Laguna, the beach, pointillism: larger paper: part 3

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Laguna, beach, watercolour on paper, A2 NOT FOR SALE

Laguna, beach- detail

Laguna, beach- detail

These cartridge  papers can take" overlapping" washes or  watercolour brush marks of up to about three layers before the surface becomes too dense and lifeless. 

The pointillist method uses very minimal overlapping and the picture retains freshness.

 Working in such a methodical manner is very relaxing.

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Laguna, sun, sand, watercolours on larger papers: part 1

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Laguna, sun, sand, Watercolour on paper, A2

Laguna, sun, sand, Watercolour on paper, A2

I continue to work on A2 size paper- this is immensely satisfactory and I kick myself for not having embarked on this path earlier.  The gestural freedom is very enjoyable.

The paper I use here is Canson, 180 gsm, (pretty much a cartridge) and it isn't so expensive that I feel inhibited. It doesn't warp, as I'd feared it might.

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A piece of A4 paper

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A piece of A4 paper

 

 

 

 

 

I have this paper to plan my day and make notes during lessons, but I mainly use it to doodle and distract myself during those lessons or other online meetings

 

The paper is sold in packs of about 100 sheets.

 

 I'd prefer it if it were a slight off-white colour, but that's a hard to get hold of round here. Besides, when I have found such paper it is usually more expensive: I don't like more expensive materials as I'm wary of wasting them, and consequently am less likely to experiment freely.

 

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Latacunga, from the Central Hotel -1

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Latacunga, from the Central Hotel- 1

 watercolour on paper, A4

Latacunga, from the Central Hotel -1- detail

This was painted on  thin paper- the effect of this is that  I`m forced to use a limited technique with single washes and little working in, and  forced to be clear in my objectives.

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Latacunga has some wonderful architecture- fine whitewashed churches- and is very friendly.

 I have been blessed with a wonderful hotel room overlooking the square, from which I shall continue to work. Fortunately it is not at all cold, like Quito.

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Quito, from steps leading down to La Almeda

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Quito, from steps leading down to La Almeda

 watercolour on paper, A3

Quito, from steps leading down to La Almeda-  detail

This was painted on Hahnemühle Harmony paper - 300 gsm. 

The colours seem to show more brightly (though I can`t explain why) and the paper better at allowing different paint layers without them appearing dense and lifeless on the paper.

 It`s a bit more expensive but I think, now my sense of how watercolour works has improved, probably worth the extra cost.

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, clearing

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 Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, clearing

 watercolour on paper, 40 x 28.5 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, clearing- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, clearing- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This paper is a notch up- it's Canson 300 gsm watercolour paper. It isn't too expensive but it holds the washes well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras, sea and beach, October 2022

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 Canasvieiras, sea and beach, October 2022, watercolour on paper, 34.5 x 27.5 cm

 

Canasvieiras, sea and beach, October 2022 - detail

 

 Canasvieiras, sea and beach, October 2022 - detail

 

 

 

 This paper, which is not truly a self-described watercolour paper, becomes slightly bothered and worn after being touched by about three brush touches or washes. 

It's on 200 gsm Canson paper.

 

 

 

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, forest

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, forest

 watercolour, 19.5 x 27.5 cm

 

 

This paper isn't heavy- 90 gsm - but I'm not using washes of colour. I stretched the paper with masking tape.

 

Canson sell another paper, twice as heavy but still quite affordable, that I'll try next week.

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Cardboard fish, realised.

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Fish, above, made into cardboard manquettes from the designs of yesterday's doodle

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The figurine is there to show how the pieces might scale as playground sculptures. The clean shapes have something of the quality of tin-plate toys, and the next thing might be to experiment with painting these in the sort of bright patterns that colour such tin-plate toys.

The trick is in treading that line between the mimetic and the fully abstract: if the fish are too realistic, like Britain's toys, then they lack a certain mystery, because they fail to engage the imagination. If they are wholly abstract, they simply become as building blocks, and would inspire only the most imaginative.

