Wednesday 30 January 2019

KNITTERS to completion

Added a cadmium red med semi-transparent glaze (in better light the underpainting shines through a bit more, as planned):


Some improvised decoration and we are done. Off to the drying room for a week or so until time to varnish. Still needs a title!

Monday 28 January 2019

ACCEPTABLE RATE OF ATTRITION, 2002



Acceptable rate of attrition, 2002
wood-cut
23 x 27 cm. (printed area)
private collection

Update

This is an object (also abject) lesson in patience a.k.a. not adding a layer of paint until the one beneath it has dried properly so that it doesn't pick up the pigments and screw up the the transparency and tonality of the new layer. Oops.


A rescue mission was launched.


Also have to really make sure that the back toes of the back foot curve away from the edge of the canvas so as to avoid the creation of impression that the composition is jammed into the right edge.

Wednesday 23 January 2019

Saturday 19 January 2019

Step-by-step guide to building a new painting support (part 2)

[ previous part | tutorials home ]

Ok! have staples, will travel etc.

Step 6: loosely tack the four corners of the canvas onto the corners of the stretcher using your stapler. This is just to stop the canvas from flopping everywhere when you are turning it round stretching and stapling it.

Tip: if you rock the stapler to one side so you are not stapling perpendicular to the plane of the stretcher, you will have less hassle getting the corner tacks out again later.

Quick word about staplers: an expensive stainless steel gun stapler like the one shown is just that -- expensive (i.e. closer to NZ$100 than NZ$20) -- but it will last you a lifetime with very little or no maintenance. A good investment.

Pro-tip: don't forget to flip the stretcher over before you begin so you are not stapling on to the bevelled side! And see how I have labelled each edge with a point of the compass? That'll come into play shortly.


Friday 18 January 2019

Step-by-step guide to building a new painting support (part 1)

or "How to stretch a canvas"..  [ next part | tutorials home ]

Step 1: Four stretcher bars feat. beveled top* and proper precision machine-mitred joints (bought off TradeMe). Look for warp-resistant timber, untreated (un-Tanalised), degreased, and kiln dried.

A quick note about size: I wouldn't go too large on the dimension front. This method does not involve cross-beam supports, and I would be hesitant to go much above 50cm before I started worrying about warp / bowing along the timber grain because of the tension of the stretched canvas. On the other hand, if you do go larger, you might get away with it if you stretch the canvas only very gently (more on that later.) 


Wednesday 9 January 2019

Working Title "SELF PORTRAIT AS DR. MANHATTAN ON MARS (After Dave Gibbons / Watchmen)"

A painting came out of those recent drawings. This is something I had been cooking in my head for quite a while but even so I was really unsure how to finalise the design. I've just glazed the 'sky' area & I might still do so for the "gaseous clouds" when they are dry. Probably gonna glaze the 'land' area as well, to knock the brushwork back a bit.



Really struggling with this one on consistency of mark-making across the entire picture plane...

EDIT: after a LOT of faffing around I gave up, and killed it (painted over.) Will attempt again some time.

Friday 4 January 2019

ALIGNMENTS, 2008(18)

Done!


Alignments, 2008(18)
oil on canvas
60 x 50 cm.

Layla1-7: Party fears two?

I was having trouble deciding whether or not to keep the balloons. 


Thankfully I have available to me graphics manipulation tools! (what a time to be alive etc..):


I think that dispute is now well and truly settled.

Tuesday 1 January 2019

Layla1-4: Happy New Year!

At some point on NYE I decided I was going to finish some of the paintings I have lying around the place. So I started with LAYLA I and the first act was to completely change the composition: