Author: Cathy

SUMMARY OF LEARNING – REFLECTION

Overall Reflection

I am excited and passionate about all forms of artistic practice, and completing this Process Into Image brief has been a highlight of my first year at art school.  Richard Serra’s verb list was an accessible way to begin each experiment, and a great reminder of how to take the next step to develop my work.  I constantly reconnected back to these action words when making decisions, providing me with a personal autonomy. 

I have interpreted the Provisional Painting brief appropriately, aiming to make swift marks using and combining selected verbs and images, and trying not to worry too much about the end product.  I understand the finished product of a Provisional painting may not look finished, and reveals preliminary workings, like pencil marks on show. The construction of the painting is not simply a deconstruction of shapes or objects.

During the interpretation of my selected images in Week 2, I understand that I was not meant to replicate the image.  Unfortunately, through obstacles such as a lack of confidence, and a terrible perfectionist streak, I encountered a need to first sketch the whole image in order to remove this from my system.  For me, it was a way to gain knowledge of the positive and negative shapes, the detail and the forms within the background, etc.  After gaining this initial understanding and certainty of the overall composition, I could relax more.  In fact, I enjoyed this deconstruction phase, and gained more confidence to remove, abstract, reduce, enlarge or alter an image. I will continue to improve this skill of automatic mark-making when I use this abstraction process of drawing.

During the last four weeks, I have explored the relationship between my six chosen subject matter images and the brief’s verbs, and then combined them using different processes and media (drawing, painting, video).  I have re-established my love of mark-making, and letting the materials (pencil, charcoal, oil stick, pastel, watercolour and acrylic paint on various supports such as cartridge paper, brown envelope paper, cardboard packaging, canvas and foam) do the work. Enthusiastically generating a number of experimental works immediately after each Tuesday’s main online session, provided me with an energised confidence and an engaged independence to further explore and problem-solve with different materials, different images and verbs.  

Generating interesting work, such as portions of my black and white paint work in Week 1, a few charcoal and pastel sketches in Week 2, and parts of colour painting marks in Week 4, occurred when I didn’t overthink. Most importantly, I have learnt to speed up my mark-making, allowing the movement of my body to drive and direct me through physical action, this has been a joy.  I have learnt to connect to the materials within a limited timeframe.  I am continuously in a reflective mode, and often if I labour over a work I can sometimes lose interest. Yet, by working at a quicker pace, (and in this case… remembering my verbs to keep me on track) and not worrying about the outcome, the engagement process was more fulfilling.

Researching and making personal links to as many artists as I could in the timeframe provided me with new concepts and development of my work.  In particular, researching Gerhard Richter in Week 1 revealed methods and expressionism that impelled me to experiment and develop my own way of working, such as using a length of wood to shift paint.  If I had more time, I would like to develop my experiments by using interesting supports to work on, such as more found objects.  I would also like to open up my drawing and painting compositions, by letting the pencil or charcoal marks be on show, instead of hiding them beneath the medium of paint.  This would encourage me to loosen up my painting style and process, and thus provide me with a new way of working.

Reading Sources

Rubenstein, R. (2009). Provisional Painting: Part 1. Art in America, Accessed October 14, 2021. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/provisional-painting-raphael-rubinstein-62792/

My Final Two Painting Selections

Figure 1. ‘Lily Audrey’ Pencil and Acrylic Paint.
COMBINATION: Combine Verbs & Two Images
Verbs: Soft, Gentle, Brush, Dab, Stroke, Push, Draw and Paint. 1. Image: Man Ray ‘Arum Lilies’ / 2. Image: Audrey Hepburn ‘Sabrina’ Filmgrab

I was inspired to extend my figurative work after a recommendation to view Elizabeth Peyton’s portraiture. In my research (see earlier post) I noticed Peyton’s sensitive, soft rendering of people, and their body position.

After creating quick sketches of Audrey Hepburn (see earlier post) with charcoal, watercolour, biro and pastel, this time I used pencil by drawing her head and shoulders leaning forward amongst abstract lilies. Peyton often paints the top part of the body, so I painted Hepburn’s portrait delicately with a light wash, leaving out the torso and limbs, and leaving some pencil marks showing! 😁 I have learnt that it is okay to reveal pencil marks, and to have large empty negative spaces across the surface plane, as I have done below. Utilising a combination of verbs, plus drawing and painting, pencil and paint, and two inspirational photograph images of lilies and Audrey Hepburn, I am quite pleased how soft and light my portrait has become. 😊 My next step is to have a figure in a gestural brush stroke background.

