Lab Book #26: Freezing Solution (Paper Thin)

As promised, here is Lab Book #26: Freezing Solution, with the subtitle Paper Thin. The doodles for this painting were mostly from the 26th lab book, its a hard-topped chemistry notebook that I used mostly for meetings and recording results from students or my own research. And of course I can not resist doodling in the margins and any open spaces on the pages. In the past, I tried to copy every single doodle into the paintings, but in this case I took a subtly different approach. Looking through the whole note book I marked some of the more developed doodles that had good ideas, then grouped them together in my art sketchbook to get a general idea of the composition. Thus, each quadrant, and the center of the painting, each contain one major doodle element. That allowed me to fill the open spaces with a few smaller doodles and with freestyle doodles. The freestyle doodles were just made on the spot, for example in the top left I used the same technique as in the Trinidad and Tobago faux bill painting. By using freestyle doodles in the filler, I could better connect the elements and complement the main focal points. 

The other decision here was the choice of paint and colour scheme. I went with a simple carbon black pigment (PBk6) all the way, using mostly a number 2 brush, that is a very small brush, like the tine on a fork, or a couple of toothpicks wide for example. A number 6 helped fill some areas. As I painted, it became clear that the drawing and the value contrasts were fantastic with the carbon black, it creates a nice soft grey where needed, and with brush work I created strong textural variations throughout. So in the end I made the veteran move of leaving it black and white.
 

The last thing to mention is the subject matter. I made these doodles mostly last year when my laboratory budget was down in the dumps and we were struggling to pay for the research. Luckily as I mentioned earlier, that problem is more than solved now, but the doodles were still from that time that had a mixture of optimism (happy results), and despair (empty fund accounts). The character on the left is meant to me, although the face turned out looking a lot like my oldest nephew, and the character is paper thin (spread too thin). In my jacket pocket a siphon is draining cash, and a flame is blazing away under my crotch! Over top a frozen fish is melting, which creates drops, which look like tears, which merge with the flames. Hence the title 'Frezing solution'. If your accounts are frozen, work your butt off. But the best part of the painting is the donut really. I will post some crops below. 

Lab Book #26: Freezing Solution (Paper Thin), watercolour 22 x 30" cold press, April 2025

 

 crop 1 in the top left, my B.Sc. Bachelor's of Science, and Ph.D doctorate of philosophy (in Immunology) are seen, with my office window to their right. The melting fish, and a computer monitor that says no more email, with a picture of email being crossed out. The background is similar to the Trinidad and Tobago painting style but in black and white.

 crop 2 in the bottom right, a microscope is magnifying a sample slide, in fact, there are happy faces on the slide you just needed a microscope to see them! The background contain flying papers (an academic's worst nightmare, or, how you grade term papers in a rush). Abstract patterns complement the scene. The composition invites the viewer in to see what I am drawing.

 

crop 3 finally the real star of the show, the Homer's donut, inspired by the new restaurant here that was inspired by the TV show. Even though the donut is black and white, you know that the icing is pink, and the sprinkles are all different colours. The rest of the scene contains an illusion of sorts. The light is illuminating a vase of flowers in the photo, but not the vase of flowers in real life... try not to look too much at the table legs, it might hurt your brain.