water – Page 2 – bexODESSA

In the deep green sea

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Research Project, Week in Review

I had a good week in the studio, and really enjoyed being back at school without the dreaded covid. I have a dual focus this term, namely, drawing and my research project. Even though my drawing has greatly improved, after focusing on it this summer, I now realise that when it comes to drawing, learning and improvement never ends. For this reason, I have signed up for a series of drawing workshops, joined a drawing club, and booked one on one sessions with a drawing tutor.

I have also kept up my morning drawing discipline, which this week has consisted of filling large pages with a variety of ink and watercolour drawings. I really enjoy this part of my practice, and try and keep it light and fun.

My paintings this week were sea-themed, no doubt influenced by my passionate love of Moby Dick, which I am still listening to on my walks to see the bobbers. I agree with Ray Bradbury’s assessment –

“Shakespeare wrote Moby-Dick, using Melville as a Ouija board.”

I also experimented with colour and detailing, with the hope that when I come to do the paintings for my research project, I’ll know the palette and detailing style I want to use.

On Friday night, my dear friends and I had one of our ladies-nights at our favourite cocktail bar, Fynoderee. We were two-women down from normal, but we still had a wonderful time. As you can see by the photo I took, I was a bit wobbly by the end of the night.

Summer – week 15 experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

This was the last week of the summer holidays, and I spent it riddled with Covid. What a nasty, pernicious virus. It was my first time getting it and I had a miserable time. Although I am still testing positive, I am almost back to normal, and last night I was able to sleep properly for the first time since I got it. Of course, just because I had Covid, I didn’t stop painting. It was pretty slow going, mostly just building upon what I did last week, in terms of figuring out the kind of detailing I want to use etc.

Summer – week 14 experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

I am really starting to consolidate my thinking for my research project. After next week, I will start writing posts specifically about that. The project will be my main focus going forward. I am really excited about it, and am finding it very engaging. In the meantime, here are the painting experiments I did this week, again just trying different things and beginning to think about the elements I want in my project paintings.

I have a new passion…bogs!

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Holidays, Painting, Week in Review

Not only have I developed a passion for bogs, I have also discovered the limit of my fella’s ability to enthusiastically support the things I love. That limit is bogs. That’s not to say he wasn’t prepared to watch an hour long documentary about them or drive me round the north looking for one I had read about, rather, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm in doing so.

Having said that, there was one bog-related thing I showed him that he thought was pretty cool, and that is the Irish tradition of bog-jumping.

Bogs were important ritual sites in pagan Europe, and there’s many examples of sacrificial victims being deposited in them, to propitiate the gods in some sort of Spring ritual. Over 2,000 bog-bodies have been found to date, that’s because bogs are anaerobic (lacking oxygen), so the bodies are preserved, some remarkably so. I hope you’re not eating breakfast…

This poor fellow, known as the Tullond Man, suffered a triple death. A ritualised way of killing a person 3 times, which, if nothing else, would ensure the job was done. Personally, I’d rather end up a skeleton, than a shrivelled piece of old leather, so I won’t be opting for a bog interment. There’s many other fascinating things about bogs, but I’ll take the glazed look in my fella’s eyes when I mention them as a cue not to subject anyone else to my bog-trivia.

I continued drawing this week, mostly people, and although I’m not having the best fun in the studio, it is getting slightly easier each day.

I also painted here and there, though mostly just testing different techniques, rather than painting a whole picture. As with the previous week, I have been developing a lace-like water technique, with varying degrees of success. Here’s a couple from this week that I quite like. I particularly like the see-through effect.

Also, inspired by the bogs, I have added brown to my palette. Although I haven’t done much with it so far (as I have been concentrating on drawing), I really like it and think it will be a great addition.

Summer – week 3 experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th July – drawing

I decided to spend the week drawing – above are some of the results. These aren’t really the types of figures or faces I would have in a painting, but they are good practice. I’m trying not to get attached to the outcome of an individual drawing, but rather see them as exercises to get more fluid and confident with drawing. Hopefully, by the time I come to put figures in my paintings at the end of the summer, the drawing practice/discipline will pay off.

Friday 7th July – Sunday 9th July

I thought it would be nice to take a break from drawing for the weekend, and work on developing the lace detailing, trying different designs and techniques etc. I love no.99/100, adding the vertical lines of dots really enhances the overall design. I love this kind of painting. I’m not that keen on the more formal/balanced designs of no.98/101 (I prefer the more free-form design of No.99/100/102). Although No.102 isn’t finished yet, I like where it is going. I think this technique will be a good way to represent water underground.

Week 30 experiments

Process Deep Dive

Monday, 12th June

No.75 – Just trying out some more lace ideas with this one. I love the horse and the lace, just not together.

Tuesday, 13th June

No.76-77 – More lace experiments. I’m definitely not keen on the lace directly on the animals/figures. The palette is really coming together.

Wednesday, 15th June

No.78 – I love this frog, and prefer it to the one above. I definitely prefer creatures etc to be suggestive of something, rather than explicitly so.

Thursday, 15th June

No.79 – I love this painting too. I like the lace here, as it looks like a covering, rather than directly on the creature. I also like how weird the creature is.

Friday, 16th June

No.80 – I painted this on the last day of my first year of my masters. I feel like I have made real progress with the figurative paintings, and I’m loving every minute of it.

Sunday, 18th June

No.81 – I absolutely adore this painting, and have called it “Colin the long-legged guinea pig”. I’ve begun adding Indian Yellow to the palette, and love what it brings to these paintings.

Week 29 experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

Monday, 5th June

No.65 – This painting felt like another breakthrough. I can really see the potential in this kind of work. Painting bigger definitely allows for more detail. This is a very exciting process. Sea underpainting.