Figure 2. ‘RED RIVER’ This is a favourite portion from the painting titled ‘Red River’ (see previous post), because it showcases my selection of the brief’s VERBS, and displays intriguing forms such as a dark hole, or a reclining armchair.  I feel some sense of achievement because I see the movement of a red waterfall, and as an extremely kinaesthetic artist, having motion in a still artwork is significant to me. I see the warm and cool colours MIX and MERGE, the shapes CURL and CURVE, and the scallop seashell forms LIFT and SINK with a beautiful spatial 3D effect on the 2D canvas surface. I have learnt to take risks with the paint material, focus on action words, and reduce the size of my sketches.

The large scale Abstract Expressionist artworks by German artist Gerhard Richter (see Artist Research post: Week 1) are enthralling, and his technique of pushing the paint with a squeegee is influential. Aotearoa artist Judy Millar (see Artist Research post), and Grace Wright are also inspirational for their scale, colour, shape and movement qualities.

VIDEO 1: Development of a Process: VERB MARK-MAKING = BLACK & WHITE

https://youtu.be/3AY1Pg7BSjQ

VIDEO 2: Development of a Process: VERB MARK-MAKING = COLOUR

https://youtu.be/gr_8QYCcOmo

LOOKING BACK: How do I choose two?

My First Selection of Favourite Drawings/Paintings.

Figures 1 – 5 (below). I created some of my favourite painterly marks by selecting the verbs: SHIFT, SLIDE, LIFT and PUSH. The Abstract Expressionist artist Gerhard Richter uses a technique of pushing paint with a squeegee. With my own invented tool I made up my own marks (e.g., thin vertical rectangular prism 3D effects, hot mud pool bubbles and criss-cross linear marks). In the past, I have created my own version of Drip and Splatter paintings, so I found it easy to make links to Jackson Pollock, by splattering and flicking paint everywhere! 🤪

Figure 6. ‘Red River’. Acrylic Paint on Canvas. 2021. VERBS: MIX and MERGE, CURL and CURVE, LIFT and SINK.

Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. (below) VERBS: MIX and MERGE, CURL and CURVE, LIFT and SINK.

Figure 10. Development Process of Figure 6. (Close-up). Fortunately I photographed this beautiful mark, 😀 but unfortunately I covered it up under layers of paint. 🤪 Sometimes, in the heat of creating an artwork, it is difficult to know when to conclude, or in this case: how to keep a mark you like.

Figure 14. ‘ Gold Line‘ Arum Lily Abstraction. Pastel and Charcoal. After creating quick charcoal sketches of lily flowers that were inspired by Man Ray’s photograph of Arum lilies, this pastel below was my first during the brief, and my favourite. From this drawing I developed a painting, yet I preferred the simplicity of this pastel’s delicate and soft linear quality above my painted work, which remains unfinished.

Figures 15, 16. My favourite pastels (below) from my selected Fabric inspiration: (Designer Iris van Herpen’s dance costume material). I tried to capture both the fluidity of the material’s movement (the costume shifting as the dancer moved), and the inspirational patterns and colours of blue, purple, pink and gold.

Figure 17. ‘Headless Forest’, Pastel, Ink. 2021.
(Development Process: Renoir Painting to Figurative Pastel Drawings to this Abstracted Pastel Drawing) This is one of my favourite drawing developments because of the dark, mysterious subject and atmosphere. My pastel and ink drawing was inspired by a pre-1900 painting by Renoir. In particular, I like how I have invented a narrative. As I drew, I imagined an encircling abstract cape forest, richly coloured in navy blue. A shadowy figure in an 1890’s style dress with a dainty glove detail, appears from the cape forest with no head, and perhaps no torso, yet still stands in an upright pose.

Figure 18. ‘Spinning Scarf Tie’, Charcoal Sketch.
(Development Process: Vogue Photograph to Digital Art to Pencil Sketch and Charcoal Sketches) This wee charcoal mark (below) is one of my favourite progression sketches, appealing because I was really ‘In the Moment!’  That day, I started drawing in pencil a figurative version of the model Jean Patchett in Irving Penn’s striking and inspirational photograph for Vogue.  Changing to a charcoal stick gave me more freedom.  Suddenly, I was abstracting and scribbling Jean Patchett and her outfit in a quick flurry of movement, moving around the page with a huge amount of speed.  Using verbs: smear, swipe, push, twist and twirl, I found a creative energy and spirit smudging my charcoal stick in a circular motion on the A4 cartridge paper, and loving every minute. 

