Archive: May 2009 - October 2009

06/11/09

A sudden drop in temperature tells me that winter is moving in to Dundee quickly. The studio heaters are blowing at full power and I'm needing hot food and numerous cups of tea to rev me up in the mornings.

I have three images of one relatively brief pose compared to the previous life-painting sessions. Eddie, the model has these fantastic craggy features and I find myself drawn to the face/neck area again for the major tonal challenges. He has been facing into the relative dark of the wall so doing studies of these features in shadow is tricky for me. I started with some line drawings.

From here, I tried building a form and tonal study with line in the manner of some recent abstract pieces; dense areas of worked-in ballpoint marks. To intensify the marks and speed up the process I taped three pens together. This makes for a pretty obnoxious manner of drawing as the sound is produces is horrific. This tri-pen invention swirls continuously on the paper and the wooden board amplifies the relentless scoring sound.

I was aware of the time-pressure of this pose but didn't feel comfortable starting a larger piece until I'd attempted to tackle some of the tonal challenges in a smaller study. This little board is about 15cm across. I'm pleased with it but I doubt any larger piece will do it justice in the one day remaining. Still, I have two large supports prepared to tackle the three week pose scheduled soon.

Time to head back to Glasgow for work - burgers to be eaten en route.

By the way, the Diversions film festival starts tonight in Edinburgh. Go along, the programme is great.

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29/10/09

This painting is finished, for better or for worse. When I lifted it from the easel it was heavier than I would have liked - heavy with paint. I get the feeling I was just beginning to make something work with the flesh tones but the time to let it pass had been and gone. The next life pose starts this week. I have vague plans for it - something more rooted in preparatory drawings maybe. I've been working on some very intense little pieces of drawing. They're built up of some odd repeated marks with very heavy use of ink and whatever is emerging seems to be making its presence felt in my figurative images.

The tattooing progresses. It is still difficult and will be for some time to come. I'm becoming a little more considered, technically. For example, the shading of this shoulder piece went well but took far longer than I expected. I am feeling my way around the process and coming to terms with the fundamental differences between it and other 2D work. One thing I've really noticed is that it is very difficult to maintain the mental state required to do this, down tools and set up equipment for body-piercing. The two disciplines are so further apart than one might think.

The band have had a few days to concentrate on getting some recording done. We do this partly as an experiment to see if the 'live' setup works for us. If all goes well, we plan to piece an album together. Franz Ferdinand were good enough to let us use their studio and equipment that they used for their last album. Paul Savage, one of their producers, recorded the sessions.

Generally, recording is a boring procedure for me but this was a little different. Rather than sitting through massive chasms of time waiting for takes to be prepared, we all had more of a chance to pitch in with various ideas. This was in part down to the facilities of the studio. Franz Ferdinand have amassed a large quantity of low and hi-tech equipment and the atmosphere of the sessions was conducive to experimenting. The strangeness of the studio helped also. As part of a converted town hall with a derelict auditorium, we tried some vocal and percussive tracks recorded in this empty space. Simply, the acoustic effects were natural and enjoyable. There was an overall honesty to the recorded sounds that needed very little digital tinkering after.

In the past, we had tried recording in technically regimented manners, usually requiring a click-track, but the music suffers for this. We try to play expressive, swelling rhythms that rely on an intuition that is normally difficult to capture on tape. Happy accidents may occur. We have an album of material to go and I suspect we'll try to use similar conditions to capture it authentically.

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09/10/09

I've had a little time to settle in again and things seem to be going well. I've fallen into that usual pattern of fierce concentration within the studio during the day, punctuated by swimming, nearly killing myself in the sauna, afternoons back in the studio, a long run in the gym in the early evening and then unconsciousness for 8 hours or so. I've had a few busy evening working on the web material for this year's Diversions Film Festival. The programme looks great again so I encourage all who can to make time to come along to the Edinburgh Filmhouse next month and see for yourselves. Even if you're not a great fan of experimental film, you'd be surprised how accessible some of this is.

The tattooing is continuing at the weekends as normal. The trips back and forth from Glasgow are doing my head in but its a small price to pay if I'm going to keep my hand in this line of work. After a disconcerting experience last weekend (working on soft abdominal skin) it was good to continue the line work on extending Chris's upper arm piece that is now extending onto his shoulder and chest. Generally, linework is the scary stuff for a novice like me but as my boss, Morag comfortingly states, 'shading covers a multitude of sins'. Regardless, this lining session went well and did a lot to keep my confidence up.

Back to the painting.

