the residue of success

[WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH 2012]
A beautiful, early spring day.  And what better way to spend it than holed up in a window-less loft space!

I began the day with a short stint of paid work, and then the time was all mine.

First, some email and internet errands and posts.
Second, I mounted a couple of slides for a new secret date painting.
Third, I marked out the date in a swish Art Deco font.
Fourth, I went back on the computer.
Fifth, I ate lunch.
And finally I was ready to paint.

The continuing saga of 'Home Sweet Home'.
I am pleased to report that having sat and gazed upon it at leisure during the past 2 evenings, it isn't nearly as bad as I believed last week.  Still needs a bit more werk in a couple of the green neon areas though, so I tackle these and leave it at that. I will let it rest until next week, or maybe the week after.

And so, onto my next job: that blue 'morse code', breaching the edge of the faux rock-face with illuminating blue glow.  I think we're getting there.

Flushed with the residue of success, I go and have a cup of tea, and put the slab of rock-face aside to dry. And when I return it is to tackle another, almost finished, canvas.  I'm still learning when it comes to this white neon, but someday soon I will finish this white 'Path of Least Resistance'.

And that is me pretty much done for the day.  See you next week.

Saatchi Online Abstract Showdown

I have entered one of my neon ‘Drip’ paintings in the Saatchi Online Abstract Showdown competition

If you are able to take a moment to click on the link and vote, that would be hugely appreciated. And please do pass on to anyone else who you think may be interested too. Thanks!

Round 1 Voting started 12 noon yesterday (15th March) and runs until Tuesday 27th March
VOTE HERE >>> www.saatchionline.com/showdown/vote/showdown/10/artist/29963

Exhibition: SPASKI - live + gallery opening

I have a painting in an exhibition this Saturday 17th March, 7-10pm at
The Grey Area, 31 Queens Rd, Brighton, BN1 3XA
[ENTRANCE VIA DOOR ON NORTH ROAD BETWEEN THE MONEY SHOP AND THE BARBER]

Entry is free and there will be performance from resident artist SPASKI + art and more

more info >>> HERE!

still plugging away

[WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2012]
Curse you internet! I came here to run a couple of cyber-errands and four hours later, I am still here.

I shall partake of some lunch and drag my skinny ass outside to do some painting, like what I am supposed to be doing on a Wednesday.

So, I report back: about 3 hours of painting undertaken. Still plugging away at 'Home Sweet Home'. Still struggling with that green neon. I make the green glow grow and blend it all in with fluid brush strokes.  I stand back and still it is not working to my satisfaction.  Even in the daylight it doesn't quite sing to me.

Next week I will probably go back and werk over what I have done today, knocking it back and letting the darkness take over again, battling to achieve equilibrium.  Always battling.

the old routine

[WEDNESDAY 07 MARCH 2012]
It is 11.24am.  I should be out in the studio painting.  But instead I've opted to begin today's blog.  The weather is foul: a sheet of fine drizzle driving in at a 45 degree angle.  This makes moving the 'Home Sweet Home' canvas back to the studio something of an impossibility.  I should probably re-commence werk on the blue 'morse-code' canvas.

I will stop typing and head on my way now...

A short bout of werk followed.  The rain stopped long enough to allow the transfer of the 'HSH' canvas from house to garage. Feeling a bit peckish now.  As you may have noticed I'm not quite so full of purpose today.  This is partly due to the exhibition I had in the pipeline falling through.  Probably a blessing to be honest.  So I seem to have just slipped quickly back into the old routine, and am just carrying on as before.

Thank heavens for long afternoons. Between 2.30pm and 7pm I werked hard on the blue neon 'morse-code', adding extra glow and laying the foundations for the blue glow catching the edges of the "rock face".

The canvas is removed from the studio and placed in a room, in the real world.

Still time to paint, though, so I pay close attention to the green neon bordering on 'HSH', dry brushing and spreading the glow and letting go - carefree painting, gestural strokes, loose wrists. Painting joy.

Bonus day

[WEDNESDAY 29 FEBRUARY 2012]
Today, the 29th February, is a bonus day.  We don't get 'em very often, and it's tempting to have the day off, but I really must make use of my time, for there is much painting to be done...

Today I began a set of 5 smaller paintings of the 5 Noble Gases, which I intend, in fact need to have finished by the end of March.  I am in the process of arranging an exhibition which is due to start in the first week of April.  Which doesn't give me much time (or hope, based on previous performance, and the fact that I haven't actually painted neon in some of the colours).

On arrival at the studio this morning I also touched up the white 'path of least resistance'. Which looks well on the way to being fit for the outside world.

In the afternoon you find me back to werk on 'Home Sweet Home'.  Yes more werk and more paint on that canvas!  Today I pay close scrutiny to the orange/green glow cross-over and then freshen up the green neon border.

Just time to paint in the area around 'Krypton' and clean up the brushes before I pack up and I'm homeward bound.

orange and green

[WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2012]
That was not the keen-as-mustard start I was hoping for today, but in the 2 hours I have been painting I've finally taken the plunge with the orange/green neon crossover.

Prior to that I found myself procrastinating on the internet - a common symptom when I am stuck with a painting and not sure how to tackle the next phase.  During my searching I did pay another visit to the always pleasing Project Neon blog - one girl and a camera documenting the neon signs of New York city.  I can't help but have pangs of jealousy at the richness and variety of neon in that great city, and it makes me yearn for more neon in Brighton and reminds me that I really should pay Mr Fishtail Neon another visit at his studio whilst the days are still short.