The mark is small, insignificant, and nothing special.  Yet some images or concepts reoccur, persistently popping into your head, and this is one of them.  Therefore, it must mean something to me.  An abstract expressionist representation of Jean Patchett’s windblown tie scarf, it reminds me of a turning Tumbleweed, or a spinning Catherine Wheel fire cracker.

Figure 19. ‘INTERSTELLAR’ ‘RED SPLAT GONE BLACK‘ This painting began its life as the verb: Splat in dark blood red, but after experiencing many action words on top of it, the red splat turned black via digital manipulation, and died in space. Interstellar is a rogue planet, and it drifts in space alone between chaotic worlds. After photographing my Red Splat painting, I painted over it with another painting titled: ‘Red River’, above, because the mauve background colour didn’t appeal. I am very happy with these colours, and the overall composition now, plus I had enormous fun making this painting, both physically and then altering the colour digitally.

Artist Research: Sonia Delaunay (b 1885 Ukraine  – d 1975 France)

It was recommended that I look at Sonia Delaunay because of a similar linear quality. I knew Delaunay was an amazing artist and textile designer, and it was motivational to view all her colourful paintings and designs again. I am also influenced by geometric shapes and checkered patterns, painting a black and white triangle and square pattern on my ‘Found Object’ and creating a woven black and white paper checkerboard pattern (Figure 1. below).

Sonia Delaunay (nationality: French, Russian, Ukraine) was born in Ukraine, and trained in Russia and Germany.  After moving to Paris, her art painting practice incorporated textile, fashion and set designs.

Quilt patterns were Delaunay’s initial passion, (I am also stimulated by patterns of craft arts such as quilts and weaving), and thus led her into textile design. 

Sonia Delaunay’s Blanket. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/cubism-early-abstraction/orphism/a/sonia-delaunay

Her paintings and prints were full of colour, shape and form, with bright, bold geometry.  She was an important figure in abstract art in the beginning of the twentieth century, assimilating stylistic ideas from art movements such as Cubism, Fauvism and Futurism into her art.

Sonia (alongside her husband Robert Delaunay) pioneered an art style called Orphism or Simultaneism. Sonia displayed a natural ability to interconnect different combinations of colours. Her work has an exuberant, expressive quality, because there is a sense of flatness (pure abstraction of colour and shape) that gives a three-dimensional depth when joined together. Orphism relates to the connections between painting and music. Many 19^th and 20^th century artists such as Frantisek Kupka, Robert Delaunay (Sonia’s husband) and Sonia explored the analogy between music and art.

A multi-disciplinary avant garde and abstract painter, Delaunay also created works in textile design, fashion and interior design, graphic art, collage and bookmaking.

Bibliography

Artsy. Sonia Delaunay. https://www.artsy.net/artist/sonia-delaunay https://www.artsy.net/artwork/sonia-delaunay-geometric-fabric-design

2Luxury2. Sonia Delaunay Art, Design and fashion. https://www.2luxury2.com/sonia-delaunay-art-design-and-fashion-exhibiton-madrid/

MoMA Electric Prisms, 1913. Sonia Delaunay. https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstraction/?work=70

Tate Modern Gallery. ‘Triptych’ 1963. Sonia Delaunay. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/talk/curators-tour-ey-exhibition-sonia-delaunay-0

The Fader Company. Sonia Delaunay. https://www.thefader.com/2011/04/08/reheater-the-fantastic-lives-of-sonia-delaunay

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. https://www.vmfa.museum/wp-subsite/featured_books/women-artists-delaunay/

Elizabeth Joy Peyton (b.1965 American)

Elizabeth Peyton is a portrait, still life and landscape artist. Her portraits are of friends, icons, heroes and inspirational people she admires such as artists, actors, dancers, musicians, writers, politicians and activists. She paints from found images, photographs, imagination and literature. 

Some of her portraits look unfinished, with a variety of strong and concise brushstrokes juxtaposed against gentle marks and sparse areas with negative spaces.  She can also show an opposite effect by portraying beautiful gestural marks, and layers of paint.

I also like how the people she paints are seated close to the foreground, and how they sit in causal positions, some sluggish, or heads bent forward. Often their eyes look glazed, staring into the distance, as if in a pensive mood.  I am drawn to them because they are contemporary, and there is an expressive human individuality, with themes of beauty and love in her work.

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Artist Research: Charline von Heyl (b1960 , Germany).

Today I was introduced to a number of artists, and Charline von Heyl’s work stood out to me.  I like her grid type structures in many of her paintings.  Often she paints a layer of vertical lines beneath shapes and objects, or places them in the foreground on top of objects. 

