Science vs. Art

On the topic of balancing art and science, I found this painting, done in 1995 in the basement of the PaperBirch Street house that I was living in for that year, which shows you how I felt about the situation at the time. There are two creepy ghouls facing off against each other, but they are at the same time connected at the waist. Intertwined is a candle, burning at both ends. It is interesting as I make these posts to compare how my style, and ideas have changed over a decade. In escape route (yesterdays post) the colours are lighter in spirit, and the concept of balancing art and science is much less conflict than seen in 'Art vs Science'. Maybe in another decade I should try another version. Also of note, I think this was the first surrealism I ever did. In 'Art vs. Science' I was experimenting with a technique called glazing. The black colour you see in the background is actually three layers of unmixed paint, red, green, an blue. The layers were very bright, and were applied one at a time allowing time to dry. When finished, the colours optically mix, creating the nearly black appearance. The characters were created in a similar way, although by layering orange and green. The bright highlights were created by lifting the dark colours off with a clean damp brush. To allow all that complicated stuff I used a 300 lb press paper which is a really thick paper that does not buckle much, and can hold a lot of paint on its surface.

 Science vs. Art, watercolour 5 x 8" 300lb cold press, 1995 (No. 1686)