27/4/21

Working with a light layer of raw umber as an under painting, I wanted to let the brown show through in order to create fluidity and depth to my paint-strokes. As a next step from my previous outcome, I wanted to play around with the composition further. The original source image had a similar box shape in which the figures were on top of, but I wanted to reference Francis bacon’s architectural rooms. I felt that the distortion of the figures I have been experimenting has held some similarities to Bacon’s, which gave me the idea. What makes my painting different, is the use of two figures in dynamic motion. I like the tension that arises from having them confined to a box, with just one hand extending beyond. The figures have an explosive movement to them, whilst being contained within this small corner. The one hand that slips out of the box gives an uneasy feeling as it looks like something that isn’t supposed to be happening in terms of the narrative; an escape maybe. I like frame within frame compositions because it detaches the viewer from the painting, and we are an observer from within the painting.

My tutor mentioned a quote by Francis bacon that suggests that a singular figure within a composition elevates the importance of this figure as well as the overall powerful ness of the painting. Having more than one figure suggests a narrative, and takes away from the essence of his paintings and the central figure. I also learnt that the opacity of the paints were different based on the pigments and materials used. I have always used titanium white; an opaque white. I want to try using zinc white for it’s transparency, which would effect the way it blends with other colors without overpowering them in the way titanium white does.

Reflections

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