Lost in a Mall

While in Lyon over the x-mas break I visited a cathedral and was impressed with the stained glass window at the back, a large round window with pale primary colours. I tried to reproduce that sensation in this painting, which depicts an abstract catherdral with dark gloomy corners juxtaposed with splashy waves of colour and light from the stained glass window. A dull red glow illuminates the foreground. Tapestries hang and creatures lurk throughout the building. The title 'lost in a mall' was written in one of the doodles, and I thought the message could be that religion is lost in the modern trappings (of a shopping mall) or something like that...

There is not much difference in the method of this painting compared to the other doodle paintings. I am still considering whether or not this one belongs formally in the 'Lab Book series', it certainly fits with the existing works from a technical and thematic standpoint....you can almost imagine that this painting is the interior view of 'Spank's Fantastic Cathedral' lab book #6. However, I think of the lab book series as a continuum of paintings, and 'Lost in a Mall' does not contribute to the evolution of ideas, rather it goes back and celebrates the style itself without demanding a change. And so I reserve the lab book title for a painting that will continue the evolution of the style rather that simply utilize the style. Whatever the case this is certainly an amazing piece, I have spent a long time just looking at the final work and enjoying it's energy and continual surprises no matter what I call it.

22x30" cold press 2009

Squid Thing

For lack of a better name I though 'Squid Thing' best described this painting. The drawing came out of lab note doodles, and I adapted it a little to make it look organic and alive. The structure is also reminiscent of a 'lymph node' the structure in your body that accumulates immune cells.

The colour scheme on this painting is a classic 'triad' which is when you choose three colours that are spaced equally on a colour wheel. Cool yellow, warm orange and warm purple make up the triad, with accents of pale greens and blue-grey. I also added a deep blue/green in the background to provide some contrast for the purple parts in the corners of the picture.

11 x 7.5" cold press 2009

Life of an Onion

Shortly after returning from Dominican Republic I began another doodleism style painting inspired by the colours of the Caribbean sea and white sand. The painting 'Life of an Onion' ended up looking like a beach, if you squint your eyes (or stand back when viewing the original) it does kind of look like a beach. As I painted it, I was intentionally trying not to make the scene into anything (usually the dooleism style calls for some sort of object or landscape in the finished work). In that sense the work does not fit well with the 'Lab Book' series and so I did not call this a lab book painting, even though I used my lab notes for the drawings.

The composition of this painting contains several 'layers', by which I mean like layers of a cake that you see when you cut a slice. The layers each contain similar colours; the bottom layer containing pinkish sand, the layer just above with topaz greens, then a layer of deeper blues and finally a sky-cloud effect at the top. It was important to make sure that these layers were distinct from each other but at the same time integrated. As you can see from the work (click to zoom) the layers are not really distinct, but fit together like puzzle pieces. It is very important that the layers of the work overlap a bit, otherwise the composition becomes dull and distracting. Such compositional layers occur often in landscapes with the sky, or with roads and lawns at the bottom. Make sure that if you have a layer in your composition that there is some kind of connecting element that overlaps the other layers. For example, put a tree that begins at the bottom of the picture and ends by overlapping on the sky, and in this way the whole composition will tie nicely together.

22x30" cold press, 2009

Green House, Barbados

What else could I call this painting besides Green House? The variety of greens drew me to this scene, the roof was a moldy orangy-green, the walls cool mint, the trees a brown-green an the bushes in the front were a warm yellow-green. Right in the middle of the painting there is a small eave, which had a bright 'x-mas' green as well, which really stands out.

Green in nature is never pure, it is always filled with reds, browns and yellows. Some manufactured greens come already pre mixed...sap green has a warm brown tonw similar to the colour you see in the roof of the house or the pine tree in the background. Viridian green (or windsor ) greens are nearly as pure as it gets although they tend to have some deep blue tinting. Emerald green is an opaque (cloudy) cool mint, I used it for the walls of the house. You can try using the green from the tube without mixing, but it will likely look kind of artificial. I like to mix in some orange (rose madder with lemon yellow) or brown (burnt sienna) to keep it looking real.

7x11" cold press, 2002

Fledgeling

While writing about the process of painting I thought about 'Fledgeling', a surrealistic painting I did last year purely from inspiration. The painting started as a blank paper as all paintings do, and I just sort of let the brush do all the work. In the finished work a fledgeling bird stands on a rocky outcrop trying to flap it's tiny wings. In the distance a storm horizon and rough looking terrain awaits. I particularly love the way the colours in the sky came out, the contrasting red and greens make the clouds really alive and electric.

