16 artistMay 2020 http://www.painters-online.co.ukIN CONVERSATION
M
ichael Sole often spends
months at a time observing
his subject matter in order
to take the atmosphere of
the landscape back into the studio and
on to his canvases. ‘I am particularly
fascinated by the sea, and how it
offers such an interesting base for
experimentation with painting. I feel
very strongly that energy must be met
with energy – big seas and a powerful
subject benefit from energetic, physical
and confident painting, which usually
includes dripping, pouring, throwing,
lifting, shaking and so on. I often pick
subjects that are complemented by my
materials and processes.’Let it roll
Michael Sole gets
physical with oils and
acrylics as he drips,
pours and shakes to
let the paint take its
own course in his semi-
figurative seascapes. It’s
an intuitive process, he
tells Susie Hodge
(and drip and run)
Painting intuitively
Although Michael’s paintings are made
in the studio, he normally sketches in
watercolour, en plein air. ‘I also use an
iPad to make sketches as the colours
are so accessible and there are millions
of them and no drying time to worry
about.
‘My paintings start out rather pre-
planned, but with the techniques I
use it is very rare for a painting to end
up the way it started. One very large
painting that eventually took a year
and a half to make (above) changed
between landscape and seascape
seven or eight times before I was happy
with it. When completed, it weighedp Reflections at Studland Marsh, oil and
acrylic on canvas, 69 3 941/2in (175 3 240cm).
‘This is the painting that took a year and a
half. The textures are strong and there is so
much paint on this canvas that it weighs
around 50kg. I liked the contrast between
the reflections of the sky and the trees and
grasses growing in the water. A lot of sketches
were made for this painting.’TA05p16_19_Inconversation.indd 16TA05p16_19_Inconversation.indd 16 02/03/2020 07:0602/03/2020 07: