Jammed Exit (part two)

That’s How We Do Things #1, acrylic paint and watercolour pencil on canvas, 80 x 80cm, 2019

Having got excited about improvising on Cowl (see last post), I went back to the above painting, which I’d shelved and applied the same method. You can see the original digital construct the painting was based on here. Less of the initial image survived.

In the digital construct for the next painting Fissure, I deliberately left areas of the image blank so I had somewhere to improvise, while retaining a the skeleton of a composition.

Sketch for Fissure, digital construct, dimensions variable, 2019

But once I started improvising the composition became less and less sustainable – it collapsed under the weight of the paint marks; the imagery was being buried…

Fissure, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 90cm, 2019

More in the next post…

Jammed Entrance (part one)

Landscape study (201019)

In recent months my work has kind of gone full circle, so that I’m producing a lot of digital constructs again (as a way of thinking about possible paintings).

Visiting my parents in Dorset by train gave me the opportunity to snap the landscape and work in that format. It’s quite interesting to stretch out after working in squares.

Landscape (Stain), 2019

The painting being worked on in my last blog post about making stuff ended up looking like this…and underwent a name change…

Cowl, acrylic paint and watercolour pencil on canvas, 90 x 90 cm

…and the improvisational aspect of the process started to take precedence. The monochrome image suggested areas of colour, which led to the introduction of the vase shape and the snooker ball…

More on the paintings in the next post.

In progress…

Work in progress (That’s How We Do Things #2) with plant

That’s How We Do Things #2 is one of two paintings I’m working on at the moment. This one is 80 x 80 cm. The other is 90 x 90 cm and I’m feeling the difference in scale in terms of the marks I feel I can make. Both paintings are acrylic paint and watercolour pencil on canvas and are based on digital constructs.

Also in the works: a series of hastily assembled limited edition books collecting sketches, photos, and writing…more info soon…

Sketchbook (book ideas)

And a new online conversation with David Cook is on the way…we’ve been to visit a couple of new exhibitions…

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If you are interested in my work, I’m an active member of the Ello community (fantastically vibrant artist’s social media platform), and post regularly on Instagram. For an overview (and to buy a limited number of prints and paintings), there’s my website: https://richardguest.art/. In the spotlight this month December:

December, acrylic paint and watercolour pencil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm, 2018

There’s a wider selection of paintings and digital constructs available to buy on Saatchi Art and I sell prints and greetings cards on Etsy.

Sketchbook (Gambon detail)

Cheerio!

Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project

As a way of pushing myself to create images using different media, I am taking part in the Brooklyn Art Library’s Sketchbook Project. The eventual aim is to create a new preliminary drawing/ digital construct on which to base a new painting.

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One of the conditions I set myself was to make the sketchbook entirely visual (my usual practice is to write loads of notes). So far there has been a fair amount of back and forth between work in the sketchbook and using Affinity to manipulate images on my laptop.

You can sign up to the project, receive a blank sketchbook, fill it up and submit it to the world’s largest collection of sketchbooks here: www.brooklynartlibrary.com/sbp