I've had more than enough time to develop these 'fleshscapes' of the studio model. This first painting was done in an afternoon. There's a loose quality to the marks that doesn't really do the subtlety of the hand's form justice but I liked the overall texture and unhealthy suggestion in the skin tones. There's more green and grey in us than we think. This was intended as a preparatory study for a larger piece in a slightly unusual format.

The final piece was completed over the course of the week. A problem with this being that every time the model took a break, she sat in a slightly different configuration of folds and curves. Particularly difficult was finding any consistency in the hand's form so I eventually stuck to the pose of the hand in my first drawings.

The finished painting is about 3" across so the web page format doesn't help display it correctly. This 'letterbox' format is an odd choice for me and I'm not sure it entirely works. I've always had a problem with the tyranny of landscape and portrait formats which has often led me to work on square supports but this has become a tyranny in itself. The long thin image is an experiment, as is the use of oils in this way - I'm using a lot more transparent mixes to layer tones for these flesh colours. Additionally, Bob has set a variety of coloured fabrics around the models to reflect unexpected colours from the forms. I could lose myself for hours trying to hit the right combinations.

In the last two days I've started on a new painting. Dougie is a life model I've drawn before and I always seem to judge the success of capturing his likeness if I catch his crooked, half-smile correctly - makes me think of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park. This was going to be a painting pushed for time and was set up in a similar manner; coloured cloths, spotlights and overhead fluorescents, etc. Dougie seems particularly adept at replicating a pose so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try for a portrait. Bob, my tutor pointed out the complexities of trying to capture the shadow under his neck, saying it was like something Caravaggio would do. This is like holding a red rag to a bull for me - if he suggests a challenge I have to give it a try. Quick studies in pen help familiarise myself with the pose but I decided to go for the same drawing style as my odd abstract scene sketchbook - a continuous building up of line in a completely graceless and haphazard fashion eventually helps me catch the forms as well as tone.

After priming the canvas, there's this terrible moment when I find myself sitting at this new surface, trying to figure out where the first marks with the paintbrush are going to go - as if there was some formal recipe for choosing which places to represent first. There's no point delaying the inevitable. Even though I hate the first hour or so, I keep layering on paint, knowing that eventually something will cover the marks gone before. It seems like such a reckless activity in the face of technical tuition. Like learning to tattoo, there is no substitute for the experience of simply sitting down and making the image. I've always regarded painting as a process of eliminating the mistakes one doesn't want to keep - this description rings true to me no more completely than when painting portraits. Anyway, the painting is half-way complete if that means anything. I have a time scale to stick to and that more than anything spares me the decision of when to leave the image alone. I have the likeness and it'll soon be time to tie up the loose ends. I think I'll leave the peripheries loose and incomplete - I like the effect.

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23/09/09

After much waiting I am back in the Duncan of Jordanstone Studios, From here on the agenda is specifically fine art. This means different studios and projects with a greater emphasis on self-directed study and technical practices. For the first four weeks I am engaging in the fundamentals of oil painting and figurative representation. Our tutor, Bob McGillivray, has gone to great pains to go through a role-call of almost every material, medium and tool that can be used. The studio space is great, especially when considering its going to be somewhere to settle in for a few weeks. His paintings are dotted around the walls. They're often large scenic abstractions using hints of construction. He's been working on these pieces throughout the summer and they serve as examples of the variety of techniques he's been introducing.

So, the day finally came to start - and I woke up that morning with a sore throat, a pounding head and all the horror of the world pouring from my nose - not a good start. I soon felt the harsh glare of the studio lights hurting my eyes as I tried to draw from life for the first time in ages. Our life model is engaging. She is a particularly large woman and as such is very interesting to draw and paint - her flesh forms unexpected crevices and ravines as she takes a pose. Obviously, I want to get my head down and work, trying to attain that autopilot mental state and sense of concentration when the best work seems to emerge but I can't quite get there when feeling this ill.

Despite this, not wanting to leap immediately into the painting, I've spent a little time sketching an area within the pose that contains details of the hand trapped between the opposite elbow, her leg and torso. The result is a curious composition. I'm thinking of working it into either a long thing painting or possibly the square format. I started with a couple of loose drawings in the same hectic style that my recent ink sketches have been in.

There will be nothing idealised in the eventual painting. This woman has crenellated flesh. One can discern the cellulite, varicose veins and broken blood vessels. We will have a long, intensive period of work to concentrate on one or two paintings so I'm really keen to see what I can do with the texture. For whatever reason, my mind keeps returning to the texture of this photograph. Its a close up of a strawberry lollipop my dear friends brought me back from Arizona. There's a small scorpion encased in it. This strange object has been fascinating me for days and I can't help but think the colours and surface texture are going to seep into the painting somehow. I hope I feel better tomorrow and then I can get into it.

