Mr Kagul
After feeling sorry for myself at the end of January I have pulled myself together, exercise, have a freezing cold shower every morning and head into my studio full of energy.
I have a lot going on as I move into my second year at the Broadway. One project being that, by the end of this year, I have to complete a master copy of a piece of work by Odd Nerdrum, he is a contemporary artist both loved and hated by modern critics as his work discusses modern themes whilst refusing to adopt modern techniques. He draws from the old masters, especially Rembrandt and Caravaggio and could be considered to be a contemporary, old master. Like Rembrandt his paintings involve layer upon layer of thickly applied paint. For those that know my pre-Broadway painting style you will realise that this technique could not be further away from my comfort zone as I used to layer my paint as thinly as a watercolourist, if my brush marks were visible and image not blurred, I was disappointed!
Never one to sit in my comfort zone it’s time to move on. I find the whole idea of thick layering paint somewhat interesting. Why would you lay down paint only to cover it up again, why not just create a textured surface with gesso primer then paint a layer on top? I think there are definitely multiple answers to this question. It’s never a case of layer two completely covering layer one, you can glaze, scumble, drag or dab the next layer in a way that allows some of what is beneath to remain, yet framed in a different space. Each layer allows you the time to reflect, make adjustments to the composition, the focal point, tone, hue.
The texture builds up organically during the process with no pre-ordained starting point. Nothing is completely lost in the process the upper surface may be influenced by a groove created by a long since covered bold stroke of the brush or the smallest speck of blue surrounded by flesh tones emerging from the depths. What’s the viewer sees in the gallery is a finished work, what’s the painter has experienced is an episode in their life with all its thoughts, experiences and decisions.
This is nothing that has not been discussed time and time again in essays on art. Why it's interesting for me now, is that I have to create a Nerdrum copy and have chosen the head from Dr Kagul. All I can see is the finished surface and I know for a fact that my underlayers will not resemble those created by Nerdrum! Nerdrum's reasons for painting Dr Kagul were his own journey using well-practised techniques and understanding of potential connections between layers, mine will be a journey of learning, a push and pull as I experiment. I am smiling as I imagine someone excavating my Dr Kagul, it’s going to have some pretty crazy dance moves heading in multiple directions, at least I’ve got 10 months to get there!
I have started with what I am more familiar with, construction of facial features and a radiant green and asphaltum grisaille, my next step was not the best as I headed straight into the surface colours that I see in Dr Kabul, no point in trying to get there too quickly, I just did it for a bit of fun to get a feel for Nerdrum’s palette and plan to cover it with some cool hues.
Meanwhile I have a couple of graphite cast/life drawings on the go, Alan is progressing well and I am practising layering and textures with my self-portraits with pretty hideous success so far although there are small areas of success.
Some exciting news, Stanley has come out of hibernation and I may well be one of very few artists in the world who can say they have painted with a very affectionate tortoise happy to sit for ages on their right foot. It makes for some unusual pivoting moves between palette and canvas that could add to my work.