Tuesday, 6th June

No.66 – This is a sea-painting on canvas (30cm x 30cm) – just trying different things. This type of painting takes well to canvas, which is good.

No.67 – Another sea-painting (on paper). Rather than paint an entire big painting just yet, thought I’d do close-ups of certain aspects. Again, I like the amount of detail that can be used in bigger work.

Wednesday, 7th June

No.68-70 – These were some unfinished small paintings I had lying around, so I finished them off. I like aspects of them, but it’s definitely more enjoyable painting bigger.

Thursday, 8th June

No. 71 – This is another painting I had lying around. It was initially of something different. The only part I liked was what is now the octopus’ head – so I kept that and painted out the rest and added the tentacles. It was pleasant to paint.

Friday, 9th June

No.72 – I spent the morning at a pre-op appointment with my Mum, for her hip replacement, so I painted this in the afternoon. Rather than a sea underpainting, this underpainting was done by spraying seawater. I love this painting. I’ve often thought that the white in these dark paintings look like bone. The lace overlay is another breakthrough – I’m thrilled it looks great with these paintings. I will definitely explore these two elements (bones and lace) in the coming days.

Sunday, 11 June

No.73-74 – In these paintings I was exploring the lace overlay further (minus the bones), I absolutely love the results. I especially love how the underpainting shows through, giving the effect that the lace is see-through. There’s a deep connection between lace and the sea for me. I also think it adds a mystical aspect to the paintings, plus it is a pleasure to paint – so it’s a win all round!

Everybody needs good neighbours

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Green, project 1, Project 2, research paper, Week in Review

I have new neighbours, Kylie and Jason and their little baby, Harold. They live in the Point of Ayre foghorn. I realised Kylie and Jason had a chick a couple of evenings back when I heard him squawking inside a hollow in the foghorn. Then last night, my fella and I saw Harold for the first time, it was beyond exciting. I wasn’t able to get a photo of Harold, as we didn’t want to get too close, but here is some footage I managed to get of Kylie and Jason last week.

The painting breakthroughs kept coming this week. A distinct style for the green paintings is emerging, and I love it. I feel like I have been given a small glimpse of what the paintings can be, and although I take nothing for granted, and realise there is still a possibility I can’t pull them off, I have reason to be hopeful.

The main focus again has been painting bigger. With the drawing practice I have been doing, it has proved much easier than I thought it would be. It’s also far more interesting painting bigger, as it allows for more detail.

To help with the bigger drawings, I bought a ginormous sketchbook, and so far I have found drawing big just as easy as drawing small.

I have also started a daily reading discipline, without which I would never get through all the books/papers I have to read for my research paper this summer. Don’t feel too sorry for me though, as this is where my reading discipline takes place.

Week 28 Experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

Monday, 29th May

No.53&55 – With these paintings, I was seeing what it is like to paint out some of the marks with black. These didn’t have the sea underpaintings, hence they are a little wooden. Still, I like aspects of both, like the knickers on 55, and the detailing on 53.

Tuesday, 30th May

No.54 (something went awry with the numbering) Just another experiment, trying different things.

Wednesday, 31st May

No.56-57 – I decided to take a break from the the green/figurative paintings. As I mentioned before, I’d like to develop these into landscapes. I am very inspired by the walks I have been taking in the Ayres this week, of which this type of painting is a product of. The idea etc., still has a way to go.

Thursday, 1st June

No.58-60 – these are experiments for another idea I have had, which includes interiors with patterned wallpaper. This idea is still at an early stage. As with the landscape paintings, these are a nice break from the figurative ones.

Friday, 2nd June

No.61 – here I tried the landscape type painting on canvas. I definitely think this kind of work could develop into something beautiful.

Sunday, 4th June

No.62-63 – back to the green/figurative paintings, which is a pleasure after having a wee break from them. Just trying different things. I’ve added phthalo green (blue shade) to these, and really like the results. The y also have sea-underpaintings, which makes them more dynamic. I came to the realisation this week, that if I want to paint bigger I have to draw bigger. So, for the paintings, I’m going to try painting particular aspects on a larger scale (such as the eye above). I am delighted with the amount of detail you can add when you paint bigger.

Week 26 Experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

Monday, 15th May

No.26 – I really like this image, and think it would be a good way to paint Mrs Quick for the Thames flood painting. I like the idea of her having a young face behind a mask with a crone-like nose. I think I will also paint her with an old, gnarled hand, perhaps hanging over the bed.

No.27 – this is a sea painting. I like the dynamism the sea marks give the painting, and I love the eye.

Tuesday, 16th May

No.28 – I love this painting. It too has a dynamism from the sea that is typically absent from my paintings.

No.29 – I really like this one too. Again, it just emerged from the marks left by the sea. It is definitely a helpful starting point for the type of figurative paintings I want to do.

Wednesday, 17th May

No.30-32 – These weren’t sea paintings, but I did use quite a bit of water. Just little experiments.

Thursday, 18th May

No. 33 – I love this one. The sap-green paint doesn’t do well in the sea though.

Friday, 19th May

No.34 – I really like this one, especially the contraption. Again the sap-green went funny in the sea. I want to have phalluses in my figurative paintings, though not as explicit as this (more as a fertility symbol).

Sunday, 21 May

No.35-36 – Interestingly, these two are not sea paintings and, as such, have lost the dynamism of the others. I really like some elements of them, but they are a bit over-thought and rigid.

No.37 – I also painted this during the week. It is handy painting things like this when I loose the thread of the figurative paintings – which happens quite often. I’d like to keep developing this kind of work.