An Art Studio

[Visitor]

Humble Beginnings.
After I lost everyting in a house fire, I had to start all over again.
My art studio consisted of a wooded box, my only two chairs, empty cardboard boxes, and my new library of a few books.
My whole paint collection were the primary colours, plus black and white. A few brushes, turpentine, and a canvas board. Collected a few pictures from magazines for reference, and that is it.
Painting: Sobriety.
Date: 1991.

[Visitor]

A part of studio work, which many do not see, is the research for images that I use for reference. Much like using a candle flame as a reference for painting a bush fire.
I also take photographs, do preliminary sketches, and doodles.
Sometimes, I might do a sketch that becomes a dedicated drawing as opposed to becoming a painting.
A few times, I have made cardboard models of things to get a better idea of using light and shadows.

So, I always plan my paintings, but that does not mean I will follow them.
Because a painting takes time to produce, I get plenty of time to think of other ideas to incorporate, or make changes, to the painting.

"Sobriety" took four weeks to complete. At the time, I was also working full-time as an electronics technician. After work, I painted until bedtime.
I had no television or computer in 1991. Just a cassette radio (found and repaired), and my art, to entertain me.
Actually, I have not watched television for at least five years now, and I am more happy without it.


The halo-nose symbolizes, for me, the ego-spirit paradox. As soon as I think I am spiritual, I have just hanged myself.

[Visitor]

After relocating to another part of town, I set up another make-shift studio.
This time I bought and used an easel, a few extra tubes of paint (in cardboard box), extra brushes, and still used the repaired radio.
The funny looking bench was a mini-saloon on wheels. Instead of booze, it contained my art material.
On the wall is my photo study and sketches.



This is the start to a painting of Ryde's Art Society's Art-house and Gallery, Sydney. My membership with them did not last long.
Apparently I had a run-in with the society after they refused me to exhibit any of my works in their gallery. My art did not suit their expectations.
Because of this, I had trouble completing the painting. I ended up painting something else over the top of it.

[Visitor]

Two Old Friends was painted in a very different way than I usually paint.
This was painted without the use of any preliminary drawings, or researching of a scene or topic.
Actually, a first part of the painting was created out of impulse and experimentation.

Firstly, I drew a rough hilly background to divide the land from the sky. The sky was painted first.
Then I started with the landscape. But after a while, I was not too happy with it.
That is when I tried to wash it off with a brush soaked in turps. The wash dribbled down the board, and this effect started to appeal to me. So I played with it to get what I was looking for.

Carrying on in a similar vein, I started to wash off the blue sky to reveal two trees.
As I was doing that, I also played with light and shade by the degree of paint removed with the brush and turps.
It was lots of fun creating an image by removing the paint instead of applying it.

The top photo was taken at night, and the colours came out dark.
The bottom photo was taken with the painting outside in daylight.

[muileag]

That's a fascinating process! My son is a painter, and I've only watched him work a few times (he is an abstract artist). It seemed like he was intuitively choosing pigments and brushes, and it wasn't just a formula. I suppose a lot of art work is just experimentation. I can visualize, but I can't seem to get what I see onto the paper (which is why I like working with clay), so I've always been in awe of how an artist can transfer his/her vision onto the canvas. I guess sometimes the painting just reveals itself...which is even more lovely to me

[Squatchit]

I love Two Friends. What a difference between dark and daylight - I really like them both. Isn't it great when you find new ways to make art - by accident. I enjoy tapping the paintbrush to create small 'blooms' all over the paper. If the paper is still wet (watercolour), they spread out like tiny flowers. Lovely.

[Visitor]

My method of oil painting is hardly done intuitively. I wish it was!
I tend to be methodical, pre-planned, cover all bases, like a scared child avoiding trouble. I do not like it, but seems ingrained.
As a result, I paint one portion at a time, each portion finished and complete. It is a wonder it turns out at all.

You know, when it comes to painting, I am my worst enemy. Ever since twenty years of age, I have hardly done any artworks. Nearly every decade 20, 30, 40, 50, and now 60, I do a few artworks and then stop.
Each time I return to painting, I have no recent experiences, or up-to-scratch artistic skills. I just go in cold. I enjoy it for awhile, then something else distracts me, and all is lost again. What to do?

For ten years now, I have built up an art studio with materials etc, but hardly any artworks. I am hoping to get back into how I once loved it as a child, (but not as an escape).
Posting my old stuff is helping me to rekindle that old flame – art.

I love looking art art studios. I have a large collection from the Internet. Now and again, I like to review them.
I know we got artists in SF. If you have a picture of your studio at hand, please post it here. (Now, don't go and clean up the studio for the photo, it will kill the creative truth - out of the rough, the artist produces a diamond).

[Squatchit]

Hiya Visitor

It sounds like I'm the opposite to you when it comes to painting. I love the idea of spontaneity. A few years ago, I watched a DVD by an artist called Shirley Trevena. She encouraged us to 'dive in' to a pure white piece of paper with the deepest brightest red. And that was watercolour. She said 'what's the worst that can happen? - you mess it up and throw it away'. And so I dived in. It was a blinkin' mess the first time (ha!) but there was something exciting and almost dangerous to jump in at the deep end so to speak. I often start a painting like that these days. Hit & miss still, but it's the way I like to paint.

Like you, I tend to have spurts with art. I hate the dry periods, but sometimes 'trying' to get back into it is counter-productive and I waste sheets of (expensive) paper. I get a monthly magazine which can be inspiring and of course there's always google images. I try not to copy others' work, but sometimes do so simply for practice.

Anyway, here is my little art 'space'. It's not a studio, although it is part of an art table. The other side of the table is my work space (computer etc.). When painting, I tend to push all the machinery to one side, so I have more table to use. I use a LOT of table when I'm painting. I always have more than one painting on the go - I get bored waiting for it to dry when I'm in the mood. When I'm flicking a paintbrush, I often find paint on the laptop, music centre and my face!!

[sunsoul]

Nice art..

[Visitor]

Thank you Squatchit.

Love the photo of your studio. It gives me a sense of where you play and be creative. My soul recognizes what happens in that art space of yours, and it leaps with fun and excitement.
I call any space, great or small, where an artist produces their work, an art studio - even an easel, or rock where one sits to draw, outdoors.

I used to do watercolors when I did a commercial art course in collage. The only time we did any uninhibited work was during 'roughs'. And they were just small 5 x 8 inches. After about ten to twenty of them, we picked the best three and worked on them on a larger scale (not uninhibited), then picked the best of those for final choice for art project. I still do that with less steps.

I love to do large oil paintings, and the paint is too expensive to just through around (though I saw a video of a known artist, David Boyd, who literally squeezes out a handful of paint and throws it at the canvas before starting his masterpiece).

Watercolors sounds like a great approach to freeing up my artist spirit. Come to think of it, Alexander Calder used to do watercolors first thing in the morning before embarking on his steel sculptures.
Okay. I'll give that a go, thanks Squatchit.