Whilst going through photographic records of my artworks taken over many years, I came across the follow painting I completed during my Honours research in 2009/10. It’s a great example of how the creative process can shift and change, and of also how I intuitively work.
Sometimes I may have a very firm idea of how I expect an artwork to look in its finished state, but more often than not, my expectations will not come to fruition. This is not a bad thing in my opinion, for I am open to the shifts that occur in the creative process. Out of “mistakes” or unexpected marks, I can see other paths to take which are more interesting or suitable for my theme or idea. Also, there is something to be said for allowing the painting to “drive” the work, letting it speak to me intuitively.
While this work was completed some years ago and I have moved on from the theme I was exploring at the time (criminality), my methodology has not changed very much. I don’t expect that it ever will as it is crucial to the creative process.
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- Initial Stages: blocking in facial features, tone, line
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- Stage 2: writing text over the face to signify “what is written on the face”
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- Stage 2: text is applied in a grid format
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- Stage 3: I am becoming frustrated with the work as it involves small tight movements (too much detail in the early stages). Throw medium onto the canvas.
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- Stage 4: experimenting with colour blocks applied over the face using the grid
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- Stage 5: the idea of pixels begins to take shape as a result of using colour blocking. Decide to use smaller pixels.
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- Final Stage: very little text is apparent. The initial painting has undergone a significant shift.
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- Detail of the final painting. The prior work is still apparent underneath the smaller pixels.
