I have not posted any paintings in the last couple of weeks: I was working on a commission for a series of 14 paintings for a gallery. Here are four of the pieces
After completing the commission, I felt a bit numb when facing a blank board.
I have talked before about having strategies to kick start or open up new possibilities of working but since I’ve been asked a few questions from viewers of my more recent video, I thought it timely to give some details about how I sometimes work.
The tile of small studies below are each 4.5″ square that might inform larger pieces but are essentially a way to free up.
They are a series of acrylic bleeds on 2 sheets of heavy watercolour paper, size A2, which I have then cut up into squares. Once they are cut up, I enjoy turning them upside down or 90 degrees left or right till I see a possible opening.
This seemingly haphazard way of working, apart from the regularity of cutting up the same size, is a great way to free myself up.
It is really important to have fun with paint and colour, to keep an open mind and a child-like attitude to play with no expectation nor structure.
Giving time to explore helps me replenish the well of creativity.
To see something from “nothing” is endlessly fascinating.
In the photo, the square studies have been jumbled and worked on with oil pastels and paints.
I have mentioned in a previous post how Da Vinci had a similar approach. He looked for imagined landscapes in the stains on walls.
Below, I’m looking for landscapes in the acrylic stain on board.
The poured “crazed” part of the initial process is an acrylic fluid made by “Golden”, a leading brand of liquid acrylic paint. It’s an excellent product with a high pigment saturation.
When working on this part of the painting I use all sorts of tools and implements. Straws, cotton buds, Sponges, rollers, paint knives, my nails and of course, rags.
First, I spray the board with a mix of water and acrylic flow extender to facilitate a watercolour-like bleed and encourage the colours to blend into one another.
Then, as you have probably noticed, I move the board around.
The action and flow of the paint can give me a glimpse of something. When that’s the case, I follow it to see where it takes me. An arrangement of colour or tone appears, often a vague outline that triggers a memory recall or something from my imagination.
What is real and what is imagined, I could not tell you.
I leave the acrylic under-layer to dry for a day or two. The colour saturation gives depth and complexity to the finished pieces.
I then proceed to work in oils over the top, completely covering the board in either glazes or textured paint.
This way of working acts as a catalyst dredging emotions or feelings from the past of places seen or felt.
When I see and feel nothing at all, I wait a day or two and look at the paintings at different times of day. Often when I see things in the half light of morning or evening, I see an opening into the work.
This is just one way of refilling the well.
I would love to hear what you think.
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I love the play of light in these four paintings. It would be interesting to see the other ten paintings in the commission to see how they relate to each other. Your information about ‘replenishing the well’ provides a very insightful window onto how you develop your ideas, thank you for allowing us to see this. Congratulations on your commission, I’m sure you will have many more.
Hello Tisha,
Glad you enjoyed seeing the four. I think having certain strategies in place can get us through the hump and get the well filled again. Thank you for your comment on the commission.
Hi John, I love the 4 pieces, I’m not qualified to technically analyse what I see. They all please my eye. I’m loving your new approach, interesting and exciting to see what comes forth. You know me for my honesty and it will continue. It’s usually easy for me to pick a favourite – out of these four it’s difficult. I favour the larger piece. Congratulations. x
Hello Diane,
That’s great that you like them. I enjoy working this way as it keep things fresh and immediate, hopefully that transmits to the viewer. Thank you for your encouraging comment
Thanks so much for this inspiring post. It’s given me much needed impetus and ideas for getting over a slump. I love the way you work, letting the painting suggest itself. And I too would love to see more of the commissioned work. Thanks again!
That’s great Colette, glad that it connected with you and made sense. I’m sure you’ll get over the slump and be flying soon with your own work. Thank you for your kind words it is much appreciated.
a very interesting post, John, and very generous with your insights. I must have a second read of it later, thanks, eoin
Thanks a lot Eoin, much appreciated
Lovely pieces, John. Thank you for sharing your creative process. I’m sure anyone who has ever been “stuck” will appreciate, as I do, yet another way to loosen things up. I wish you the best on your show.
Hello Ginny,
I should be thanking you, it was your comment that in no small part led me to write the post. I think we all go through the “stuck” phase at some stage don’t you think? it’s good to have a few ways to unstuck ourselves 🙂 Thank you Ginny.
Congratulations on the commission, John. And thank you for sharing these four works, as well as your insights on inspiration. I think that a “child-like attitude to play with no expectation nor structure” is a great summation of the openness that can lead to creative flow. These are all beautiful paintings, though “Lights Across the Water I” speaks to me especially. I love those darkish pieces that hint at something beautiful and mysterious just beyond reach and vision. Wishing you great success with the new work!
Hello Josephine,
I really saw this post as accompanying the videos, as a couple of questions came up regarding the materials used and the underpainting etc. So it was good to clarify those points. I wanted to come back with something that explored what I had been doing for the last few weeks as I have been AWOL from blogging. Your particular favourite “Lights Across the Water I” is also one of mine as it came together really quickly, just hitting the right note, a rare occurrence!
Thank you for your encouraging comments
I found this very interesting John and I can appreciate how having a strategy must be a great help when you are trying to ‘get started’ and as a way to develop your ideas. I know from earlier posts how important it is to you to keep the freshness and spontaneity in your work. I think it is evident in all of the paintings shown and they are absolutely lovely and I am sure the commissioning gallery will be delighted with them.
I think it is important Christine, to have a way to make and not wait around for the muse. Most people in their day to day work life have to turn up. I think it is the same for painters and makers, we need to turn up and work through the “stuck” times. Glad you like the paintings and thank you for your kind comments, much appreciated.
Hi John!
Thanks for showing a part of your commissioned work. It is as lovely, phantastic and colourful as ever! I can smell the lavender…
Have a great show!!! Toi! Toi! Toi! (German wishing-well-word 🙂
You have said something very interesting, as I take it: Just go ahead doing, creating, playing, working… When I find my well dry I draw a flower that soon will get many sisters on a white sheet of paper, and when I start to colour the flowers something new will find space to grow…
Good luck for you! Frauke
Hello Frauke,
Thank you for your special wishes. That way of doing things sometimes works for me and hopefully other people. I do like your beautiful image of the flowers and how they might grow, it forms an image in my mind. I hope your own work is going well. good luck to you too, John
This is great, John, and so helpful. I’m at a “well is dry” moment after a month of intensive study/work/craft. All through that month, I wished for more joy and less pain, more freedom and fewer must-do’s. Play is everything. You help me to imagine how to get back to it. Thank you!
And, yes, congratulations on the commission. What size will you be working in for that?
Hello Rachel,
That’s great that you found it useful. It seems like you have been very busy yourself of late, maybe it’s a constant balancing act between form and freedom, “must do’s” and play. I think play has a big part in unhitching us from ploughing the same furrow.
Thank you Rachel for the good wishes, they are all smallish pieces for a group show on that theme, they have been completed, bought and being sent next week