A Useful Tool for Drawing With Paint and Moving in to the Studio

The painting, with a layer of drawn marks using the bottle system

It seems ages since I was last in London when we looked at Grayson Perry, Hockney and others.  While we were in the city I popped in to Atlantis Art Supplies and thinking of my problem of trying to produce similar marks to the ones in my drawings, but with paint, Sarah, who studied textiles at Winchester, introduced me to some little "bottles and tips".   This is actually what is on the packaging - there's no fancy name!  They are small plastic bottles that come with metal tips through which the paint, dye or ink is forced, a bit like a miniature icing nozzle (plain), with which you can draw.  And they work! 

The marks do get a little bit "blobby" occasionally, but actually no more often than my pen marks on absorbant paper (as in the Chinese notebook I have been using), and this system does allow for drawing with very fine lines with paint.  I am really surprised that it worked so well and glad that I have found a way of reproducing the marks similar to a pen that a brush simply will not.

detail

The bottles come in two small sizes and each metal nozzle has a corresponding pin to keep the hole clear and unblocked.  Each bottle also comes with a plastic cap to prevent the ink/paint from drying out.  It is recommended that the metal nozzle is removed and cleaned at the end of each session and the bottle capped until the next use.  The system is only recommended for acrylic paint, fabric paint and glues, obviously not quick setting glues. 

So far I have used it on the surface of the last painting, I kept the painting on the easel and worked with the bottle fairly upright.  I enjoyed the way the marks changed as I progressed across the different surfaces of the painting; the smoother surface of the collaged areas were just like working in a notebook, where the nozzle went across the more thinly painted areas of the canvas, it juddered a bit and I developed the technique slightly, holding it against the surface less firmly but when the nozzle "bit" into the cotton duck and wobbled, it made a much more tentative mark, which I like.  Across the thickly painted area it worked smoothly.  As I pointed out earlier, care had to be taken to avoid blobs, but even these, when they ran, created interesting marks, so I just kept going and went with it.

I am now making decisions about further layers for this painting and it will be put to one side for me to look at while I get on with finishing the studio and moving in, as well as making some more work at last.

The partition wall in the studio is now complete except for the final panel of mdf, which will have to wait as we forgot the rawl plugs yesterday and the upright at that end needs to be attached to a brick pillar.  The rest are up, fairly straight and gap free, all they need is a couple of coats of white matt emuslion.  Behind them there is a sandwich of plastic and insulation salvaged from the demolition at home.  There are a few big gaps to block somehow above the doors and at the base of the doors and then the space should be much more draught free.  I have no illusions that it will be warm, I have purchased a gas heater with the plan to buy another one if needs must during the winter.

Plastic in between the uprights, insulation and another layer of black plastic on top, should see the wall pretty draught, dirt and petrol fumes from next door free!

This work took us all day yesterday, made more awkward because the uprights were very odd distances apart, which meant that each sheet of mdf had to be cut seperately.  The back wall will be much easier because we are going to put the uprights where we want them and we'll be able to keep most of the sheets of mdf whole.  The rain didn't help; we had to keep rushing everything indoors to avoid the very heavy showers to keep the sheets from getting wet.

My trusty helper, Pete, without whose help none of this would happen!

Second layer of plastic before the boards

Completed wall, a gap to fill, (end upright not vertical!) and the final board to do when we remember rawl plugs.  Painted, it will make a brilliant working surface.

The plan is to move in this week. . . .

How Many: more thoughts on time and life

A thought occurred to me just before I fell asleep last night that I fortunately remembered this morning.  I need to keep a notebook by my bedside. 

How many breaths do we take in a lifetime?  And thus how many of anything significant to our selves/bodies constitutes a lifetime? 

graphite on cartridge paper

Repetition knits everything together . . .

graphite, compressed charcoal, acrylic paint and oil pastel

. . . just started a new drawing/painting on paper; I am really excited about this series of work, I am letting it go where it leads me at the moment, trying out several ideas and approaches.  Keep waking up with ideas to try out.  I love the ebb and flow of it, sometimes first layers need to be obliterated mostly with only traces allowed to show, and then worked on again to build up an interesting surface, keeping in mind what I want to express.

another layer of acrylic paint drawn on top of the previous one

all images copyright of the artist

Studio Refurbishments Continue

Chinese Sketchbook: drawings completed in March. . .