I really like von Heyl’s painting: (Figure 1) below. It relates to Māori weaving with an in and out type of woven pattern, yet is abstracted with some detail, and some smudge-like marks. The thin type objects look like pointy twig sticks, making a link to nature, and perhaps portray a feeling of danger because of their sharpness.

This painting has provided me with further ideas to expand on my hat-facial netting drawing: (Figure 2 below) from the second week of the brief. I chose a photograph with a figure wearing a black hat/face netting.

Figures 4, 5, 6, 7. PAINTING PROGRESS from CHARCOAL. I used both wet and dry brush techniques very quickly to make development steps with my Hat/Facial NETTING. As, I completed these in a short timeframe they are messy, rushed and not very careful. If I had time I would use lovely lines, and folds of acrylic to weave under and over with more precision.

These two paintings below (Figures 9, 10) by Charline von Heyl also link to my current work, as yesterday I continued my BLACK & WHITE theme in a checkerboard or chessboard style. Today, I discovered these works which relate.

For Week 4, our brief requirement was to find an object to paint on. I used verbs such as PUSH, BRUSH and DAB the paint into the foam mattress (Figures 11, 12), and DRIP, DROP, DRIBBLE across the material. I added verbs such as: SPLAT, SMEAR, and SMUDGE onto an interesting hessian string-like hair part, that was still in tact, after I removed the hessian backing off the foam. Instantly, I wanted to paint BLACK & WHITE onto the golden foam, but was careful to leave a negative space. Here there are connections to Charline von Heyl’s black and white checkerboard lines and criss-cross bars and grids.

Artist Research: Lee Ufan (b 1936)

Lee Ufan was born in 1936 in Korea, but now works as a painter and sculptor in Paris, France and Kamakura, Japan.

I like the beautiful, sophisticated elegance of his painting with very subtle lines. His sculpture includes large pottery vases, and such works as the sand and steel installation (figure 2), which also appeals to me.  His work looks so easy, yet I know this is not so. Simplicity is hard to achieve, and I wonder if I can simplify lines, shapes and colours?  I admire minimalist abstraction, yet do not think I have this ability.

To create perfectly aligned and straight lines or geometric shapes or columns takes a lot of time, precision and effort. I do like strong, bold 3-Dimensional forms and flat 2-Dimensional shapes. What I also like is the way Lee Ufan’s painterly strokes are straighter than my ribbons, but not regimented like my columns. Each line has a soft wobbly straightness, with uneven starting and ending brushstroke points. So beautiful!

Sources: http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/5/lee-ufan/ http://www.studioleeufan.org/

Artist Research: Bernard Frize (b 1949, France)

Soft lit tones of mixed colours are woven across, under and over in horizontal and vertical lines.  These lines seem to merge into one large brushstroke, which is strongly applied forward in a pushing motion, and then abruptly stops.  Inside these wide brushstrokes, subtle thin lines of colour are evident.

The colour tones are beautiful, cool blues and purples next to warm pinks, yellows and oranges. The grid-like composition composed of rectangle shapes in a set and ordered pattern is not full of flat colours. I like patterns and geometry, and his use of the paint material with the painted strokes on display makes these works appealing.

Bernard Frize uses both oil and acrylic with resin. After looking closely at his works online, it is hard to tell if the colours are thinly applied in a transparent manner, such as Judy Millar’s application of paint. Or does Frize create one thick brushstroke with the many tones of paint coming through?  Perhaps his use of resin gives each stroke a thicker consistency.  These works are contemporary and fresh looking, and he shows his workings of pencil marks over the top. This is something I would like to experiment with, either with charcoal or graphite.

Source of images: https://www.simonleegallery.com/artists/bernard-frize/

Tuesday 12.10.2021. Today’s brief was to paint on a found object. I knew exactly what I wanted to use. I had already ripped apart the different fabrics off a bed mattress and base for my earlier Sculpture brief. Lying in a pile, these mattress foam and hessian-type pieces, plus the timber pieces were still looking at me, very keen for me to utilise them.

Plus, I had recently required a great FIND… TREASURE for me, TRASH for others, which had great potential for this brief. I started off by laying out this very long length of vinyl, ready to paint, but it was far too windy! I could not clean it, let alone paint on it. On one of my neighborhood weekend walks, I had discovered this large drop-sheet piece of vinyl material left out as rubbish on the neighborhood curb. Of course I thought this may come in handy, so I lugged it home. On a finer day, I hope to use it, as it is far too enormous to be inside.

