10.15am: I have been searching for things to do in London this Friday. It was not procrastination. It was important research. And now I will make some coffee and head for the studio...
Didn't quite make it out the door. There was perfect light in the extension to photograph '...SMILE' - bright, but a little overcast. I lugged the mammoth canvas down the ladder and propped it up against the wall, went to fetch a camera and returned to blinding sunshine. Aarrggh! Come back clouds I need you!
I waited around drinking coffee and setting up for a good shot. Finally some cloud cover allowed me to snap away.
Then my attention was distracted by a shrew running across the floor. It stopped to munch on a dead insect, and ran off when I got close. Spent about ten minutes trying to catch the little fellow so I could let him loose in the garden. Failed. I don't fancy his chances now that the cat has acquired some hunting skills.
Finally went out to get on with some werk, did a spot of colour mix testing, then one of those giant European hornets came buzzing in. At which point I buzzed off, turning all the lights off in the hope it would go elsewhere.
Consequently not much painting has been done thus far. Though I did paint some Permanent Geranium around the word 'AMOUR'. I will do more after lunch.
The afternoon shift was far more productive: Much of my attention was focussed on the meeting of the blue and deep red glow on 'Love is Amour in French'. Something seems to have changed in my painting style. Where before I would systematically werk up a whole layer of colour following the shape of the word/form, I found myself adding paint selectively, and more discriminately, to small areas of glow. Perhaps, in part, because I was using a specific image as reference?
At some point I slapped a load of Lemon Yellow across the dark void of the canvas, something I probably wouldn't have dared do before this new found confidence reared its head.
Something is watching:
I reigned myself in on 'Love is Amour...' must let it dry a bit before I can werk on it again. I turned to the purple neon drip: more Lemon Yellow, got to build up the paint - I took the decision not to add a final white layer when priming, and it feels like werking on raw canvas - it just sucks up the pigment. Another rash move: tipping a whole load of water down the surface. Confidence rains down in bucket loads and there is no wrong.
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