INTERVIEW
getstothepointwhereI feelthere’s
somesortofbalance.”
Doessuchfreedommakeit almost
impossibletomakemistakes?
“I thinktheonlythingthatcanbe
a mistakeis if it interfereswiththe
balanceoftheportrait,”hereplies.
Thismeanssomethingthatmakes
theportraitlook“unusualor
uncomfortable”ratherthandoing
somethingunintentional.Plus,the
wayCarne“layersup”meansif the
balanceofa pieceis botheringhim,
hecanthrowboilingwateroverthe
top,strippingtheworkofitscolour
andleavingsomethingnewtowork
withagain.Hisapproachgiveshim
theconfidencetoenjoyabstract
mark-makingoncethefigurative
elementsareinplace.
RecentlyCarnefelta yearningto
transfertheskillshedevelopedtoa
differentmedium.Thisresultedinaseriesofportraitsoffemalerole
models,includingartistFridaKahlo
andcampaignerGretaThunberg,
createdwithlayersofacrylic,teaand
alcohol.Thoughthefinishedportraits
areasstrikingashisinkwork,the
artistalwaysreturnstothemedia
helikesthebest.
Hebelievesthehardestpartof
workingwithinksis makingthose
firstmarks,somuchsothatinhis
workshops,hefindsstudentsstruggle
toleavetheinkaloneasit dries.
“Peoplelovetotinker,”hesays,
“butdon’ttouchit,justleaveit.Allow
theinkstohavetheirtimetomove
aroundandspreadacrossthepaper.
There’ssomethingvery,veryspecial
aboutthosesubtletransitionsthat
yougetwithink.It’squiteunique.”
Carne’slatestexhibition,Nature’s
Riches, canbeviewedonlineat
http://www.carnegiffiths.comLEFTThePresent,
ink,tea,crystals
andgoldleafon
paper,50x70cm
ABOVE A detail from
Nature’s Riches,
showing how Carne
uses Swarovski
crystals and gold
leaf in the final
layers of a painting
The drawings bring together
pristine portraiture, intricate
floral motives and free-
flowing, abstract marks
After this, he’ll add calligraphic
lines over the top in a way which
might seem random, but actually pays
attention to shape and form, while
balancing the white areas of the page.
Next up comes the chaos Carne
loves – the throwing and flicking of
liquids onto the page, which all
happens very quickly. Then dropping
the inks onto the wet surface, he
might dab a little, lift some off or
steer slightly, but ultimately, he allows
the colours to find their own paths
and patterns. He never mixes his
colours on a palette before he starts,
it’s all done directly on the page.
Once the work is dry, he’ll use a
fountain pen and calligraphy ink to
draw linear lines, adding tone, some
other details and surface patterns.
It’s at this stage too that the freehand
floral elements are added. But it isn’t
quite a step-by-step process for
Carne. “I keep layering up and
layering up,” he explains. “Sometimes
I’ll add another layer of teas or boiling
water, and that will disturb all the
drawn lines as well.
“As I use water-soluble inks things
will change and morph again, and it’s
just repeating that process until it
Artists & Illustrators 25