Diptych Study 11

Diptych Study 11

16" x 11"

2011

Diptych lake sketches

Last year I had a photo up on my wall and I kept staring at it as I do, wondering what to do about it. Its a photograph of a lake, and right in the middle is a mans head hovering over the waterline, I'd not looked at it in months and as I have two small canvas stretchers I thought I'd do a diptych.

I've spent part of today making up some rabbit skin glue to size these, and I'm planning on getting to work on them tomorrow, for now though I'll leave you with two more pictures of the two sketches and I'll be sure to keep you posted in the coming weeks.

Marching Band

You remember that steak we ate just now? Well, that's how it is. We live off one another. The shadow of dead meat is cast as soon as we are born.

- Francis Bacon in conversation with Michael Peppiatt

I've had this photo for a while, sitting in the album I keep of anonymous photographs - a marching band in full swing, its very dark and no one has any visible features other than their feet and the instruments which cover their faces. I often look at it and wonder how I might use it, and there is something in the shadows cast which spoke to me today - this might even turn into a painting, I've not decided quite yet.

Preliminary works

An update on my drawing - a preliminary sketch, for a painting I'm planning - I've several larger scales works in my mind at this moment in time, the lack of a studio space is becoming increasingly frustrating.

A small study for another planned painting which will be four figures perched on some steps, this is the uppermost one. Interestingly the original photo shows a group of about 20 men - all of whom have the most fantastic moustaches. I was lucky enough for my Grandparents to buy me a radial easel for my degree results, it came just yesterday - so I will be making up some stretchers and sizing my canvas very soon!

The journal adventure unfolds

I decided that it might prove fruitful to keep a journal of sorts, I'm used to having something similar with the logbook we keep at Uni. I wanted something more compact however, something which I would be able to have with me at all times. 

I like the idea of having a codex of sorts, to look back through in order to perhaps fire off ideas, as the pages reveal themselves to me. I'm not yet even a quarter of the way through, and because of my habit of trying to shove as much visual information I possibly can into it, its led me to carefully fold ridiculously large papers, (in comparison) into the journal - I'm struggling to keep it closed!

I'll be sure to keep you posted on this little adventure of mine, and just how much of an inspiration it proves to be.