Back in the loft, I tickle and tease the green-meets-orange glow, until I have to put it aside.  But what to do now?  The blue 'morse-code' painting is wet, and I really need to get some paintings finished rather than commencing werk on canvases that will take months to complete.  There is a small 'Path of Least Resistance' in white neon.  It has sat on the shelf for months and months, but finally the day has come to be taken to task.

new website

I've been a bit behind with my Wednesday Painter diary entries over the past few weeks, but it's all up-to-date now.

I have just launched a new website which I plan to have as a hub/repository for my various creative pursuits, you can visit it here: www.dominicbradnum.co.uk.

It's still in the construction stage at the moment, but I'm adding things whenever I have time.

bloody mess

[WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2012]
The Wednesday Painter has a cold (must have been all that gargling dust and gravel).  But there is painting to be done and only he can do it.

Enough talking in the third person.  My head feels like cotton wool and my nose feels like it might explode with all the mucus.

In the morning I werk some more on 'Home Sweet Home'.  I can see an end in sight, so I hang it in the house and sit and gaze and ponder and scrutinise.

The heart/green neon area obviously needs more werk, but the rest is looking good to my eyes.

At lunch time I slice through the top of my thumb cutting garlic.  The blood just kept pumping out.

Recovered from my injury and all plastered up, I return to werk and give the blue neon morse code a good seeing to.

gargling dust and gravel

[WEDNESDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2012]
The good news is that, with some distance, and in the daylight, 'Home Sweet Home' looks a lot better than I remember leaving it after last week's session.

This morning, following a spot of paid work and  some wood chopping, I marked out another date painting to begin werk on at home over the weekend.

I am fed and watered and the proper werk begins at 13.06.

15.33 Slow progress on the next phase of orange neon glow.  It doesn't help that it is freezing and my throat feels like I've been gargling dust and gravel...  Time for some tea.

I soldiered on and finished the day at 19.25 a reasonably satisfied Wednesday Painter.

Two steps back

[WEDNESDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2012]
When I re-commenced werk on 'Home Sweet Home' this afternoon I was happy with what was on the canvas.  But then, the more I werked the worse it got.  Do 'this' to rectify it, didn't work. Do 'that' to make it better, even worse.  I almost resorted to scrubbing the whole thing out... Perhaps when I return next week it will look better than it does now.  Or perhaps I will understand where I went wrong and just a bit of remedial werk will rectify the wasted time today.

It is so bloody cold in the garret, despite having the ineffectual heater at full blast.  Slowly the chill creeps, from the feet up. I can't feel my toes and my legs are numb.  Just a quick bit of werk on that building, using up a smear of left-over Cadmium Red paint in a few of the balconies.  Done.

I sat and I looked...

[WEDNESDAY 18 JANUARY 2012]
Such good intentions can only be broken:  I was in the studio early enough, the 'Home Sweet Home' canvas was fixed on the easel, a cup of tea was made, and I sat on the stool and I looked.

Minutes passed, and I sat and I looked. I put some music on, and I sat and I looked. I switched on the computer, and I sat and I looked. I flicked through a book about neon, and I sat and I looked. I went back through my notebook of the past few years, and I sat and I looked. I found reference photos on the old computer, and I sat and I looked again.  Then I came back to the house and made another cup of tea, and bashed away on an acoustic guitar for a bit.  By now it was 11 o'clock. An idea: PING! Back to the studio I trot.

And the werk begins...

Is it right? Is it wrong? Is there a wrong when it can be painted over at any time? Plagued with doubt I retire for lunch.

My idea was to split the orange and green glow where the heart and border meet, bringing in some darkness, rather than making a murky mess by mixing the 2 colour palettes.  I will leave it for now and werk on it a later date.

As the afternoon progresses I am werking simultaneously on the Orange neon and the green neon, I stop to pick up a brush.  Now which one should I use...

By now most of the canvas area has had a fresh coat of paint applied - There is something incredibly sensual about silky smooth brush strokes in wet, glistening paint. Even green paint.

graft and contentment

[WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2012]
I have returned after 2 months away from the studio.

I was sat at the easel by 10am, I did some blue neon painting and was back in for a break by 10.30am.  Yes, a mere 30 minutes of painting before a break.  But 30 minutes of good painting...

On my return I continued with the blue neon morse-code, it was like I hadn't been away, until the RSI kicked in in my wrist.  Alas, I am not match-fit at the moment, but happy with my work, I put the canvas aside.

'Home Sweet Home' is now propped up on the easel, and I have been searching in vain for some photographic inspiration to get the areas where green and orange neon meet looking right.  Still searching.

I eat soup and a sandwich for my lunch (like Andy Warhol) and now it's back to the studio...

Considering I'm a bit out of practice, the afternoon session was highly productive.  Little success with the green/orange neon glow diffusion, but good progress with the rest of the orange neon lettering.

I finish at 19.08 with my brushes cleaned and a general feeling of contentment at a good day's graft.

extra-curricular painting

Whilst I've not been able to clock-in for Wednesday Painting over the last few weeks, I have found time to set up a temporary studio at home for a spot of remedial painting.  Good job too, as I had to get this finished for our friends Paul and Sarah's wedding on the 3rd December.

here's a quick snap of the finished piece

(I'll post more photos when I have some time)



If you would like to commission a neon commemorative date painting for a wedding, birthday, anniversary or special day, please email iheartneon[at]gmail.com to discuss your requirements.