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10/09/09

In a couple of days, the new year at DJ starts. I haven't stopped for any kind of break over the last couple of months. My ambitions to take my new wool sculptures and a variety of other structures out into the streets was completely scuppered by the permanent rain in Glasgow. Still, I'm not that troubled. The wool creations are ongoing and I can only blame myself for choosing a new art material that happens to be so absorbent.

I kept a small book to develop drawings based on the cross-hatched line work of the wool structures. It turned into a very free collection of intense abstractions. There's plenty of energy and movement in them as a result of their formlessness and raw marks. I'm curious to know if they could be worked up into larger pieces but I fear the paintbrush could dumb down the effects of the pen.

I have a whole book of this stuff - most of it leaves me cold but the occasional image has some accidental piece of composition that catches my eye and tempts me into re-working it with some form of representation in it; a landscape or a portrait perhaps.

Of course, I'll be launched into new project work next week so this will probably drift as experiments often do. Its good to be back in Dundee, knowing that I'll be in the studios soon. I have the pool and the gym nearby to keep me focused. I'm also continuing to learn tattooing in Glasgow as well as having gigs lined up with the band so I'll be constantly on the move throughout winter. I'm always more active in the winter and there's lots to do.

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25/07/09

Its been a while since I last updated this page. Some of the wool experiments haven't worked as planned and others are waiting for the right turn of weather before I can try them outside. I've been spending a lot of time with the body piercing, playing music, designing people's tattoos, photography, etc.

The band continues to be a real pleasure. We've been recording three songs for general release and they're going through the mixing phase right now. We'll be taking a step back from the live shows soon as Ragnar spends some time in Germany and Charlie goes to Serbia. For promotional purposes, I've been taking some photographs; trying to capture some imagery that can be used for websites, fliers, etc. Its so easy to make things appear contrived and forced, which is certainly not what this band or its music is about. The live shows are great. I've been playing drums for long enough that I really don't have to struggle to get things sounding right anymore. I play very intuitively and usually with a big smile on my face. Meticulous rehearsals usually have the songs sounding very precise and tight but there's some kind of excitement that causes us to throw little experiments into the dynamics o the songs. Particularly, I know Charlie had some reservations about being a front man from behind a keyboard but the energy and passion he gives off make it an entertaining experience. He's a natural. All three of the guys have a great live presence as well as musical skill. So, the next shows will be in September - you can keep up to date with the band's to-ings and fro-ings here... www.myspace.com/fearthefives

I've started the basics of tattooing. Some time ago my friend, Erik, offered to let me tattoo his leg - giving me an experience of what it is like to make marks with a tattoo machine. We finally got around to it the other day. I have also been asked to train up to a professional level to help out in the shop. My friends with Tribe seem to think this won't be a problem for me although obviously it is a bit intimidating.

I have a few reservations with the concept. For one thing, I've made a flying start with my coursework in fine art and this is definitely the professional route I want to take. However, as a poverty-stricken student, the prospect of tattoo money is pretty seductive; it pays well. From a practical perspective it could work out very well, allowing me to continue the fine art studies and studio time as well. It would be hard work but I'm used to biting off more than I can chew. One nagging concern is the gulf between tattooing and fine art. It exists, that's for sure.

There are those within the arts establishment and education who run screaming from the notion of body art in general. I've also met some tattoo artists who equally sneer at the perceived pretensions and lack of training or discipline within fine art. I see no actual disconnect myself but the attitudes of some bother me. The bottom line for me personally is that I would love the opportunity to get my teeth into another medium - especially considering I have designed so many pieces for people. I've been lucky enough to work with others who appreciate the difference between highly-skilled custom work and badly executed squiggly black spikes. Morag points out that I'm halfway there already, what with the artwork and the technical know-how of body piercing.

From my first experience - well, it takes some getting used to. The mark-making of drawing can be so expressive for me normally, laying down very quick lines. Lining with a tattoo machine is precisely the opposite. Following a stencil requires patience and a steady hand. The surface of the skin meets the needle in a mess of ink and blood, so much so that it isn't always easy to see exactly what is happening. A certain zen-like calm and blind faith that the results you want will materialise is required. This is a little unnerving but not utterly dissimilar to my experience of painting.

Of course, most people will invariably think of the permanence of the mark - the inevitability of it - that each mark in the skin has to be correct as it is worn for life. Well, for me that's a challenge but not a fear. In any event, a painting can exist for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A tattoo goes the way of all flesh.

I'm tired and my back hurts. If I'm lucky I'll maybe have a little holiday time to myself - I might take the tent somewhere remote and live on beans and sausages for a bit.

