An example of a pastel drawing from a recent life drawing class in Leamington Spa.
Using the motif of the bathing costume and cap, I have withdrawn the female form altogether and amusing the shapes as abstract design with different colour combinations.
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An anonymous almost automated figure, where the body and bathing costume is confused with reality.
Again I have used the same motifs but allowing them to be more broken, and using collage to disrupt the background and shapes.
With this painting, I have used the idea of a triptych, and made a monochrome version of the swimming costume shapes, and then linking the pieces with red outlines of the motifs.
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I have used a more painterly approach to the symbolism in this painting, but allowing the shapes to be broken and incomplete, and the background to be vague.
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This painting is meant to be joyful, painted at the beginning of the Covid 19 'Lockdown', it is meant to represent optimism.
This is using a combination of collage, mark making and layering to achieve depth in the painting.
The motifs of the costumes and bathing caps have almost been completely lost in the layers of paint and mark making, but still exist if you look closely.
This work again uses the imagery of the bathing costume, hidden amongst a background of collage, in monochrome, lifted by the orange lines.
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This painting is much more playful with more experimentation with mark making and layering, yet still using the same iconic symbols.
This is a large canvas, allowing for life size figures, or rather the absence of figures. They exist only because your mind fills in the gaps, and creates the form you expect to see. Again a derision of the classical Three Graces, in bathing costume attire.
This life size canvas/collage was painted as the full impact of the Corona Virus started to take effect, but before Lock down, and schools closed, but businesses started to suffer. Household names such as Laura Ashley, synonymous with a certain type of fashion went into liquidation. It seemed only right to create a painting to commemorate.
This painting is more graphic and although still using the same imagery, the colour palette has been more gentle and restful.
I made a series of paintings and collages based on classical paintings of the Three Graces. This was then part of a follow up series, where I removed the female form from the work, leaving only their costumes. Somehow their movement and personalities still exist without any reference to form or features.
This was the second of the formless Three Graces, with the shapes becoming more abstract and akin to pop or poster art, but still allowing the female form to exist in my minds.
This life size canvas was painted on Black Monday as it became apparent that Great Britain, was not after all exempt from the spread of Corona Virus and we too would have to close down and life would never be the same again.
More collage and shapes hidden in a background of mark making
A lot of vibrant mark making to lose the imagery in a sea of colour.