The End of Colour; Lab Book #9

I recently did a few new lab book paintings, this one, and Lab Book #10 which I will post soon, you can find it on the main website. Lab Book #11 is also in progress back at the studio. The new set of Lab Book paintings, starting with #8, actually come from small note pads I carry around at work. Usually at boring meetings and seminars I do my best doodling. So the number system does not refer to a particular lab book, just a series of paintings. In this edition, 'The End of Colour", a submarine explores the depths of the ocean sharing space with scary and beautiful sea creatures. On the surface there is a colouful sky and rippling waves. The title refers to the fact that at the bottom of the ocean there is not much colour... the artificial lights of the sub reveal what colour there is. The painting was also named as it was because I was running out of paint and did not have certain colours available (virdian green). Viridian green is a very powerful green that looks like emeralds or green lolipop. To replace it, I used combinations of ultramarine blue and lemon or windsor yellow. This combination comes out a little more earthy looking, which suited the overall feel of this painting. I was also missing alizarin crimson, instead using permanent rose...it was used liberally in the sky. Not having the green and red mentioned above, I also could not make black, which again suited the scheme of this painting which was very pastel-like. It is a good idea to paint without one of your favorite colours now and then, you never know what you may learn. cold press paper, 

The End of Colour; Lab Book #9, watercolour 22 x 30", fall 2008 (No. 1998a)

In Touch

This painting was done in the summer (2008) inspired partly by Dali and the melting clocks, and a little bit by the Group of Seven, a Canadian painting group from the early 20th century that focused on painting the Canadian wilderness. I don't suppose the group of seven saw arms in the trees and glass heads in the sky, but perhaps Dali did at times. The deliberate brush strokes loaded with colour (that are seen in the water) are a characteristic of the G of 7 painter Tom Thomson, and also of the impressionist Monet. I try to duplicate their effects with watercolour (they were oil painters). I start with a luminous layer of paint that reflects the tones from the sky, and then overlay with darker colours that come from the dark parts of the sky. 10x11 inch, cold press paper, 

In Touch, watercolour 10 x 11" cold press, 2008 (No. 1406)

Stained Glass Set in a Bearskin Wall

Somewhere along the way I developed a love of painting stained glass. Perhaps the first example was 'Escape Route' where you will find a stained glass window tucked in below all of the machines. Here, the stained glass is set in a wall of fur, with some abstract twisty things in the foreground. There are also floating disks inviting the viewer to walk up to the wall and touch it. The scene depicted in the stained glass was taken from a postcard I got in Barbados I think, it was originally a painting which I stylized in stained glass. To paint stained glass I start by a light outline of where the lines will be. Then I fill in each section with a different colour, careful not to let the colours run together, When fully dry, I overlay a dark colour (alzarian+viridian) on the edges of the colour blocks. It is important to keep the colour values (lightness or darkness) similar, so the window appears illuminated. To finish the illusion, I try to put some reflected colours in the window-sill around the glass. You can see a bit of colour mixed into the grey of the windowsill in this painting. 

 

Stained Glass Set in a Bearskin Wall, 11 x 15", cold press, watercolour 2002 (No. 1749)

Little Blue People

Little blue people, they are out there, looking up at us from the stars, across the universe and into our eyes, controlling our minds...do you get all that from the painting? Some of the little blue people are happy, others look kind of worried, maybe they are small like ants and they are staring at the sole of your shoe as it comes down on them. Why don't they run away? The little blue people were painted first directly on the white paper by making a blob of water with the brush, letting it dry slightly, and then outlining the damp blob with concentrated blue paint (antwerp blue). When it was dry the orange background was put in, and then the that dried and the dark arms, legs and face features were applied. This was done on very thin paper, I was intending to test a technique for a larger work, but decided in the last minute to bring the little blue people to earth.

Little Blue People, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, 2004 (No. 1358)

CTLA-4

This tiny painting was done towards the end of my graduate studies in London Ontario. The painting depicts a metallic butterfly with segmented antenna and a very mechanical background. Where did I get the idea? My graduate project was involving a molecule called "CTLA-4" which is an acronym for something long and complicated. I was studying a phenomenon called 'long chain sugar addition', trying to understand how such a modification affected CTLA-4. Anyways, a colleague of mine had an old frame and wanted me to paint something to fill it in. The butterfly represents CTLA-4, and the antenna represent the sugar additions. How do you paint a small painting? Use little brushes. In fact, I use little brushes all the time, even in 'lab book #7, construction at site 22' which is a gigantic painting. I also hunch over and stare at the painting from a foot away, which is bad for my eyes and back I suppose but I can see the painting really close up. Some artists have even been known to use a microscope (see Chuck Close), but this is a little extreme for me, and I spend enough time at work looking in microscopes. cold press paper, 

CTLA-4, watercolour 3 x 3", 2004 (No. 1928)