Painting persistence

Last term I spent 6 weeks doing a cast painting of a hand:

Persistence

It was something that I found incredibly difficult and frustrating, and initially it was not a very enjoyable experience. Don’t misunderstand me though, I’m really glad I did it because I learnt an enormous amount in the process.

For most of the time when I was working on it, it didn’t make any sense. I was just re-painting it over and over. I still don’t understand how this eventually results in progressing the work, but it does; the key word here is eventually.

Brushwork

To begin with using a brush felt like I was trying to write an essay with a tuning fork. The brush just felt so unfamiliar and uncooperative as a tool in my hand.

By the end the the project I felt I had gained a little insight into why people spend so much time talking about brushwork and paint handling. My insight was mostly due to watching the tutors’ focus and technique as they demonstrated different aspects of the process, rather than my own efforts but it has left me fascinated by the application of paint and how different marks are made.

Painting begins with drawing

I have so often heard that everything in painting relies upon drawing that I expected it to be more like drawing somehow. Whilst it is true that drawing does help when things are in the wrong place, or are the wrong size or shape, it entirely misses the paintyness of the whole experience.

The paintyness is the best part.