haven’t I covered this subject before? Yes I have.
I allow my critical thoughts to get in the way of just doing the work. And guess what, if you just do the work the painting will improve! It’s such a simple lesson, why do I struggle with it?
It’s a failing that we are all familiar with and I am consciously trying to minimise it.
Anyway, to the painting, it has improved!. I am liking some of the eccentric shapes that are appearing such as the snake of trees in the middle distance. Intriguingly, these shapes exist in the landscape and I want to emphasise this.

The ploughed field. Day 2

THE PLOUGHED FIELD

I really like these extended elevated views. The way man has shaped the landscape looks quite chaotic and not managed at all. The shapes of the fields and clumps of trees are quite random and curious. They seem to have been constructed by a mad man with a sense of humour. In this painting I am hoping to emphasize this haphazard ‘country planning’. I am liking the painting already, it reminds me of early Miro for some reason.

The ploughed field. Day 1

FINISHED

I may do some very minor adjustments but this painting is finished.

Tapestry, Northumberland.

THE EMERGENCE OF LANDSCAPE

The painting is no longer a tapestry. The trees have given clarity scale and space to the landscape.
I really like the character of this particular area. I like the way the landscape appears manicured with its little groups of trees. Their shapes suggest random decisions designed to amuse. I may focus on these in a future painting.
This painting is almost finished.

Tapestry, Northumberland. Day 4

SOME SMALL GAINS

The painting is still in a rough state. The aim today was to work on defining the space and structure of the landscape. The acid green has been reduced which I think has improved things a little. My doubts as to whether the painting will remain abstract have been answered. The trees will appear in a subtle way, the painting is so small that it has to be this way.

I think the basic structure of the landscape has been found.

Tapestry, Northumberland. Day 3

AN INVITATION TO ABSTRACTION

This is an unexpected development. At the moment this painting would qualify as an abstract. I had no intention of going in this direction but it already has enough of the elements I am interested in to make me stop and think. I will let the painting guide me as to how it will eventually be finished.

My belief is that the strongest connection between the viewer and the painting is made when the viewer can identify objects within the painting and then understand them against their own idea of ‘reality’. It is that duality between the object and how it is depicted that holds the fascination and there needs to be enough ‘realism’ in the depiction to create this tension.

Only time will tell what these landscapes may look like in the future.

Tapestry, Northumberland. Day 2

TAPESTRY

Tapestry is the first thing that springs to mind in terms of a title. The landscape looks like a patchwork of random shapes thrown together. If I was an uncompromising artist I would see this painting sized in metres rather than centimetres and the style would be a delicate coming together of Bruegel and Rothko. Painted in a slow contemplative manner, it would be a decorative colour field painting. Maybe one for the future.

Tapestry, Northumberland. Day 1

ENOUGH

This painting seems like it has been packed with information and yet it contains only a fraction of what I was looking at. I have tried to simplify the composition so that the rhythms and undulations of the landscape take precedent. For me it works, the essential elements are in place and it makes sense spatially. I think this is the starting point for future paintings. The painting is finished.

Across a valley, Northumberland. Finished.

PASTEL ARCADIA

I have put this title up as a warning to myself not to stray too far away from the subject matter. I don’t want my landscapes looking like they are made out of pink candy floss. These current paintings are an abstracted and idealised interpretation of the actual landscape but I want there to be a tautness about them. By that I mean that the essential topography is maintained, along with the connected rhythms and tensions within the landscape.

I am pleased with the way this is progressing, this is the closest I have got to the type of landscapes I am trying to make.

Across a valley, Northumberland. Day 4.

MUST TRY HARDER

That is the first thought that springs to mind and its in disappointing contrast to the last entry. Its the getting started that I find the hardest and I never learn my lesson. All I need to do is to sit down and start mixing colour, as soon as I do that I am back in the zone. Luckily I realize that these new landscapes are a worthwhile project and hopefully my enthusiasm will gather momentum as the world drags itself out of the current gloom.

A half hearted dabble this afternoon turned into a productive few hours which has moved the painting forward.

Across a valley, Northumberland. Day 3.

A MEDITATION

It’s almost as if I was stood at the top of the hill watching the fog clear. This is a meditation in the art of painting. It’s a slow concentrated process and the painting slowly reveals itself. This has been an enjoyable, relaxed morning in the studio, the kind of morning that Matisse would have enjoyed.

Across a valley, Northumberland. Day 2

ACROSS A VALLEY, NORTHUMBERLAND

This is going to be a slightly different painting. Looking out across a valley, higher up and I’ve also tipped up the perspective. Its almost an aerial shot. You can see the rhythms in the landscape and how lines are connected across the picture plane in every direction. Its almost like looking at a skeleton, or the bones of the landscape.

Across a valley, Northumberland. Day 1

FINISHED

Not so gloomy? I have just stayed the right side of it. I think this painting is more successful than the previous one in that I have captured the sense of place and atmosphere that I felt when I was there. This ‘sentimental’ attachment is important in landscape painting as it conveys to the viewer the particular character and feel of the place. Everything has been highly simplified and a lot of detail has been emptied out and yet there is still enough left in the painting to make it work. I am finding this editing process quite revealing about the paintings I am trying to make. The painting is now finished.

A gloomy April, Northumberland. Finished

TOWARDS NATURALISM

There was a decision to be made, keep the yellow tree or move more towards naturalism. The yellow tree is now grey, as in the real landscape. I think that’s the direction I want to head in, and actually the painting looks slightly better for it. I think I’ve pushed the gloomy theme as far as I want to, anymore and it will start looking bleak and cold.

A gloomy April, Northumberland. Day 3.

TONAL MODULATIONS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Painting can be a form of meditation when things are going well.

There are some photos of Rothko sat in his studio contemplating a painting. I always imagined this inactivity would stretch across days of drowsing, sleep deprivation and hunger.

My day has been slightly more productive but I believe the success of these paintings partly rests with careful consideration of tonal modulations to capture the feeling of the place.

I need to understand the particularity of light and how it shifts across the landscape. Not easy when painting from photos, that’s a potential dilemma that may need to be solved.

More effort required? This afternoon has not been wasted, the painting is progressing nicely. I have decided on a title change. I am becoming more interested in capturing the particularity of place and weather, and so my titles should reflect this.

A gloomy April, Northumberland. Day 2

WIND BLASTED HILL

Unsure of the titles but more sure of what I am trying to do which is the important thing. The side of the hill in the foreground is in a striking light, hopefully this will become more apparent as the painting progresses. I took these photos on a cold gloomy day and I wasn’t sure what kind of paintings these would lead to. However it seems to suit the bleak and desolate landscape.

I think I am going to have a bright yellow tree! My friends advice on the previous painting is turning into a theme, and it is working in the paintings, more importantly.

Wind blasted hill. Day 1