Assignment 5 REVISITED

This assignment is designed to replace my previous endeavour - Version 1. Initially, when I began to think about what kind of approach to take the second time round, I didn't particularly want to depart from the rock theme in Version 1. It wasn't long before another slightly different theme revealed itself as a more inviting proposition. 

Sample of brushwork practice -
showing the most extreme contrasts

As further ideas began to reveal themselves - from various sources, the original (rock theme) went on a process of gradual transmutation through a series of sketches and experiments with paint and other materials.
I also paid a lot of attention to trying to improve on the previous palette, as my choice had latterly been a bit of an issue with my tutor and (later) myself after I had viewed them an adequate number of times to absorb the palette defects. Moreover, I wanted to concentrate on loosening up the brushwork and paint marks - the message coming through from my tutor as an underlying concern from time to time – my compulsion to over blend and tidy up; trying to make a picture instead of using a more experimental painterly approach - yes even now I am still doing this, but I think a bit less now.
So, I practised with the brushwork in various colour combinations before embarking on the series. 

more
brushwork practice

In an effort to take on board my tutor's suggestion of taking some inspiration from Luc Tuyman 
http://www.wikiart.org/en/luc-tuymans/gas-chamber-1986 
and Mike Newton’s visible brushwork, I practised with this in various colour combinations using contrasting values and saturations of colour before embarking on the series.

Other influences in this regard were Cecily Brennan, William Crozier, 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/william-crozier-9205/paintings/slideshow#/15
 Richard Diebenkorn, 
 http://uploads8.wikiart.org/images/richard-diebenkorn/untitled-m.jpg these are high resolution images showing the brushwork very clearly
and William Theophilis Brown and the California School painters in general:  
https://www.pinterest.com/rhballard/california-school-painters/

Previous exercises 5 and 6 - abstractions from natural and man made forms - had worked well in helping me to seek out the essence of a subject and to simplify, distort and change in several different ways.

In spite of this, the experimental stage of this version (as with the Version 1)  again became quite protracted with a lot of trial and error before I felt confident to proceed to the final painting series.

Initially I intended to use sketches I had done, based on one of twisted tangled  dead branches of ivy (below and right) that I did in exploratory stages of Exercise 5, Part 5. My intention was to divide one of them into 4 and make a painting of each of the 4 parts while varying the palette eg. Add more yellow for one, more blue for another and so on.. After increasing the number of sketches of branches from different angles and focusing in on a particular area as an alternative, the one view divided in 4 seemed to work better - shown below.

Influenced by Henry Moore's
Standing Figures

I was attracted to the idea of each one flowing into another when placed together in a square and at the same time working independently.

The sketches - (below right and left) contributed towards No. 1 and No. painting below.

These 'doodles' appeared
during a phone call

For the studies I toyed around exploring various media, palettes and paint techniques plus various media including cement dust, tissue and magazine papers, card, dripped and splattered paint etc. Going through this process however, I couldn't summon up enough enthusiasm to proceed with this plan – I felt that it was basically not going anywhere – I kept getting ‘stuck’ and I couldn't see a way forward with the palettes I’d picked. So, yet another change of plan.. Around this time my attention was repeatedly drawn to a charcoal drawing  I made previously, 
loosely based on the sketches of the branches some while back, but mostly from imagination - shown right. This had a strong bearing on No.s 1 and 3. I placed my adjustable viewfinder on different parts of it, discovering a couple of areas I felt were worth translating into paint and the same with certain areas of two of the branches sketches that I felt were worth taking further. I was confident of their potential to complement one another, having similar components.

Other contributing factors in helping to reignite my enthusiasm were the palettes and techniques of:

Giacometti’s painting ‘Head of a Man’ - while randomly flipping through an art book . There are numerous versions:
https://www.google.ie/search?tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACYoh-o9Lb7hEIjhPo8zesw46eeiuL63tRwey7415RFxVwVGuNdzcnnQqRckYf9RxnQkzXDhVHP1_1JDWHKKMONN73QyoSCU-jzN6zDjp5EaGDhMWcUxg1KhIJ6K4vre1HB7IRV0hyCUF1FmIqEgnvjXlEXFXBURFn6yaaTYm7byoSCa413NyedCpFEYylhLjAc1e8KhIJyRh_11HGdCTMRUN2O-G0emXQqEglcOFUc_1X8kNRHRNFHYp-zjQSoSCYcoow403vdDEZ12OKoRuTKQ&q=giacometti%20head%20of%20a%20man%20painting&ei=M4_nVLOUBtGS7Aaq0oHQDw&ved=0CAkQ9C8wAA&qscrl=1 

Cecily Brennan’s painting ‘Geyser’ - in an old catalogue I possess of her exhibition at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin in 1991 - with its palette dominated by muted white/greys through to dark deep greens and lesser amounts of deep aqua like blues and pale yellows to deep ochres and  the expressive impasto paint application. Unfortunately I can't display it on this blog for copyright reasons; this was the only image (from the series) I could locate online:
http://virtualgallery.artscouncil.ie/pdf/aspecialplace.pdf - page 15.
There are a few more on this link. This triptych appears to be most similar to 'Geyser':    http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/Search_Repeat.aspx?searchtype=AUCTION_RECORDS&artist=11090898
Other sources of intrigue for me were:
a few photos of entrances, bridges and tunnels which I had collected and saved in a folder way back. Also a newspaper article I’d kept with an image of Henry Moore’s 'Standing Figures 1940': http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/moore-standing-figures-n05210  - of particular note were the palette of muted blues, reds and ochres and the dark holes within the figures, as were Barbara Hepworth’s hollow sculptures
http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives/barbara-hepworth-museum
 and Graham Sutherland’s painting ‘Entrance to a Lane’: 
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-entrance-to-a-lane-n06190
Pierre Soulages's thick swathes of black also came into the picture, particularly with No 1 and No 3
http://uploads4.wikiart.org/images/pierre-soulages/peinture-23-avril-1963-1963.jpg
and Giacometti again- this time his multitude of wire like tangled lines used in many of his drawings, paintings and sculptures, reminding me of the tangled lines in some of my sketches.
I could go on..

