Demo 11: new directions
There's a hint of ritual involved in that delicious "pupation" stage, anticipating and building up to something different when creating fresh artworks.
Part of finding new directions is doing a little studio “housework”, like sanding back old boards – abandoned paintings that have become outgrown – so they can find new life in my next series of new paintings. Follow this with a good dose of information-gathering, thinking about colour and preferred formats.
Then there’s that hard-to-describe magic when ideas and dreams bubble away and your sketchbook fills up. (If only we could bottle it for those scarcer days.)
It’s all prerequisite to breaking the ice and getting going on gessoed boards, canvas or posh paper.
A million micro-decisions
This session includes a demo about sourcing inspiration, working in my sketchbook and prepping surfaces before I get covered in paint and begin making the million micro-decisions that go into creating a single artwork. I thought you might like to hear and see more about this aspect of my studio process. And I suspect you’ll relate.
Finally I’ll tell you about BBC journalist James Naughtie’s favourite artist...
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“Joan Eardley’s picture of the place where she lived and worked for the last years of her (short) life is an evocation of north-east Scotland that moves me with its spirit.”
James Naughtie
I snapped this image from my book on Joan Eardley called ‘Spirit of Place’; I love how she returns again and again to the same spot to make new paintings.
Materials list
a studio notebook - I swear by “brain dumping” by writing down a few thoughts as they gather and bubble away. Some people do “morning pages” for this (see The Artist’s Way if you’re not familiar).
a space to get out some art books – take over your kitchen table for a day? – and think about your favourites. Alternatively, there’s Pinterest to gather some images that inspire
sketchbook and charcoal pencils or a good old-fashioned biros
surfaces to rejuvenate or prep – like me, you could work over old paintings that you never quite resolved – the past energy will add something extra to the new art
Demo: new directions
Brain dump your thoughts into a notebook. I know writing might not be your go-to creative outlet but just brief notes help capture the growing sparks of energy necessary to begin new work or take a different direction. You might also create a few steps for yourself to follow and tick off as you get further into developing your new direction.
Do a little housework. I don’t mean cleaning (hell no!!): just making the necessary physical space for new work. This automatically creates a mental space for it, at least in my experience. I decided to repurpose some abandoned paintings. Funnily enough, my sander, which I use to improve crusty painted surfaces, looks rather like an iron, which made me think of doing the “housework”.
Spread out your art books (or get pinning on Pinterest). Just to enjoy observing the skill of others. There’s no need to copy or compare. Art that you love will raise your game, inspire and guide you to a better understanding of what you really love when it comes to completing your own pieces of art.
Make some thumbnails and colour swatches in your sketchbook. (Self-explanatory?!)
Dive in when you reach your “tipping point”. And perhaps follow – or diverge from! – those steps or stages in your notebook, referring back to your brain dump. For me, I find it useful to include a review stage, which helps galvanise me and resolve paintings, though there’s nothing wrong in deciding that a piece doesn’t need to “reach the final stage”. I find it’s a relief to think that all artworks can be repurposed at any time. Less pressure that way.
James loves Joan
It came as quite a surprise to me that James Naughtie is a Joan Eardley fan though there’s no reason why not! He’s only human…. The big connection is undoubtedly Scotland and I love how her work is all about “home” for him. He writes beautifully about the impact her pieces have on him:
“This… takes me home. I didn’t grow up in sight of the sea, but Joan Eardley’s picture of the place where she lived and worked for the last years of her (short) life is an evocation of north-east Scotland that moves me with its spirit. The light, the power that the landscape seems to hold, the tumult of a coming storm: all this reminds me of the fields and the skies that I knew as a boy. She could paint a sunny day and find violence just under the surface or cover her canvas with a wild sea and reveal
a strange stillness at the heart of it. The word that comes to my mind is always humanity, even when there isn’t a person to be seen in the picture.”
Read his article on the Country Living website or see the YouTube video produced by The Scottish Gallery:
Oh my, how I wish I’d been there for this show, marking the centenary of her birth.
Next week I’ll be posting a quick piece on working from the imagination – “the unseen landscape”. And then KTC for paid subscribers is taking a break. I’ll keep in touch about this.