(7)
SAT 2 MARCH
We're done (7). A diagonal flash of yellow on the right-side - opaque to transparent - and a new pink stripe on the roof on the left, echoed by a spot on the right.
The title 'Window' refers to both inside and outside: the idea of a 'view' through a window and the accidental yellow window in the beach hut on the left, formed as a consequence of the painting around, Or is this a painting of a painting on a yellow wall? Bit of Bonnard in there, bit of Matisse...Looking forward to seeing the beach huts in Brighton this week when I visit Kellie Miller Arts Gallery...
(6) detail
Incredibly, over 4 days I used 27 brushes, 6 palette-knives & 13 paint-pots!
(5) paint pots
(4)
FRI 1 MARCH
A good session today (4). There is a strength in the composition and a delicious tension between freedom and control - a bit of over-editing or a mark too many could kill the piece...
I'm enjoying the transition and balance between the solid shapes in the top-left and the more open centre. That blue triangle is daring and the yellows sing among the more subdued complimentary mixes. I've softened and refined the drawing - now the huts are grounded - breaking the lines in places, allowing more flow around the painting and giving more emphasis to the angled lines and diagonal movement.
(3)
I often work on my painting in the evening on Photoshop, trying out ideas. Here you can see the effect of a single line on the painting.(3). On the left, the new blue line in the bottom right corner, almost forces the hut to bulge outwards. On the right, the thin yellow angled line coming in from the right edge, makes the 'frame' flatter, more ambiguous and brings a touch of yellow into that part of the painting.
(2)
THURS 29 FEB
A line of linear beach huts provides a structure within the structure.(2). Since my art-college days, living in Whitstable I've been fascinated by beach huts, their individualism, quirkiness and fragility. It's important to express this in a painting and I think it's happening here, alongside the geometric possibilities. I've thought for a while the 'Beach Huts' series needed a larger piece.
Got to keep the strangeness, the tension between image and abstraction, there is no point in painting the world as it is...
(1)
WED 27 FEB
Enjoying mixing new colours and laying them down on a backgound of scrubbed down Michael Harding Transparent Gold Ochre...(1)