With Easter out of the way I am afraid I then fell into an exhausted decline for two days during which I mostly slept.  It did me good though; I now feel fine again and ready to get on with preparing the studio, I am anxious to complete this work because I really need to continue with my drawing and painting in peace.  I have made a few drawings in a Chinese sketchbook given to me by my son.

Pete and I went over to the studio last weekend and began work on the partition wall.  We managed to get most of the plastic up over the horizontal and gappy boards but had to call a halt before we finished the job because there are two holes that look like they may have been made by rodents, so they need to be boarded up.  We made a comprehensive list of  materials and tools we need for the next visit and went home.

I wish it was finished!  Pete, who helps.

 

With the building work going on at home, we are now the proud owners of an account with a local builders merchant, which means I will be able to order all the sheet boards we need for the studio and take advantage of the discount available, makes me feel very grown up!  Judging by the stress I am feeling today after having some serious discussion with consultant heating engineers, architects and workmen, I am going to need the studio in Stonegrave to escape to.

Painted Floor, and a New Painting, Plus: Dates For My Show

The space has gone from this,

... to this in just over a week, I shall soon be moving my stuff in to start work.

I am taking advantage of the fact that it is too cold to go out to the new studio space today, it is 3 degrees, there is a wind howling around the house and it has been raining hard since yesterday. I can see snow on the moors beyond the back of our house, towards Hutton le Hole.   As I write this the rain has stopped and the sun is shining weakly but I am not going out again, it is too cosy by the wood burner.

Pete had to leave for the States early on Saturday morning, and, despite being exhausted after the opening of the Nicholson show the previous night, I was up and in Jewsons before they closed, buying more PVA to seal the second wall at the new studio space.  On Sunday I spent a couple of hours painting the floor and I am pleased with the result; not only is it much lighter, the space is now cleaner and there will be  less dust flying around.  All I need to do now is get the partition wall sorted out and build the false walls in front of the masonry ones and I'll have plenty of space on which to work.  I am getting there!

Chinese newspaper, collaged onto colour washed canvas

I spent a few hours after working in the gallery this week, in my studio at home, making another painting.  These early works are using up some canvases I had kicking around the studio from another project and I am using them to explore solutions to some of the problems I have set myself with this current work; combining tally marks with references to landscape and man made marks in order to express the age old theme of the condition of humankind- how to deal with the inevitability of death, but in a positive way.

Tally marks, Chinese ink

First layer of paint, over the still wet tally marks

The painting as it is at the moment, it is not fully resolved; I may change some of the colour and drawing elements within the canvas.  For now though, I will put it to one side and make some more work until I have decided what to do.  I put the tangled, loopy drawing marks over the gestural paint rather than have it underneath as I have placed them so far in drawings and paintings.  This enabled me to draw into and with the paint with a more continuous line.

detail

detail

detail

The dates for my show next year are:  Saturday 20th April - Sunday June 2nd, 2013, 
at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire.

The Private view will be on Friday 19th April.

I am really excited by this prospect and the challenge it represents.

 

All images copyright of the artist.

New Studio, New Show in The Gallery

The space has real potential.

With builders just starting work on phase 3 of 4 at home, it became obvious that my studio  would be required for storing furniture and stuff as various floors in various rooms were taken up to be insulated and re-layed.  I came over all dynamic, made some enquiries about vacant spaces available and within two days had taken a space at Stonegrave. I think it will do me good to be around other artists who are on site once in a while too.   It will be great once I have made it a bit more habitable; at present it has 2 very crumbly stone walls and a leaky partition.  No wonder it gets so very cold during winter.  I am used to working in cold conditions - my old studio in Bramley near Basingstoke was perishing.  I have begun work to make this new space less draughty and dusty.