Painting process:

The full series was painted on gessoed mountboard, media: acrylic and charcoal. Additional materials were used in individual paintings. I also changed the palette very slightly between each one. The dominant colours throughout were: Phthalo Blue, Paynes Grey, Cadmium Yellow, Raw Sienna, Titanium White and a touch of Crimson. 

Note: The numbers below the images do not necessarily correlate with the order of progression.

Number 1 study

No.1 Not including the prior studies, this was turned out to be the quickest painting to complete from the series of 4, taking roughly 1.5 hours. Thinking it was unfinished I put it to one side while I completed the other three, intending to return to it afterwards; by the time I had completed the other three I had decided it didn't need any further work; it has a certain roughness which I find appealing. Anyhow I was certain that if I so much as started to do anything further it would inevitably end up overworked and ruined. As with all the paintings I started off with applications of charcoal lines, and veiling (partially covering the charcoal) with white and dark blue/black acrylic paint alternately, re-applying some charcoal and then the paint again; a technique I picked up from Steven Aimone's book, Expressive Drawing. This was after I had glued on a few pieces of watercolour paper here and there - mostly in the major lighter areas and one or two magazine papers.

Number 1

I continued, using a process of addition and removal of damp and just dry paint with brushes, plastic cards, palette knives, fingers and cloths both damp and dry and I scratched into it with the corners of plastic cards and a small screwdriver.

It looks to me as though some similar methods of paint application might have been used in Franz Kline's painting C and O. I spotted it after I had completed the series:
 http://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/franz-kline/c-and-o-1958.jpg
Also Torches Mauve http://uploads0.wikiart.org/images/franz-kline/torches-mauve-1960.jpg 
I wasn't keen on this way of painting before I researched Tachisme but it is really growing on me.

Number 2 study part done

No 2 - the third one to be completed. It was taken from a zoomed in area of one of my numerous sketches of tangled ivy branches; some are shown above but doesn't include this one. 

No 2 -study

I applied a partially rough textured base to this with polyfilla and paper pulp. This didn't progress as the study and I became conscious of rather more time passing by than on the first painting (No 1). I got to a point where I almost abandoned this. I ploughed on and began to notice things starting to take a more positive turn. 

No 2 - completed

There were areas I didn't want to depart much from the study, but eventually I realized they weren't going to work - the whole thing looked disjointed  so I made repeating elements - areas of similar tone, hue and texture, playing down some highlighting. I thought this had the least promise earlier on but once I had finished it went up the scale, in my estimation. Because I connected a diagonal section going behind the dominant shape  (moving top to bottom) which is textured and highlighted more on one end, this end appears to to be pulling outwards while the darker quieter end looks to be moving away. The shapes appear to be oscillating, bringing about a surface tension. The touches of light at top and top left help to balance the similar toned dominating areas of rough texture in the lower portion.

No 3 study

No 3 This was the last to be completed. I started with an accent on purples, which seemed to feature less towards the end when I added further mid-blues, greys and very dark blue/blacks, continuing to go with the flow of the previous two. I did experience quite a struggle with the central area - it was chaotic and confusing for a lengthy stretch; I had not fully resolved the lower portion in the study and  such a lot was happening in this areas. Through a process of adding and removing paint it eventually began to pull together. I do still think there is room for improvement in the centre. This is more three dimensional than the other three, particularly No. 1.

No 3 -completed

No 4 - completed second in order. The palette has an accent on greens. This was the most problematic and time consuming. The paint was applied in a similar way to No 2. The areas of lightest tones took applications of multiple layers of paint before approaching anywhere near a satisfactory balance - not to appear over quiet or noisy in relation to the rest. Alterations in one place would upset the balance in another area,  but because I had high hopes I continued until eventually bringing it to an acceptable conclusion rather than give up. I felt that there needed to be more contrast in the  lower third of the study in the  final painting and I think this was were I started going off along the wrong track...comparing the two of them now I prefer the study for the most part, as it look quite raw and spontaneous - as No 1. I think I have lost a lot of this in the painting; it is also consequently less interesting than that in the study due to my dulling down of the palette. This one appeals to me least of all.

No 4 study

No 4 completed

In Summary - the joy of spontaneity I'd experienced with the first painting didn't happen with the other three; I spent much more time and effort on them before I could say they were 'finished', despite all the tryouts and studies I made beforehand. I thought that each painting I did would help me more with the next, whereas they seemed to present even more challenging obstacles to be crossed, although I'm sure I learned much from each one as I progressed. I felt there was much scope for experimentation; I was happy with the basic compositions, it was the colour combinations and paint application that needed more work. As with No 1, I used similar paint techniques on all the series, albeit for widely varying a durations. In addition I made use of paint applied transparently, dry brushed; changing shapes and edges, plus thick opaques, especially the lightest tones. I kept going until at last I could see a gradual look of cohesiveness developing. This was true particularly with Nos. 2, 3 and 4. All the while I kept trying to consider important basic elements, such as balance, harmony, contrast, repetition, unity, rhythm, gradation, dominance. Hopefully many of these facets were also included more or less intuitively. Despite a multitude of influences on this series, the influences have major similarities, which I think have come through in the four paintings. I think that by adding certain textural materials in each painting and making a very  conscious effort to use the paint quite expressively, it has I hope, had a more positive effect this time around.