Henri Matisse

Recently I have been writing a critical essay on 'Notes of a Painter' by Henri Matisse (for one of my modules) and in doing so, have become totally absorbed in the artist's earlier works.

Last year I attended the 'Cut-Outs' exhibition at the Tate Modern, which displayed a great collection of Matisse's cut-out works created simply with gouache, paper and scissors. I found the exhibit particularly exciting, though I had not considered Matisse's earlier works - until now.

In writing this essay I have got to know (as far as one can know an artwork without seeing it in the flesh) the artist's earlier works from the Fauvism movement in French painting, such as Woman with a Hat (1905) and Blue Nude (1905). By studying such works I have been inspired by Matisse's use of colour and loose rendering of shapes, which is something I would like to consider in my upcoming work.

Vase with Fruit (1901)

From the works I have studied, I have admired Vase with Fruit (1901) the most. I adore Matisse's consideration of colour pallet in this painting and his use of loose brush strokes quite exciting.

Increasing the Scale

Over the past week I have been working on a new project, painting in response to feedback I received from my peers and tutor. I try to take the insights of those around me into consideration regarding my artwork (particularly of those I share a studio with) as I wish to communicate through my work and learn if my ideas have been received the way I intended.

Two very important - or what I considered to be important - points made in my critical evaluation regarded depth within my paintings and their size. It was clear that I was unsuccessful in creating the desired depth within my work, which was something I began to tackle immediately in my Prussian Blue mini series on wood. After believing that this was successful, I challenged myself to up the scale of my work and paint on a much larger surface.

It is at this second point that I am currently working. The piece is one hundred centimetres square, almost four times the size the majority of my previous paintings on canvas. I decided to continue with my choice of colour from the Prussian blue mini series, adding hints of yellow ochre, burnt umber and the tiniest amount of silk purple to keep the piece interesting. I feel that this colour pallet is suitable for what I had envisioned painting and that the earthy tones create a nice contrast amongst the blue. In addition to this, I've been using heavier brush strokes to that of my last pieces, which have helped in creating texture and thick layers of acrylic.

So far I am nine hours into working on this painting; I'm enjoying the process however challenging and feel that I am learning more about my project through painting this particular piece than I have any of my past work. I'm especially enjoying the colour pallet and have ideas about creating a series involving these tones.

Above are two images I took close-up of the piece I am currently working on, demonstrating my use of brush strokes and colour pallet.

Summer Skies

Below is a selection of photographs I took earlier this year of the sky in different states. I was fascinated as to how different factors (time, weather, etc.) can have an impact on the skies colour and shape of clouds. These photos present some interesting colour pallets that I may consider using in my upcoming work.

Back to Blue

Continuing with my practices on wood, I created another piece - about the same size as those in my "Earthy Tones" post - but this time in blue shades. I made the decision to continue working on wood as I find the surface easy to paint on. This was something I discovered whilst working on my last two paintings, seen in my previous post. For the colour however, I chose to use Prussian Blue purely out of my love for blue tones and mixed it only with Titanium White to achieve the different shades. In my mind, this brought me back to my first few experimental paintings I created before the start of term.

With this painting I chose to leave some areas of the wood visible, much like I had experimented with previously and felt worked well. Furthermore, I tried using a combination of controlled brush strokes and spontaneous pallet knife applications, which resulted in a mixture of blended colours and textured layers.

I enjoyed blending the blue shades into eachother and overlaying them with heavy paint. I felt this had an interesting effect, as well as creating a suitable amount of depth within the piece.

After completing this piece, I decided to create another using the same techniques I have described above. Once finished and placed together, I felt that these two paintings looked interesting as a series.

Earthy Tones

After working mostly with bright colours, I decided to create a couple of small pieces in darker, more earthy tones. I found that in doing so I was able to create more depth within my work. I also discovered how well pastel colours contrast with the reddish-brown tones, such as the pink in these paintings.

In addition to experimenting with different colours, I tried working on a different surface: wood as opposed to canvas. I wanted to try this as I thought the earthy tones might go well with the colour of the wood surface, which may be interesting to leave spaces in the paint for the surface to show through. I felt that my predictions were correct and that these pieces worked well, but I also found that the wood had a smooth surface that was enjoyable to paint on.

Pallet Knife Practice

Alongside my paintings I have been practising creating shapes and textures with pallet knives, exploring the different ways I can create interesting effects with paint.

Sketching Start Points

Though I haven't practised my drawing skills in a while, I've been thinking that in order to collect ideas and refresh my mind I should be drawing more whilst I am out and about. 

I drew this quick little sketch of some thorns I saw whilst out walking a few weeks ago and was surprised to see how many different shapes I could use in my future paintings.