Just read something very important and well said on an artist’s website. It was about a conundrum of abstraction: it’s all very well making a bunch of nice marks, but where is the intent? I have always felt abstraction more difficult to master because you have to invent the composition. With realism it is already a problem solved, but in abstraction it is up to you to find the balance, the rhythm, where to lead the eye, how is the design going to work etc.

I recently returned from a painting retreat in Cornwall and what really helped me was to identify what it was that attracted me to a scene.The way to discover that, is to do a LOT of small studies. I lined up 12 bits of scrap watercolour paper, pinned my outdoor sketches to the wall and began by attempting to make relevant marks and in doing so very quickly identified what it was I was trying to convey- light, turquoise, heat-those were my 3 words, and keeping them in mind as I made my moves kept me focussed. I actually painted those 3 words large on my wall, as a constant reminder

I ended up doing a series of 20 small paintings, some of which I really love, but that is not the point of the exercise, -there is now enough material, practise and experimentation gone into these that I now feel confident to move onto my 2 larger works- I have by now spent time with the subject and my experience of it to confirm my intent.

Here are 3 of the small more complex studies using collage, layers of watercolour and gouache

And more Boats-30cm x 30cm collage watercolour paper

Boat-30cm x 30cm collage mixed media on watercolour paper

Padstow -30cm x 30cm-mixed media collage on watercolour paper

2 larger paintings. Working this way means i can keep the fun factor and the momentum going without getting stuck in the middle, as i have established a process by doing all the smaller pieces.

larger painting underway-Big wave-70cm x 70cm

Hope this has been helpful!

what 3 words

Appreciating bad weather