Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-11)

howyouwanttopaint.If youwanttopaintclownsallyour

life,paintthem.If youpaintthemwithconviction,it does

carrytheday.Theideaofnotusingblackis very19th

century.Findwhat’sappropriateforyourself.

Areyoustillworkingoutwhat’sappropriateforyou?

Yeah.I’mnotworkingtowardsanimageI’vealreadygot

workedout,notcompletely.I mighthavea startingpoint:

a photoora place,butit’snotillustration– it’sthe

beginningpointtosomething.Thenyouhavetothink:what

amI tryingtoputintothis?Whatmakesit morethanjust

a reproduction?That’sthemagicingredient:yourability

toputyourselfintoit.Reallyintheend,it’saboutyourself,

it’snotaboutwhatyou’relookingat.AllRembrandt’sare

self-portraitsreallybecauseit is himlookingatsomeone

andpaintingwhathethinksorfeelsaboutwhathesees.

JohnMonks:TheStudiorunsfrom 17 Octoberto 15 November

atLong& Ryle,LondonSW1.www.longandryle.com

Tell me about the process of making the work. There’s

paint all over the studio...

There’s paint all over the dog!

You must be very physical in the way you apply the paint?

Yeah, the pictures are more constructed than painted

you might say.

In what way?

Well, I don’t use a brush much. I just have one big brush

and a palette knife. I do things like work on them on the

floor. If you hadn’t been coming, the canvas would have

been on the floor because I do things like spray turps to

break up [the paint]. And when that is dry, I work on it and

maybe do it all again. I think you always have to go through

a point of despair with them. You need the fear factor.

Are there things you know you can do to resolve a painting?

There’s no one procedure, no kiss of life. I throw away a

lot of paintings. Some just don’t work. You come to a point

where the surface is beyond workable, it is like painting

porridge on porridge. It’s lost any ability to be manipulated.

Some tutors warn against using black paint, but your work

often features pure white and black. Why is that?

When you’re younger, you’re perhaps more conscious of

should I do this or shouldn’t I? I think you’ve got to paint

BUILDING TEXTURE
John manipulates
paint and says his
current canvas
has a surface
“like a rhino skin”.

Not using black paint is

very 19th century... Find

what’s appropriate for you

Artists & Illustrators 29