Power with Paint?

Power with Paint?

Exploring expressionistic painting methods in new work

Recently I have been trying to quite radically change the style of my work by employing more 'action painting' type methods, to try and create a more energetic composition and interplay of elements in my work. I have also started to limit the colours I use in a painting, and in some cases dull them down from my usual bright primary colours! The reason for this is because most of the work I have produced recently which I think has had the most impact has been the pieces with a limited pallete, and I am beginning to learn that simply bombarding the eye with colour does not have as much potential for creating atmospheres in paintings, as say using a more limited amount of colours effectively.

These are the results of my experimentation

Schism 01:



















Medium sized acrylic painting on Board
This was one of the earlier experiments with using more expressive , painterly methods in my work. I have splattered paint, smudged it, scratched into it etc and I like the final frenzied nature of it. Be interesting to see if I can expand on this style and make it more my own as it were.

Drowning:


















Another medium scale square canvas painting. This time with a even more reduced pallete and with a lot more emphasis on scratching and smudging. Fairly happy with it, in some ways I find it unnerving and intense but I like that quality , make it more interesting perhaps?

Glacial Unrest:



















This is the biggest work I have done in this style at 48 by 36 inches , I'm really happy with it and I think it achieves that which i've been groping for with this experimentation - namely the portrayal of atmosphere and an increased intenstity that my older work may have lacked. I think it is a perfect synthesis of the first piece and the 2nd piece, as it employs methods from both in a more effective manner than both I think. This has portrayed some manner of power in paint I think, and I am going to aim to capture this kind of power again.

Leave any comments you may have about employing expressive methods in painting, about the work or anything else (relevant) that comes to mind. How do you portray power in paint? Leave your thoughts!

Self portraits thus far

Recently I have been trying to get my drawings and self portraits of myself to look better,
I still have a long way to go in this task but I think i'm making slow
progress, and have been experimenting with different ways of going
about it.

These are some drawings i've done of my self over the past few months more or
less.

I was quite please with this one, it has a softness to it I like, I think because I look calm and relaxed in my expression, or at least that how i've drawn
it.




























Where as this one is more of an aggressive pose I am pulling , especially if you look in the
eyes, which look quite angry and squinted.





This one is my latest drawing self portrait (well that I've scanned anyway), I think it looks
alright , though a little too podgy around the face, it could do with more detail too I think.
















And these are the paintings , that i've attempted to do of myself. Ive done a few more than these
but they turned out really bad so im not going to show them haha




This is my first proper attempt at a self portrait (well actually my second but the first was a diasater!!)


It looks preety simple and it is, there is nothing really excting about it in the pose or the way i've
painted it, but it is ok for a first try I think.















This is a recent one I did, messed up the skin tones so it looks like I have many bruises on my face,
also my eyes are way too big. So not very pleased with it at all!!!








This is the 2nd recent one I did, preety happy with it even though it was just an experiment. This time
I painted a black outline for the face, this made it easier to define the features of the face, im preety
happy with it , it's ok for just trying out a new method.















And my most recent one, a self portrait of me in my green coat (The one I always paint in actually!!)
I did this in a similiar manner to the last , that is I used black lines as an outline, but this time they
were much thicker black lines. Im preety happy with how it came out, but again, it needs more detail and
I need to define my style further.