The journey of each of my paintings starts long before any of my paintbrushes even touches canvas or paint. The ideas for my artworks live in my head for a period of time before I paint them. Sometimes it’s days or even months before the idea is brought to reality on the canvas.
There is so much that goes into what I do as an artist, you just never see it. Just to get one painting’s image onto my website can be a long drawn(no pun intended) out process, nothing is simple or quick.
A lot of the work that is involved is done without you ever knowing about it but I think it’s good to share this with you because it can open up understanding between us and for a lot of people it is interesting.
Painting my abstract pieces is only a small piece of a large jigsaw and ultimately it is the most crucial part but for this to work the machine behind it must work too. When I am making art, I am essentially creating something from nothing and this needs planning.
It can be so daunting staring at a white canvas without any kind of direction or ideas in your head. It can equally be refreshing and interesting to start adding paint to a blank canvas spontaneously without a plan because sometime it can lead to something wonderful. For me it depends on my mood at the time.
Rarely do I apply paint to a blank canvas and end up with a finished painting first time. I find applying paint then standing back and assessing what you have is best before going back in. It’s quite interesting because many of my paintings have many layers hidden behind what you see as the so called finished painting and all of these layers of paint actually make the painting phyiscally heavier.
It’s an inidcation of my struggle with that painting in that moment in time. I think this is pretty cool that you can feel my struggle through the weight alone.
My preparation for starting one of my abstract paintings differes each time depending if I have pre conceived the ideas or if i am being spontaeous with the painting on that occassion.
If I am working on a commission piece or a piece I want to make I will have to source the requested canvas size which can be time consuming due to large size canvas being uncommon and very expensive to buy.
I then travel to my studio which is a 30 mile roundtrip from my home to check my paint stocks and colours to make sure I have the required colours and amounts for the painting. I then order new paint if required. I also make sure I have printer inks,paper etc for my certificats of authenticity that go with each artwork.
I also research couriers and shipping agents deatils and costs for the destination coutry and make sure all is well and that the painting can pass through without issues.
While in my studio I look through my collection of artist brushes, palette knifes and other tools and decided on which brush or knife is going to work best for this particular painting. If I need to I will buy new brushes for the painting. I will also make sure I have all of the packaging materials that I need to safely ship the painting if it is going outside of the UK.
I will make sure my studio is clean and tidy with space to work | collect any paint supplies and brushes that I need for the painting I am starting and onwards we go.
I can usually be found in some type of clothing that will have paint on it somewhere or other, so once I am wearing full painting clothes and In my art studio I am ready to get going.
First I put my latex gloves on to avoid my skin being stained by some pigments in the paint. I place my tools out where I can clearly see them and access them even with slippery paint covered hands. Make sure all lids are removed from my chosen paints and we can begin to paint.
Depending on the painting I am doing, I will paint the first layer onto the blank canvas and let this dry or run my heater for quickness. I them move forward with the painting and build up layers from there on while standing back or sitting with a cuppa tea contemplating my next move and worrying about something drying to fast or not fast enough depending on what I want to do next.
At the end of my session in the studio I clean all of my tools and brushes| Put lids on paints | briefly clean studio down before sitting pondering what I think about the painting and taking notes on my next moves for the next studio day. I find that I am more motivated to paint and feel more creative at night so I will often only head into the studio at 7pm until and travel back home along the long dark rural roads, no matter the weather. When inspiration takes me, I go with it!
When I feel a painting is finished and the painting is dry or if the piece is a custom art commission then I make sure the client is happy with the piece I then sign the painting on reverse.
Final QC check across surface and edges for any issues and then It is ready to be photographed. This can take quite a bit of time to get in the right spot for lighting, background etc.
First thing i do is download all of my photographs off the memory stick onto my laptop | I sort through the hundreds of different images and angles of shots until I am happy and have picked anywhere from 7\10 photos of the painting for my website. I go on to crop,resize and reduce file size of the image.
I either leave the image on a plain background or find a room setting for the image and open photo editing software to place the image onto that setting. I do this over and over again. Once all images are edited I open my website dashboard and start the process of uploading to my website which is very very time consuming.
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For commissioned paintings I send out images of the piece via email or whatsapp to get the clients thoughts on the painting.
A little love and a lot of care will always translate into quality
I try to always put maximum effort and quality into everything I do and I feel this will always equal reward. To own a piece of original artwork that has been brought into existance from nothing by my own hands is unique and special as you can get so this does of course come with a price tag but look at the work that is involved in just one painting.
I think knowing the artists process can help you appreciate the art can be so much more than just a painting, actually you are buying a piece of someone’s life and that is priceless