Stage one was to brush down all the rafters and ceiling boards as well as all the walls.  I then painted all the rafters and ceiling with brilliant white emulsion; I recommend Jewson's contract as it has really good coverage and was quite cheap.  I then realised that I would have to stabilise the stone walls, which were shedding quite astonishing quantities of dust so off I went to Jewson again and purchased their own brand of PVA.  I have used up the first large container and need to purchase another for the second wall.  Once I have applied this, which is done with a mixture of painting, scrubbing it into the loose mortar and generally slapping it on in large quantities whilst swearing gently under my breath, I shall then sweep up all the dust and detritis from the floor followed by a good vacuuming before I apply the floor paint.  I am using Ecos floor paint, which whilst expensive, is odour free and rollers can be cleaned with water.

It looks better already with the rafters and ceiling painted white.

These proceedures will make the space much less dusty, but I have realised that none of the walls are suitable for working on in their current condition.  The partition wall has lots of gaps, which will make it incredibly cold in winter and allow yet more dust to penetrate the space and the stone walls are far too unstable.  So the next plan of action is to take the insulation that we have salvaged from demolishing the lean to on the back of our house, to use the plastic membrane that I saved from another project to seal the wall, add the insulation and then board over this with boards saved from my old studio.  Once painted, this will make a suitable draft and dust free wall upon which to work.  I then plan to use the uprights from my old studio that I insisted we dismantle and move up to Yorkshire with us to create new uprights attached to the rafters, in front of the stone walls, and fix them to the floors with the saved metal brackets.  I will attach new boards to these, creating a false wall in front of the stone ones and this will help to create a barrier against the damp, dust and cold.  All this is taking much longer than I anticipated but I have a willing helper in Andy Dalton, who has promised to come over one weekend and help me get the false walls built, he is a friend indeed!

My first visitor. . .

Meanwhile, this Wednesday and Thursday has seen Andy, Gordon Bell and I hard at work to hang an incredibly huge number of works for the new show, F. Nicholson, Painter, Printmaker and Drawing Master.  I am happy to say that all the work that will fit is now up on the walls; this has entailed a great deal of soul searching on Gordon's part as he reluctantly withdrew some of his treasured collection because there simply was not enough room for everything. We have hung the work in groups, some of them in blocks of as many as four high, and it works, thanks to Andy's experience of curating and hanging similar shows in the past.  I learned a lot about multiple hangs and how to approach working with a large number of disparate frames.   It has been an incredibly hard couple of days, I don't think there has ever been this number of works on the gallery walls before.  Tomorrow will be spent touching out all the mirror plates and labelling, ready for the preview in the evening. I am glad that we cleaned up before we left tonight.  Just as we were hanging the final piece Yvette arrived with her colleague for a sneak preview and she was impressed and delighted with how it all looked.

Andrew Dalton and Gordon Bell discussing the hang in the early stages.

Yvette's sneak preview, deep in conversation with Gordon.

F. Nicholson, Painter, Printmaker and Drawing Master opens on 31st March and ends 20th May 2012 and is at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum.  www.thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com





Ryedale ArtWorks New Directory Launch

Next Tuesday is the launch of Ryedale ArtWorks Directory 2012, it took some manic editing for two days and is the best one yet.  It should prove to be a useful marketing tool for all the artists and galleries concerned.

www.ryedaleartworks.com  for more information.

Same Painting, a Day Later. . .

Winter (it's the same the world over)

It's not there yet, but I am beginning to work out how to bring the colours and marks of the seasons together with the tally marks, it is an interesting problem to solve.  Paint moves across the surface in a different way to a stick medium; it will not make a continuous mark and you have to constantly reload the brush.  I have had some thoughts about this and while the differences are part of what will make the work interesting, I think, I may experiment with a loaded bottle with a nozzle, to draw with the paint in a more continuous way to see how it works and looks.

Details of this work below:

I take detail photographs both as a way of showing the surface of the paintings but also to select areas of a work that might become another piece of work in its own right.  The challenge of scaling up the marks by using bigger brushes, larger quantities of paint and using the body more energetically to produce bigger gestures is something I have always found exciting.

All images are copyright of the artist.