UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #86

“The Fractured Earth #3”

The Rockscape Series

 (Watercolour with collage on watercolour paper) 

Size:  83x98cm (framed)

THE IDEAS  and TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS PAINTING:

This is a photo of our beautiful coastline on the Sunshine Coast, Australia.  It looks so beautiful that it is hard to imagine that there is something very wrong with it.  WRONG - Yes!  Scientific studies confirm that the Pacific Ocean is in peril due to pollution and over fishing.  “Populations of marine animals – fish, mammals, reptiles and birds – have declined by an average of 89 percent from their historical highs.”  (from “Frankenstein’s Cat” p.105 by Emily Anthes ).  Also “global warming is raising water temperatures and levels, and changing its acidity and salinity.  Experts are also predicting long-term changes in precipitation, storm frequency and ocean currents and circulation.  These shifts are already having profound effects on marine life. “(p.115).  These concerns are addressed in my Rockscape Series where I have painted ten watercolour paintings. 

This painting #3 addresses pollution.  I picked this drink can off the beach at Pt. Cartwright.  I photocopied the object directly and used the photocopy as the collage.

The subject of the watercolour is taken from my photograph of the rockscape on Pt. Cartwright, seen below.

I have discussed the concept behind this Rockscape Series in Posts Nos. 9, 67, 69, 72, 78 and 81, so dear reader, go to these past posts if you are interested in more about this series.  Each painting addresses a different concern.

The composition of this watercolour is simple and flat.  This is consistent with my style even though I have portrayed the photo realistically.  It is balanced with the viewer’s eye being drawn to where the coke can (the pollution) is, which is the focal point. 

Watercolour paint gives a very soft effect and the colours are clear and unambiguous.  An artist cannot “fudge” a watercolour painting because of its transparent quality.  The style is contemporary.  The form is two dimensional and the concept is abstract.

The title gives the meaning of the art work and this title is used for the whole series.  Each painting in the series is numbered. 

I am a colourist.  I go to great care to create colours in my painting that are unique and I spend endless time planning and mixing these colours.  Watercolour paint is celebrated for the unique way that light is represented through this medium.  However over the past few years, since the advent of PCs, paintings have increasingly been selected and often judged from computer photographs.  As a painter, I find this practice very limited. A painting in reality and a painting produced digitally are not  the same thing.  Moreover size does matters!  When paintings are judged for an exhibition they are all viewed in the “same size” format from a computer and/or projected onto a screen.  Size is an element in the planning and production of a painting, and should not be reduced to one size fits all mentality. 

According to the computer scientist, futurist and author Jaron Lanier, “A digital image of a painting is forever a representation, not a real thing...A digital image, or any other kind of digital fragment is a useful compromise.  It captures a certain limited measurement of reality within a standardized system that removes any of the original source’s unique qualities.  No digital image is really distinct from any other; they can be morphed and mashed up.  That doesn’t mean that digital culture is doomed to be anaemic.  It just means that digital media have to be used with special caution.” (my emphasis)  (from “You are not a Gadget” p.133-4).  In other words a painting loses its inherent integrity when it is copied.  Lanier is very concerned with the way the arts and creativity are being compromised by the way computer programming industry has evolved which, in his view, has rendered the present generation culturally impotent.

Lanier goes on to state, “A real painting is a bottomless mystery, like any other real thing.  A painting changes with time.  It has texture, odour and a sense of presence and history.” (from “You are not a Gadget” p,133-4) Expanding on what Lanier says, I would stress that it also is a form of human expression – no other creature communicates in graphic form nor do they think creatively. 

Once a week over the last 86 weeks, I have prepared and published a post about one of my paintings with an emphasis on Understanding Abstract Art.  However from this week onwards I will be writing on a less regular basis.  I will however notify readers in the same way, through Facebook and LinkedIn.  Therefore expect the next post from me in about a fortnight’s time.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #85

“Togetherness”

(Watercolour)  

20x20cm 

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

This watercolour was the first I attempted.  I took the subject (Bridie and Connie – my granddaughters) from a photograph which my daughter Bernice took.  I thought that the composition was intriguing.  Not having any training in watercolours I was waded into deep water myself and can confirme that watercolour painting is very difficult to master.  It took me quite a time to figure it out and even now I am not completely competent.  A couple of books which are invaluable to the beginner to watercolour painting are ”Making Colors Sing” by Dobie and “Colour Choices – Making Colour Sense out of Colour Theory” by Quiller.  I think that the former is out of print now but you may be lucky to pick up a second hand copy.

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

With watercolour painting I am more methodical than I am with acrylic.  I work out the composition and what palette I will use in advance.  Firstly I painted the image in a gradation on a separate sheet of paper to get the highlights.  Then I re-sketched the image onto 300g watercolour paper.  The colours for my palette were then thought out.  I wanted to achieve a cool light as the subject is in natural light, so I kept the background cool and the figures warm.  I keep notes on my painting process when I paint in watercolours.  The palette is below:-

Watercolour Palette:

Aureo. Yellow

Rose Madder

French Ultra Blue

Cad. Red

Windsor Blue (or Phthalo Blue)

Indian Red

Aliz. Crimson

Veridian

Cobalt Blue

Light Red

Windsor Green (or Phthalo G.)