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11/06/09

Staying in Dundee feels like a solitary existence much of the time. Its a small town and mostly I keep my head down and work. I work and draw inward. Still, now I am 'summering' in Glasgow I realise I have neglected and appreciate the benefits of spending time with others - those who's company I value. Certainly, I'm not getting so much studio work done but its been nice helping out in the shop again. The other day saw us all meeting up for a lazy Sunday afternoon - a photo-op party for some regular customers and social occasion for old friends.

It was all good clean fun - even if I did end up surviving on wine and crisps for the whole day until going to play poker that evening absolutely wasted - ah well. Thanks especially to Morag for finishing the piece on my side the other day. It hurt like hell.

The other social /creative pursuit that has been an absolute joy recently is the band I'm playing in. After a year or so of systematically arranging material written by my friends Alex and Charlie, we are now playing a set of songs that are a whole lot of fun for me. Like painting, I find it best not to too closely analyses music that I play and just go with my instincts. Having to pick apart the minutiae of what's going in a band doesn't always bode well but I am particularly happy with the way this music is sounding - and as ever, it is such a rare and wonderful opportunity to play music that you love with people who are good fun, good friends and share the same aims.

You can hear the first ropey recordings here although I must stress that now we're playing shows in earnest and arranging new recordings the sound is very different. I brought the camera along to the studio the other day with the vague intention of making some photo-collages. These are the results.

One sad aside.

Sheina was a wonderful, fun woman - and she was once a great help to me personally. She read my inane ramblings. I'm so sorry to hear that she's gone, as are all who loved her.

I miss you.

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20/05/09

My odd little wool creations are finally beginning to survive the processes of their making. By combining two or three balloons, the inner shapes were often too large to sustain a wool frame that supported its own weight. Eventually, I happened upon a cocktail of PVA glue, acrylic medium, white acrylic and plaster that dried the wool in a strong enough lattice to survive the bisecting of the form into these hemispheric shapes.

As a scenic or environmental setting, the garage downstairs offers a bleak location, especially at night. I waited until after sunset to use the fluorescent lights as the only source of illumination. Spaced around the concrete in seemingly random arrangement, these forms make me think of thick paint that has been flicked from the bristles of my paintbrush and magnified greatly. At their natural scale they are reminiscent of foam allowed to drift to the ground. Maybe its just the presence of the cars that make me think of this.

These are drawings. It seems odd to so blatantly describe obviously 3D objects as drawings but they simply are. All the line work is a direct interpretation of the way I make marks in my sketchbooks right now; its all very linear and amassed. In making these shapes, wool was pulled around the balloon forms in intuitive gestures - building up lines to accentuate some areas, neglect others and reinforce structurally. The next step is to make larger objects. Their scale will present more technical difficulties but I think the main obstacles are out of the way. I plan to construct a large armature in the studio - a means of suspending a giant balloon structure that I can then wind huge quantities of wool around. As for the finished results, I'm interested in the way sunlight shines through these structures and the shadows they cast - I think I feel another short film coming on.

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13/05/09

I'm back in Glasgow - started working on an idea that popped into my head and refuses to go away until I've had a shot at it. This is based around something I was shown how to do when I was five or six years old.

The idea is based on using a balloons as a shaping structure that wool soaked in glue can be wrapped around. Once the lattice of wool is dry, the balloon can be removed to leave a hollow form of curving lines. Ultimately, I'd like to take these shapes and cut them into hemispheres and other curving organic shapes with a flat base. If I could harden them appropriately then I could paint them with a matt bone-white colour as well as other occasional patches of colour. as ever, I have a visual image in my head and now I'm figuring out how to achieve these results. The first steps have been experiments. I've already had frustrating moments where loops of wool have untwined themselves from the balloon and collected on the floor. Other experiments with plaster have led to the balloons bursting before the glue has set. Most difficult of all was how to systematically loop the wool around the balloons in a way that was efficient and used enough glue without the wool tangling uncontrollably. I figured it out. The wool runs into the bucket over a bar and into a solution of wallpaper-paste, PVA glue and white acrylic. It then runs out of a metal tube that is sufficiently heavy to keep the wool moving in one line at a time. Then I can draw it out as I need it onto the balloon. I've made a few shapes of different sizes and they're hanging in the studio, drying. I think they'll need another thicker coat of PVA and acrylic before I remove the balloons.

If all works out as planned, I'll be able to cut and colour these objects and arrange them in sequence, preferably in an open area of sparse concrete floor. I have absolutely no idea of why I am working like this. I still have plenty of 2D work to be getting on with. Previous experience tells me that every so often I make something in 3D but it all still feels like painting to me. I'm full of ideas right now - Glasgow is sunny and the summer is just beginning. Stuff will happen.