UNWELCOME PROJECTS

I am currently being side-tracked by a project that I had been able to shelve for the last 12 months. That is restoring the cast iron gutters on our 250 year old cottage. It was suggested to me that simply scrapping them and replacing them with a plastic alternative was a much quicker and cheaper option. Sensible advice, but that’s an option I often ignore. Now I am involved in the laborious task of paint stripping, priming and re-painting knowing full well that nobody is going to notice or care about the results. Luckily, under those circumstances I carry on regardless. Anyway, back to more serious matters. I am trying to make a shift in my painting. I am not sure where it is going but my feeling is that my subject matter and the treatment of it was getting too familiar. I like the look of this new painting. It struck me that the farmhouse, as big as it is looks vulnerable and is about to be overwhelmed by its surroundings. Taking out the sky compresses the space and gives a sense of the oppressive power of the landscape.

The farmhouse. Day 1

THE LAST 5%

I often wonder whether squeezing the last 5% of goodness out of a picture is worthwhile. Its like panning for gold, sifting through all the mud in search of something shiny and valuable. At the moment its all mud, but like any good prospector, you keep going. Its my belief that sooner or later all this faith will be rewarded, maybe not with nuggets but a few good paintings. Its still a long way off but the journey is getting more interesting and there is enough in this painting to make me think it will be worthwhile.

View across a field

RIGHT FIRST TIME

I don’t know what that feels like anymore. RFT is a mantra I try and apply to everything I do in life. I often achieve this, but not when it comes to painting. It seems to me that one of the key qualities a painter needs is the willingness to fail an infinite number of times whilst at the same time suppressing the desire to destroy what is in front of them out of sheer frustration. I find that if I can paint through the pain barrier then I am usually rewarded with a more interesting and compelling picture on the other side. I think I have just passed this point and it is starting to make more sense as a landscape. I like the flatness of the view and the way the background is tilted up. I wanted to get rid of the sky in this painting as it often seems to me a bit of a ‘filler’ that creates a too familiar format for a landscape painting. I also like the way the far distant acid green hedges seem to float on the red earth, I may push this effect a bit further.

View across a field. Day 5

NOTHING IS ORDINARY

I didn’t give any thought at all to the choice of title for this painting. In fact I started it with no enthusiasm taking hardly any time to choose the view. I thought I should be able to make something of any view. And when you think about it this is very true, to the point of Morandi choosing to paint old clay bottles. What has started with so little promise has turned out to be an extraordinary view, just by looking and eventually properly engaging with the subject. I am trying to be lead by accident in the process of painting. A bit like Francis Bacon, willing to take a more interesting path than merely illustrating a scene, this painting is showing some promise.

View across a field. Day 4

A CHAOTIC SCENE

There is never a stillness in my landscapes, mostly because I never see a stillness in nature. I’m not talking about a windy day, I am talking about the fantastical clash of random shapes that come together to make up a landscape. A lot of the juxtapositions just seem improbable and can make your interpretation of it just as improbable. But that is what I like about the landscape, the things I see are so unexpected. This painting is starting to mirror that and putting them together requires the dexterity of Harry Potter.

View across a field. Day 3

PAINTING IS BACK

I have confirmed to myself once again that it is better to be engaged with something even if it is not a constant source of pleasure than to drift aimlessly through life. I seemed to have suffered a very mild form of artists block lasting two weeks. This is hardly a crisis. I am back on board my stella trajectory with all my delusions fully intact. Better to live the life of a fantasist than a realist, that way there is always hope. In terms of my painting I am still drifting but the fact that I am questioning and persisting with it is a positive.

View across a field. Day 2

2 WEEKS

I was wondering how long I could take off from painting before I was dragged back like the sirens calling the ship towards the rocks. Two weeks was the answer. Painting fulfils a role I have been unable to replace. That role is one of a deep dissatisfaction with something I have been trying to perfect for decades. I suspect nothing will change however long I continue. Its seems to me like I have been given a huge lump of marble to chip away at, and all that has appeared so far is a smaller lump of marble. The title of the painting is vague, and it has not photographed well, its good to be back.

View across a field. Day 1

PAINTING ON INSTINCT

Its nice to know that I can rely on instinct. If a short cut was obvious I would take it. Instead I will have to rely on the drip, drip, drip rate of progress. I can’t really complain, there is no great incentive to working all hours of the day, I can see improvement from year to year, but when it creeps along like this I can’t say I am fired up. I have been trying to unify and simplify the mid and background today to give some areas more clarity. It is progressing nicely, if slowly.

Alwinton. Day 5

A BIT MORE PROGRESS

The picture is beginning to work better, spatially. I find I can only address things such as a ‘unified picture’ when I have covered the entire canvas, its only then that making more subtle adjustments becomes clearer. I like the light that is defining the trees in the foreground and the more saturated colour of the foreground needs to be taken back into the mid ground.

