Though tempting to rifle through bins like Philippe Starck, as this was completed during our Covid-19 “Lockdown” I felt it might be safer to rifle through my own rubbish and see what I could find.
I did some sketches of various bits of packaging and had already tackled pill packets in a previous exercise, inspired by Alex Hanna, so decided on a something sort of organic (a screwed up ball of paper), something very organic (a ‘manky’ banana skin – I can’t think of a better word) and something non-organic in the shape of bubble wrap.
I placed all three objects under a lamp and did some tonal studies in acrylic in my sketchbook and took some photographs for reference. I decided to paint these on different backgrounds and play with complementary colours. For the oils, I wanted to focus on the object itself rather than add any suggested detail of background. I also decided to make these studies a bit bigger than I’ve been used to working on of late to stretch my skills in working at different scales.
For the bubble wrap I didn’t do a study in advance but chose to experiment with a more abstract background using acrylic paint and Pebeo paints, which chemically react with paint to produce more abstract results. I used a pearlescent paint which added shine to the base for my acrylic paint. I painted out the bubble wrap, suggesting bubbles in white and grey, keeping translucency in the object. I used some acrylic pens to add some lines and colour to parts of the object. If I move this in the light, I like the shapes you can see formed by the matt acrylic paint over the shiny background… this was fun, instinctive and organic.
For the ball of screwed up paper, I did study the complicated landscape of the object created by my own strength.
I chose to paint in oils and apply paint thickly to practice my impasto and knife skills. I used a yellow ochre ground as the paper was of a beige hue. I painted the background in thick blue paint, adding darker shadows and highlights. Painting this was really challenging to me and it took a few re-workings of it in terms of adding and removing paint, before I decided I should stop (I think I could have worked on it forever just trying to get it right!).
For the banana skin, I decided again to use oils with a mix of brush and knife work.
Firstly, I undertook studies in acrylic paint and one in water based oils.
For the main work, I painted a yellow ground to provide a brightness and warmth to the paper. The banana was quickly turning brown when I sketched it out. I used browns, yellows, green and black, adding a purple background to contrast with the yellow. I left some of the ground to show through to highlight the yellow in the banana.
Learning reflections
I am glad I chose three very different pieces of rubbish for this exercise. They were all a challenge to depict in paint. I needed to give the plastic bubble wrap some sort of character and did so via adding an abstract background to sit behind it. The Pebeo paints were a little unpredictable even though I had an idea of what I could achieve with them from You Tube tutorials. I liked the effects even though they were a little different to what I imagined. I need to remember to experiment more with different paints and combination of paint and other media, as I do really enjoy this.
I do still enjoy painting with oils as they are slow drying and I can work on paintings forever (literally as I realised to my dismay as this took much longer than planned). I have learned to vary the volume of paint in my layers and add more to bring texture or add weight or drama to the study
I spent far too long on both my oil paintings in comparison to the bubble wrap in acrylic which of course dries quickly. This is a warning for me not to revel too much in the oil work – this definitely ate into my assignment time as I tried to finish them off.
I was pleased that I undertook two thorough studies as know that I tend to dive straight in to my work. I was pleased that the studies didn’t reduce the quality of the final work (which is sometimes a concern of mine). It was a bit of an experiment to see if the studies work well for me – I think they do but it’s also fun to dive straight in sometimes but maybe develop further and not think of it as a final piece but preparatory paintings.
Painting with the knife was both frustrating and fun and I felt that I got better at it, the more I did it. I definitely remembered tones for this exercise, often screwing up my eyes to see them and often stepping back so that I could look at the works from further away. I don’t always do that as much as I should. I worked on my freestanding easel, which was better in that respect but I need to remember to rest regularly, as I get very pained when I do this for any length of time.
Out of the three, I enjoy looking at the bubble wrap the most, followed by the paper and then the banana skin. I like the background and palette for the bubble wrap. It’s really simple but interesting to look at. I think that my bubble wrap looks like bubble wrap too even though I haven’t pained over the detail.
The paper is recognisable I think, but may be a bit more abstract with its lines and shapes. I had tried to put too much detail in this initially so took some out using the knife and added some lighter tones, which made it better.
The banana skin isn’t the best one I’ve ever painted but it’s a true reflection of how yucky it was! I actually really like the first, more delicate study I did in acrylic (see above).
As in Exercise 5.3, I like the three studies pulled together as one, presented together. The warmer, golden tones stand out in each and the backgrounds are bright and I think buzz with energy. The complementary colours help. I believe that they consistently look like the same person (me) painted them. That doesn’t always happen, so am pleased that I have achieved this, even with use of different media and application.
CREATING SPACE - UNDERSTANDING PAINTING MEDIA 