Instead, I grabbed a ripped piece of foam, and instantly did not hesitate. The interesting indented rust-worn marks from the spring steel mattress gave me an idea to paint inside these squares. I enjoyed just following these lines and pretending to play chess. I love geometric shapes and patterns, and by painting small contrasting black and white triangles, and squares I created a checkerboard effect.

On the foam, I noticed an interesting lighter coloured detail of a mountain shape that reminded me of Rangitoto, a special volcano surrounded by sea in our city, Tāmaki Makaurau. I think this pale shape and the portion beneath my painting had faded in the daylight, as it was bent backwards from there in the pile of foam. Therefore, wishing to keep this special natural part, I only painted my black and white geometrical design over the rest of the paler colour, and up to the edge of this mountain curve.

As I was painting, I reflected back to this black and white theme in my work in Week 1, (where I made Pollock inspired drips) and painted a large metre by metre black and white painting. In Week 2, I had chosen an Irving Penn photograph (for Vogue magazine) of a snazzily dressed model in a black and white garment. I had enjoyed making quick charcoal marks and sketches, such as the model’s black hat with facial netting. Here, I realised I was making conceptual links each week, from the criss-cross black and white patterns of the netting to my painting now on the foam.

After painting the first checkerboard type pattern, I rolled it up. Looking like a cream sponge roll, it became a three dimensional sculpture.

As I was photographing it rolled up, the black and white paint from the foam left a residue substance on the paper. This was very amusing. The painted sculpture had transformed, was suddenly alive, and making its own painting marks, and verbs (smear, drag, squash, brush)!!!😀🤩 (See below part of the FOUND FOAM OBJECT’s painting).

As I was using the verbs: SPLATTER, FLICK, DRIP, DROP, DRAG and SMEAR, I also reflected back to my admiration of Jackson Pollock (a great splatterer and dripper of paint!). Pollock has always been an inspirational artist to me, because he was a physical, gestural painter, like myself. I am fully aware of my gesticulation 🤪, tactile 😊 and kinaesthetic 😁 abilities.

Artist Research: Paul Jackson Pollock (Born 1912 Wyoming / Died 1956 New York, United States of America).

Jackson Pollock is a very well known painter connected to the Abstract Expressionist movement. He became recognised for using VERBS such as DRIP, POUR, SPLATTER and SPLASH, and using household paint. Instead of painting upright with the canvas on an easel, his painting support was laid flat on the ground, (like I also prefer to do, because I can physically move around it). It gave Pollock a different viewpoint of the canvas, and he used his whole body to see and move paint around at different angles.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/apr/11/matisse-male-nudes-hirst-deutsche-borse-art-week

Monday 11th October. Today I changed the colours, and explored some more gestural marks and verbs after painting over last week’s red verbs. I thought my last week’s effort was okay, but I didn’t particularly like the dark red on the white and light blue-lavender background.

To start the process again, I used the verbs: (smooth, cover, remove, wipe) in order to remove and smooth off the uneven paint heaps, and cover over the original colour and marks of the old painting.

Some focus elements I wish to improve upon in my work include: Contrast and Detail. I also wish to expand utilising my tools such as using a charcoal stick or graphite on top of the paint. Once I am satisfied with my background, I can include my selected drawing either subtly and small, or large and defined in amongst the backdrop of gestures.

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Verbs: Splat, Spill, Splash, Dump, Throw, Puddle, Run, Flow, Spread, Slide, Dribble, Stretch, Smear, Shift, Lift, Mix, Merge, Rock, Roll, Disarrange, Drag, Scratch, Bubble, Smooth, Cover, Remove, Wipe.

Today, I retraced my steps back to my first VERB marks (black splatters on white paint) from the first week (see below). This method of shifting paint using a tool interested me the most. I am very inspired after researching works by Gerhard Richter. I also wanted to expand my size of tools, therefore I chose an old, large canvas (140cm x 124cm) to re-explore my favourite verbs.

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I enjoyed splattering and playing around with one colour: dark red. I shifted it across the surface of the canvas, and stopped to take photographs to show my process development (see below).

My next goal will be to connect and combine one of my drawings with this technique. I also wish to use different colours.

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Using digital manipulation is one way to alter the image. This also helps me, because it extends my thinking, as to how to physically develop the artwork. This morning, I spent energy swirling paint around quickly on the timber board. Yet, during and after the process, the background mauve and lavender colour hues under the dark blood red didn’t gel with me. Thus, I took the next step to improve this, by changing the colours via technology, and I do prefer this new image below of black against purple tones. Enhancing and highlighting certain background areas, my painted brushstrokes are now more pronounced, revealing strong contrasting shadows and gestural shapes.