When I say the brush did all the work, of course it is not true; I have many brushes lying around my painting table and they never get up and do a painting on their own. The idea is that I do a kind of 'free association'....I knew this term from a form of creative writing where you simply let the words flow out without restraint. The difference between painting (watercolour in particular) and writing is that you can always go back and change your words on a word processor, but you sure can't change the painting very much! I suppose I developed the 'free association' painting method by doodling during my seemingly endless schooling in highschool and university (and now in frequent meetings). At any rate, the method is not for everyone, many artists prefer to think and plan alot, although I always felt that too much logicical thinking puts the creative part of your brain to sleep. Degas the great French painter claims to have painted purely from logical planning and not from creativity, and the results are certainly fantastic, so it all just depends on what type of artists you are.

5x11" cold press, 2008

Cross the Road

Often I will combine landscape with abstract to create surrealism effects. In this example I used imagery from the route I used to walk to school at the university of Western in Ontario, the tunnel in the foreground went under the busy road. In the distance you will see the hospital on the left and some gnarly trees on the right, and in between the other side of the tunnel emerging from under the street. Near the tunnel exit a person stands (waiting?). The man in the foreground is supposed to be carrying a bible. Although I rarely use religious themes, in this work I was trying to convey a sense of passage into the next life, perhaps death but also a transition.

I'll say a few words about the process I use to create abstract artwork, although there is no one set way that I do it. I generally do very little planning beforehand. Many artists extensively plan their works with preliminary drawings and first drafts, however I have never been able to do this because the initial excitement of the idea tends to fade if I spend hours or days planning a work. However, I often try to work out the general ideas in my head before commencing. In 'Cross the Road' I knew that I wanted to paint this particular scene and I did so in my apartment from memory. The concept of the death theme only came out during the painting; I added the person waiting (the already dead) and the person walking (the dying) and the priest (the living). I also invented the colour scheme as I went, which is quite outrageous but at the time I was going for a hippie-like colour effect. I also thought the funny colours would enhance the dream-like quality. So most of the major decisions happen before I start, but I remain flexible and develop the work as I paint, following the 'lifeforce' of the work as it develops, almost on its own.

14x11" hot press. 2002

Drawer Man

Here is a person made from drawers; the drawers are open, allowing the personal contents to spill out. The person's hands are tied behind their back, suggesting that they are not responsible for opening the drawers. In the top right of the picture a colourful star enters, possible representing a new idea?

The colour scheme in this work is quite complex- it combines olive tones with burnt-reds and primary hues in the background. The rich browns of the wooden drawers provide a foil for the brighter colours of his clothes. I seldom talk about the nuts-and-bolts of how to paint....so today I'll talk a bit about water. I use two containers of water, both mason jars, one medium (about 500mL) the other large (about 750mL). I use the large jar to take the colours off the brush, and then use the small jar to load clean water on the brush. It is important that the small jar contain clean water, change it once every hour or so if you are painting a lot, or just before you start. Keep both jars clean if you can, making sure the bottom is cleaned becuase the paint always settles to the bottom leaving chunky debris that can get into your brush, and also the paint can get fungusy if left in dirty water too long (weeks). I have a 8 inch (25cm) hogs-hair brish to help clean the bottom of the jars. Don't use your kitchen scrub pad because the paint is often toxic depending on the colour.

14x11" hot press 2002

Colour Slides

Here is an abstract painting done while I was staying in London Ontario in the basement apartment. The scene is a kind of fusion between abstract and landscape, I guess it would be best to call it a surrealism painting. It is reminiscent of Dali's melting clocks, although in this case the colour slides do not really look like much, to me they seem like sheets of music without any notes.

The technique for this one was fairly complex, there is a background scene of a forest painted in first, and then the colourful spots of the colour slides, which were done wet in wet. After the paint dried, I overlaid thick red border of the slide, and finsiehd with chinese black ink on top of the watercolour. I was in a phase of using chinese black ink at the time, the first use was in one of my personal favorites 'Birdman'. To hold the ink I do the painting on a thick mat board which is quite absorbant as well.

11x14" mat board, 2003 watercolour and chinese ink