26 artistMay 2020 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
2020 VISION: 1st of 3
TAI was not at all surprised by the new
view, I accepted it immediately, until I
allowed my mind to intervene and rule
out the improbable.
Trusting the eyes
What I am trying to elaborate here is
that a painter needs to train their eyes,
and then trust their eyes, to notice the
patterns that will make a good painting,
instead of trusting their mind to choose
apparently appropriate subject matter.
The mind might tell you that one
particular view is suitably picturesque,
whereas another is too mundane,
or the subject not worthwhile, but a
painting does not see by subject – it is
a flat pattern of tone, shapes, colours,
contrasts etc – it needs to see the
elements it employs. The painter’s task
is to see the world on the painting’s
behalf (right).
Unique vision
The visual patterns and arrangements
that attract you will undoubtedly be
different from the ones that attract
me, but whatever the inspiration,
it is worth finding out what excites
you most to paint, and then actively
to seek it out and train your eye to
notice it everywhere, bringing no limit
to inspiration. Repetition, like any
coaching, is the key to training the eye.u Speed of Life, oil on canvas, 12 3 17in
(30.5 3 43cm).
As I entered the tube station the people
dashing to catch their trains were backlit
by the sun. The energetic pattern of dark
shapes passing in front of the dazzling light
struck me like a strobe effect, visual and
symbolic, spawning the inspiration for this
painting. Back in my studio, I painted the
silhouettes roughly with deep black, then
used big brushes and a palette knife to paint
the spaces of light between them, shaping
the figures from the outside, and adjusting
the dark tones with opaque hues. I thought
only of the arrangement of shapes and
tones, trusting the pattern would convey the
esoteric narrative.
Colours used: titanium white, Mars black,
ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cadmium
yellow, cadmium redt Strollers, Schmincke Horadam
watercolour, 29 3 28in (73.5 3 71cm).
The figures, accompanied by their
shadows, were crossing the square
below me. One figure would be
alone one minute and then joined by
others the next; some walked in pairs,
others merged to become groups
then separated to become isolated
once again. Many followed the same
direction, one or two went against
the tide. Alone and in unison, the
stream of people played out like a
metaphor for the journey of life, but it
was the tonal pattern set up between
the dark of the positive figures, the
light of the negative spaces and the
mid-toned shadows, that attracted
me to make a painting.
Colours used: ultramarine finest,
burnt sienna, yellow ochre, light red,
burnt umber, violet, plus several
incidental colours to tint individual
clothing