Andrew Watson: A Week in the Studio
Andrew Watson
01.03.21 - 07.03.21
Day 1:
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*I always like to begin the week looking for stories of altruism and community art projects. Even if I may not use some that I find, these stories give me a sense of urgency and inspiration to paint and express what I'm feeling in response to them.
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*I've been following the work of Jaime Gil for some-time and his project DIAMANTE DE LAS SEMILLITAS(2011) in Venezuela, which was commissioned by the local government.
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*The premise was to place these stainless steel sheets of colour around the centre of town, and alongside the buildings and day-to-day life, they make for a stunning view: “together it can all be seen as a painting. The piece wants to join all these areas visually, uniting them to create pride in those who live nearby, and hopefully admiration in those who visit" Jamie Gil.
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*By the end of the day, I will have selected an image that I believe works in what I'm trying to convey, and compositionally as a painting.
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Day 2
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*I'm very impulsive as a painter, particularly as the application and use of colour has the ability to lift my mood so quickly. In a similar way, when I come across a story, scene or film that has a deep effect on me, I'm eager to react to that sense of wonder and amazement as quickly as I can. There's something about sketching, planning and consolidating, that more often than not, saps any initial passion and joy I had for what I'm trying to convey.
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*However, before painting, I do some iPad Paintings of the chosen image; They really help me familiarise myself with the subject and the environment, and also get some early ideas of how I may like my 2 paintings to look.
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*What the iPad(Adobe fresco) offer that sketching or a preliminary painting does not, is that similar feeling of reacting to the story and images with a sense of immediacy, whereby I have any colour, material, shape or size, the touch of a button away.
Day 3:
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*Having always loved and been inspired by the work of David Hockney, this week I want to see how I can incorporate some of his techniques, particularly in the way he constructs his large scale paintings.
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*I'm especially fond of his use of many panels to create a larger picture, as shown in his Grand Canyon painting above.
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*So I decided to split my painting into 2 separate canvases, one panel focused on the solitary figure(foreground), the other the cityscape and colourful steel sheets(background).
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*I also like to prime each canvas with an acrylic colour, that I feel jumps out the most in both the foreground/background.
Day 4 Morning:
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*For the majority of the painting, I use acrylic to layout the general map of both images, and not get too caught up in unnecessary details.
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*This academic year, I've really enjoyed the advantage of having 2 paintings on the go, the way one can inform the other, and the relief they can offer, when frustrated and needing a break from either one.
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*For the beginning I like to keep the painting simple, but I'm being very selective on colours and shades I choose to include/exclude from the image.
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Day 4 Afternoon:
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*In my recent feedback, I was made aware of the compositional difference between my iPad studies and my paintings; the background colours and supporting features were much more confidently and cleanly filled out in the iPad studies, which allowed for a more natural focus on the figures, and their relationship with their environment.
*Some of the secondary areas in previous paintings had some unnecessary gestural marks, which slightly drew your attention away from the image's central focus and undermined the reality of the urban landscape.
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*So in applying the 2nd layer of acrylic to this painting, I decided to fill out areas more boldly, be more precise with my brush and use palette knife in certain areas to give the background areas a thickness that wasn't distracting but highlighted the building/concrete's solidity as an object.
Day 5:
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*The aim of this image was not only to highlight the benefits of community art projects(especially from a visual standpoint), but also to convey a child's sense of play and imagination.
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*Alluding to the sense of story and fantasy that has always driven my love of painting.
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*I split the image in 2, to make it seem like the boy was running into this alternate magical world, even though he's effectively running towards a real place.
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*The shards of different colours made this a lot easier, especially as I allowed the background colour to come through in both images.
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*It was only for the white drips in the upper canvas, and figure below that I used oil paint.
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*I mixed in some linseed oil(something I usually do) so that the figure and white above would really jump out of the canvas and dominate the overall image.
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*Whilst there are few areas to touch up next week, I'm very pleased with the overall composition, the choice to split the image in 2, and the figure's relationship with the cityscape.
Day 6:
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*As I approach the end of each painting, I begin to reflect on how well it's conveyed that sense of play and imagination, and also how it reflects my desire for more Community Art Projects especially in deprived neighbourhoods where a sense of hope and joy is needed more.
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*Having had my group crit in the middle of the week, the relationship between myself and the figure/location was brought into question.
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*I realised the significance of where these projects were taking place, especially in how I related to them personally.
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*So I began to look for Community Art Projects based in the UK:
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*This is when I came across the work of Jeremy Deller; particularly his travelling installation Sacrilege(2012)(left). An inflatable replica of the prehistoric site Stonehenge where visitors were invited to jump and play inside of it. Which is a fascinating idea, as the real Stonehenge is also very big, but it’s hard to tell since it’s been roped off from the public since 1977.
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Day 7:
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*Again being able to use the iPad helped me get a rough idea about the direction I want this new painting to go, and the elements/figures that jump out to me the most.
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*Looking forward, I'm becoming increasingly aware of my own desire to see how I can come up with an art project that engages with the community.
*I aim in the coming weeks to document projects based more locally and also come up with some ideas for a project of my own.