Alwinton. Day 4

EXTRAORDINARY IMAGES

How do you make them?, I am coming to the conclusion that my paintings are too packed. The difficulty with reducing the amount of content in a painting is then the objects left behind have to have the same level of engagement with the viewer. This means they have to be more considered in terms of the shapes, forms and colour. My scatter gun approach needs to be reconsidered, my view is what is there to lose? Despite these concerns this painting is going well.

Alwinton. Day 3

ANCIENT, ODD AND MYSTERIOUS

At least that is how I see the landscape and it is starting to come through in this painting. This particular area of Northumberland has the same aspect that you can see in some twisted and undulating rock formations. It is a landscape that looks oddly scarred, stressed and stretched. I am hoping that this oddness can also come through in the colour choices though at the moment these choices look fairly conventional. Maybe an idea for the future.

Alwinton. Day 2

THE SEARCH CONTINUES

To some extent it doesn’t really matter if I return to the same view time and again. If it was good enough for Cezanne its good enough for me. Its not really about the view anymore its about my approach. I wonder if I am ‘suffering’ from the usual complaint that afflicts all artists, to quote Francis Bacon, ‘Artists are never satisfied with their work, though I believe Henry Moore is’. I don’t know what Bacon had against HM, he never gets a mention in any of the biographies about him. I think this search really has no end and a solution will very slowly evolve in the process. Anyway, happy with this start, I want to make it more about the drawing than the colour, if that makes sense.

Alwinton. Day 1

FINALLY SATISFIED

I was slowing down to a Vermeer level of output but without the expectation of producing a masterpiece. Finally, this painting has justified the effort and faith I have put into it. I really don’t know why I kept returning because I wasn’t sure how to turn it around, I knew I just wasn’t happy with it. I seem to be interested in artists whose work bares little resemblance to my own and my thought is that I am trying to push towards a different approach with my painting. I am not sure how to get there other than to keep working? I think the key is to rely on an accumulation of intuition. The painting is finished.

Cartington, cloudburst.

FLOUNDERING

For some reason I am doggedly returning to this painting. I think its a search for some kind of breakthrough. I don’t think it will be apparent with this painting but these things eventually come out of the woodwork when there is a determination to change. I seem to be rewarded for my effort and belief, the lower half of the painting is much better and I think the painting deserves one more visit. I have been looking at 2 painters, Richard Cartwright and Christopher P Wood. Their approaches are much more imaginative and I find this inventive style quite appealing.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 8

KEEP GOING

There is nothing more disappointing than a picture that falls short of your expectations, especially if it contains areas of decent painting. There was a point with this picture that I could have given up with it and that would have been a bad decision. I can’t believe I am saying this but my painting approach and style has not settled. Isn’t that a good thing? I think its this drive and curiosity to see whats possible that keeps me going. This picture is not quite finished but continuing with it has proved to be the right decision.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 7

NO COMPROMISE

I can’t see the point in abandoning a painting unless there is something fundamentally flawed with the idea. I would rather destroy something in the process of trying to resolve the issues rather than tip toe around the edges. Often you set out to rescue a painting with no real idea of how to do it but just by going at it with conviction some things start to work. I feel this painting is now much better and certainly worth continuing with.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 6

JIGSAW SYNDROME

There was something about this painting that didn’t quite work. Today was meant to be a finishing up with a few minor adjustments. I would call it jigsaw syndrome, thats when the painting has the look of a jigsaw puzzle, when all the fields are like pieces fitting awkwardly together. Its working a bit better, now I just need to maintain the enthusiasm for it so I can go again when I thought it was finished.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 5

I NEED ANOTHER 20 YEARS

I can see that a style is emerging within this picture but its such a slow development. I am happy with what I see but its not where I want to be. There are encouraging points, a seemingly limitless number of landscape options where I live that inspire me and a consistency of painting that I have never experienced before. Nevertheless, when I think of the development of other painters and the volume of work they produced, I am way behind, and will never catch up. I think the foreground has a lot of strength from being more graphic with more tonal contrast. I think this needs carrying back into the middle of the picture.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 4

I COULDN'T DO IT

that is stick to the plan. I thought the initial idea had a lot going for it, a dark and sombre landscape with a dramatic sky and a bit of Caravaggio drama with the brightly lit cornfield. However, I do like a bit of bright colour and the thought of restricting myself to a dark muted palette was just too much to bare. The photo should not be a straight jacket and my curiosity got the better of me and it is producing a lot more of an interesting painting. I am still aiming to give the cornfield its dramatic lighting but I have lifted the rest of the painting as well.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 3

CONTRE-JOUR

Don’t be impressed, my French is so poor that I had to google the spelling as my attempt at it was woefully inadequate. The effect of a strong sun directly in front of me and behind a big bank of clouds is creating quite a powerful image. I am quite happy with the state of the cloud formation but I think I will do a little more work on it. This green mist hanging in the valleys is starting to come through as well. Though I am sure it is green due to some distortion in the photographic process. This is what I like about using photographs, it complements my style, in that things are flattened and distorted and there are often colour shifts. I like the fact that these paintings look artificial, in fact its one of the elements of landscape painting that fascinates me. The more I look at the landscape the more odd it appears with all its random and fantastical shapes.

Cartington, cloudburst. Day 2