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14. Hanging, Meaning & Evaluating

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(6/6/23) Today I decided the definite sequence of the three paintings I have selected for my FMP. I also decided the method I would be using to hang my paintings up too.  I previously had a few ideas on how to hang these free sheets of painted calico as I was working on the paintings, one was to attach planks of wood to the top and bottom and let them hand from nails in the wall, but that would have impacted the surface of the painting. But as I had had peer feedback consistently saying people liked the free flowing sheet and to make an effort not to constrain the free quality of the paintings by making the waves and curled edges straight. So I thought if hammering metal rings through each corner in order to string them up on the walls / boards, but I didn’t like the idea of hammering holes in the paintings so I managed to source some Brass effect Upholstery Tacks with nice rounded heads on them to pin each corner of the painting to the wool boards they hang on. These tacks are highly
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13. Collection Selection

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(25/5/23) This post is updating that I have managed to make a selection of a collection of paintings for my FMP show. In total in the process of creating my final major project I created 5 paintings, but I have selected only 3 to be included in my final collection. First I will include an honourable mention section with pictres of the paintings that didn’t make the Final Cut, this is below.  The above painting didn’t make the cut because I just didn’t find a tile to complete it and it felt like it had a seperate energy to the rest of the paintings, this was due in part because I applied the paint with my fingers and there is a pure abstraction to it as it is not attempting to depict anything other than gesural brush strokes and finger painted sections which give the painting a kenetic movement. I do really enjoy this painting and how thickly the paint is applied but it just didn’t have what it took to be included in the show as it was too different and on its own from the rest of the p
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12. Even More Additions

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(16/5/23) Today I have a strong feeling that I managed to finish the painting I have been working on for the last few weeks. I will use the term finished loosely as there is always the chance that something will need fixing or adjusting later.  I started today by filling in the head with some of the same Cy Twombly inspired energetic scribbles and marks that I have used in other places in this painting. (Cy Twombly example below) I used varying shades of yellow pastel and oil Pastel and then some pink oil pastel on the right side that act as a sort of shading as the yellow graduates into itself. After the pink I smeared some rose pink oil paint on the side as a second layer of pink half covering the pink oil pastel. I enjoy how all of these colours collide on the head and give it more form and depth.  After that I decided to add a splattered and brush smeared line of black emulsion paint where the eyes should be on the head as an implication of hiding and not wanting to see or face up
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11. More Additions

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(11/5/23)  Today I managed to make some more progress with the  painting of the contorted body / skeleton. I decided to use a really nice yellow emulsion paint of the bottom portion fo the painting and this puts the figure in a space as the background is split between grey and yellow which is broken up by the pink colour of the body and white of the bones. I decided to paint over the scribble marks I had made last week because you are still able to see them through the yellow and this adds a nice layer and still keeps the energy of them Cy Twombly inspired marks. I then began to fill in the body in between the ribs with a darker pink colir to imply intestines or the innards of a body by painting different shades of pink in and mixing them. I really love this technique as it mixes many different shades of the same colour and this in itself look’s interesting but the oul paint I have used texturally looks fantastic especially when you can see mixes of paint. It almost appears as a sort o
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10. Additions

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(9/5/23) A quick update to the painting I had started last week. I got a small segment of time to be able to make at least a bit of progress to the new painting I started so I outlined the rib cage bones with a mustard yellow pastel and then in areas did a slight line of pink with a pink oil pastel. This was an attempt to accentuate the shape of the bones, which I think has worked quite well as it gives the bones a definite shape and the contrast of the yellow against the white pops and works very well. I enjoy how rough and naive the outline is, this injects energy to the work and allows it to not be tied to any real life idea of what bones or the structure of a body is, as I am very much not chasing a photorealistic or anatomically correct representation of a body or bones. After that I added what you could call the flesh or the body to the painting on the form of s light blush pink emulsion paint, this colour works well in contrast with the white and yellow that I have already used
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9. A New Painting

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(4/5/23) Today I began work on a new painting. I had been feeling like I needed to make a fresh start on something rather than stagnating on work I have already got to a point that I feel is near completion, if not already complete. At a certain point in a painting I find myself nit picking and aimlessly tinkering on a painting that ultimately provides no progress. Usually I like to be working on at least 2 or 3 paintings at a time to allow myself breathing space for each ine and a different headspace for each piece. This allows me to not get overloaded and frustrated with one piece and frees me up to move onto another work in progress if I get creatively stumped with one of the 2 or 3. This new start will hopefully provide me with a wealth of inspiration as I am working on a slightly larger surface with it being roughly twice as long as the metre square sheets I usually work on and this being more of a rectangle shape. Also the calico I purchased is much thicker (about 3 times thicker
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8. Addition to self portrait & more

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(18/4/23) Today I had the intention of adding to the self portrait I started at home in the past weeks. I wanted to add more elements to the face to make it seem more interesting and add depth to the painting through adding more detail to the features I had up until this point just done outlines for. I got to work by hanging the piece up at my work station so I could have a good look at it and have time to properly consider my next steps with the painting. I found that an area I am drawn to in this piece is the lips so I began to paint the lips a rose pink colour with oil paint and then some highlights with white to add dimensions to it and then some darker red for the middle parting to inject depth. I really enjoyed how the lips turned out because they aren’t totally realistic but they teeter on the edge of real and unreal but also playing with illusion of detail as when you get closer you see it is not as realistic as you may see furthur away.  Next I set to work if the facial hair p
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