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Doodle

Not working for anyone else means I am considerably less bored, and consequently spend less time doodling.

But sometimes during the English lessons I give, or when I am waiting for students I have moments of enforced idleness which I can spend doodling.

Mentally, doodling involves reproducing something from inside my head - I never draw things I see in front of me. Doodles are made on a tiny scale and are highly concentrated like postage stamps or an engravings and are very intimate creations, not intended to be seen by others.

In doodling, I have become very conscious of the sort of marks each type of pen can make and their direction. My favourite pens are Bics, especially those with larger size ball-points (I tried using a fountain pen, but it was too heavy- you can't use a fountain pen faintly, which means you end up having to "dive right in" into the drawing knowing for sure what result you want. This brings a feeling of risk which is inimical to doodling). A ball pen can be used to make a variety of weights of marks so you can gradually work towards your final image. You don't want to have to know what you want the end result to be when you first start doodling.

This quality is essential, because doodling is formostly a process led art form. The end results are relatively unimportant.

The best doodles have an unforced quality. This cannot be contrived. The scribble has to flow freely, un-self consciously- it's a bit like talking to oneself or chatting to a close friend late at night, and you have to feel at ease with yourself to doodle comfortably.

I often draw letters, usually serifed- it's very pleasurable to trace the curve on an "S". Other common subjects for me are faces (usually of women or children), horses, vaginas, cats, flowers, ellipses, eggs and hands. I like cross-hatching, and I like serpentine lines. I rarely use staccato marks.

I daresay there are deep psychological explanations for this choice of subjects (Freud wrote some very silly essays laboriously "explaining" the thoughts behind da Vinci's famous doodles), but some things are simply more suitable subjects of such tiny drawings than others- with such a tiny amount of space the subject cannot require too much elaboration to be recognisable. This is one of the appeals of letters, in particular.

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Knowing that one might later show the doodle online has a negative effect on me, making me feel inhibited. I know the drawings will be judged, first by myself as I photograph and edit them, and then by those who look at my work on Flickr.

The Kingdom of Moth

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I`m making progress here, using the cut-outs to revist a theme I began last year but somehow couldn't really make progress on- a series of monotypes to be called Moth, a Dream.

 I'd intended to make a series of monotypes which Nick Parker would perhaps write a piece to accompany. But there's a time for everything and perhaps the time wasn't right. Or maybe I over-thought the idea. 

 Anyway, here we go again, this time a giant mobile with The Kingdom of Moth as a working title.

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Where do we go from here?

I enjoy making the cutouts, and I believe they can be a striking expressive tool but the question is, what to do with them? They seem too insubstantial to function as art.

I shall play with 1. "Tableau"- essentially mini installations of cutouts and 2. Mobiles.

In addition, I am trying to deal with the difficulties of producing more work which will, most likely, simply go into storage, and is unlikely to sell. I haven't space to store more work.

The solution is to work digitally. To treat the artwork as simply the means towards producing photographic digital images, then discard it once its finished with.And by putting the work on the Internet, it is accessible to the public.

I gain a great deal from the support of people, usually strangers, on Flickr, Facebook and Deviantart. They only know my work through its dematerialised pixellated presence on a screen. Does that matter?

Cutouts

I spent today working on these cutouts, and then photographing them.

My original idea was to work on a mobile, and I may still do this. However, I might also try to make miniature stage sets with them. For that to make sense, I'd need some sort of narrative structure, though I could possible just make them as "Tableau" illustrating, say "The Four Seasons", or "States of Mind".

Perhaps they are sufficient in themselves- something tells me, however, that they are not.

Where to?

I don't know what to do next. The roundels series was well recieved. I know I have to work in a completely different way for the next series of works. Beyond that, however, what exactly to do, or indeed, what precisely to make work about is uncertain to me.

I'd like it to be something connected to the plates of drawings found illustrating natural histories, however.

Here is another detail from the Rooundels Series. The entire set can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28509471@N05/