I kept the colours naturalistic with expressionistic overtones.  The palette is analogistic which means that the colours are adjoining on the colour wheel.  There are vibrant notes as seen with the use of yellow.  The painting is in mid tones.  Form is natural with a one point perspective but I have purposely kept the painting flat and stylized as this is generally my approach.

Although this is a genre painting which means it is a painting of everyday life, it is also of my two granddaughters so it is a double portrait also.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #81

“The Fractured Earth” #7

Rockscape Series

Watercolour, Ink and Silver Ink on handmade paper

83x98cm  (framed)

ABOUT THIS PAINTING and the artistic techniques used in this painting:

I believe the process of painting is a bit like the process of living.  We do not have a say in who our parents are.  Nor do we have any say in the country into which we are born.  The era in which we live also is out of our control.  We do however have control over the way we respond to the circumstances of our life.  Therefore when I paint I often do not take too much effort in controlling the subject matter.  So when I took the photos that became the basis for my rockscape series, I aimed the camera at interesting rock formations, with little thought to the composition of the picture.  This is the photo I used for this painting.

When I selected the ten photos from the 60 or more photographs I took, again I was looking for unusual rock formations.  I believe that if one is given a subject that stimulates, then one should be able to accomplish a well balanced and pleasing painting.  It is the process of painting (like the process of living) that interests me as much as the finished product.  I believe that given my painting experience I should be able to create a beautiful picture using whatever means as are available to me.  A bit like creating order out of chaos.

I have discussed the concept behind this Rockscape Series in Posts Nos. 9, 67, 69, 72 and 78, so dear reader, go to these if you are interested.  However in the past I have not discussed the process involved in any particular one of this series.  I will do this here.

The photo image was faithfully reproduced in watercolour paints and inks.  When I had completed this I felt that the composition was not balanced.  I therefore used a device (seen as a ghost net) to balance the painting.  A ghost net is a discarded fishing net which is a major polluter of our oceans.  It floats in the tides and drowns all marine life that gets caught in it.  Some of these nets are miles long. So in this painting I used the net as a visual device to balance my composition.  It also fitted well with the concept behind the series which is concerned with the degradation of the natural environment – particularly the oceans and their coastal regions.

Nets are very difficult to draw because our eye tends to know if the net is not correct.  I obtained some old netting from of the fisheries at Mooloolaba.   I had a few attempts before I was satisfied with the end result.  This was then inked in with a bamboo pen.  The sea shells also were drawn with inks. The fish image is a collage made from silver ink on transparent plastic and fixed within the ghost net.  The dead fish is to remind the viewer of the destructive nature of these discarded nets and their toll on marine life.

I always find it a challenge to create a pleasing picture from something which poses a technical problem.  It is the sense of accomplishment that is at the base of creativity.  What do you think?   I would welcome your comments.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com 

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #78

“The Fractured Earth #6”

The Rockscape Series

 (Mixed water media with collage on watercolour paper) 

Size:  83x98cm (framed)

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:

This painting is one of ten paintings in the Rockscape Series. This series deals with environmental issues and in particular the degradation of the oceans and their shores.  I used water media for this series to emphasise the watery theme.  All in this series are based on photographs of the rock formations seen at Point Cartwright near where I live in Australia.   Other posts about this series are found in Post No.19, 67, 69, and 72.  They discuss the paintings in “The Fractured Earth – Rockscape Series” #2, #4, #5 and #1 respectively. 

This particular one in the series deals with the pollution caused by oil spillage which is a real danger to the state of Queensland which relies on tourism for a major part of its revenue.

The photograph below is of one of these intriguing rock formations.  You must admit that it looks more like a moonscape than a rock on a coastal headland.

ART TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS PAINTING:

This paint was initially painted in watercolour and as true to the photograph as possible.  The green images in the painting represent the indentations in the rock’s surface.  Originally the background colour of the rock was a mauve violet in watercolour, but later I changed it to a bright yellow orange in acrylic.  I took this artistic licence because the painting was looking drab and needed to be lifted.  The indentations remained untouched and still in watercolour.  To achieve this I applied contact adhesive plastic to the entire paper surface and then outlined the green images.  I then cut around them and peeled the surrounding plastic off thus leaving the green images protected by the contact plastic.  I was then able to use a roller to apply the yellow orange acrylic evenly over the entire surface without damaging the green images which represent the indentations in the surface of the rock formation.  You will note that the yellow varies from a yellow orange in the centre to a yellow green at the edges.

I used two photos of crabs (different sizes) and placed them into the composition.  I then randomly poured a blue violet acrylic around the entire image in an anti-clockwise direction.  This final spontaneous action represents the disruption that oil spills have on the natural ocean environment. 

I would place this painting in the category of a documentary-history genre.  I would be interested to hear your comments on this.

http://www.buderimartstudio.com