Spring Paintings, 1.

i think given we're into march and april we can call these spring rather than winter paintings. . .

so here goes with what we'll call the first of those, given that most of the 'winter' paintings had gestation periods that went back months and months and these were more of the moment - often based around or directly drawn from drawings done during that dark period of october and november, including this first piece.

so. remember this?























. . . from november. and a recap of what i said about it here:

'This one's REALLY sketchy. Mostly I was approaching transferring a vague image I had in my head to paper in a different, more relaxed approach than trying to commit it to the white in very deliberate lines and found that this way came a lot more naturally. While not precisely as I was visualising what I wanted to put on paper, it's a close approximation. And it didn't end with me getting frustrated and scrunching up numerous attempts. . . Mostly with this, I was just determined to have full figures in a drawing. Instead of my old, over-cropped stuff. And again, arhitecture, no matter how vague. . .'

*

it was, undeniably, an image that had stuck before i even drew it and which was going to continue to stick until it was painted. one or two - bronwen and emma spring to mind - have pointed out how familiar the image looks, and i have drawn similar images in the past which i think i'll dig out another day. . . but i think the composition itself was and is very typical of me and the way i make images. put together figures. something i'll be writing a blog about soon. . .

in the meantime, from that drawing and some months later, came this:























now first up, you can see some obvious alterations - the tall mesh fence has been replaced by a smaller more rustic post and wire fence, which makes the base image immediately less foreboding but also breaks the image up a little more nicely. the posts are crooked, unevenly spaced - i thought this and the very pale, sandy ground would be nice in contrast to the solid, dark urban skyline. likewise, the church building has been made less elongated - again, i wanted some degree of contrast between background and foreground, and the figures are pretty elongated, aren't they?

the poses, specifically emma's are also slightly tweaked. the original rough drawing had been hashing an idea out, this was more of a refinement of the original concept i hadn't quite managed to produce in that drawing - so the pose is more graceful and a little more natural.

as i've said a dozen times the last couple of months, having full length figures in my work was something i had to do, and had to get used to - and i think this one came out really nicely. proportionately, it's her. which i sometimes find hard to achieve - i think i have this subconscious programming to draw and to paint women in particular proportions, and having spent a few years drawing and painting curvier women, going onto a model who couldn't be more petite doesn't really come naturally. to quote sarah, 'she's teeny weeny!'

anyhow. the birdman figure has also been given more to do. instead of being a shadowy half-drawn mess off to one side, he's a part of. . . whatever's going on (imaginations people, use them), even if only as a spectator. his darker clothing keeps the very colourful arc the other two figures make unbroken.

at a little larger than A3 this is a smaller piece than those i've been painting, and also came a little more naturally. it was painted entirely in acrylics - some colours straight from the tube, such as the grass - which as ever, made its completion a lot less drawn out. there is even some matallic silver paint in there, which. . is a first.

it's not finnicky and i didn't strive to make it 'perfect' as i'd once have done, but i like it - what more can i say?