THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 2nd September 2020: DAY 157

New Painting, "White Water Near Black", oil & resin
on plywood block, 150 x 150 x 36mm.

"White Water Near Black" is the latest new painting in the 'Near Black series' painted on plywood blocks. This branch of the series successfully fuses my expressions of painting and art with my research into colour theory and the objecthood of a painting whilst continuing to reference my love of landscape as an expanded field.

It's taken a while for this painting to get there, but I think the time has been well spent as I'm very happy with the result. Although the paintings in this series are small they are quite time-consuming, the blocks themselves take a great deal of preparation even before the painting begins and when the paint is applied it is built up in several layers. Although they vary most of these layers of paint are quite think and textured, it is essential that these layers are completely dry before the next layer is applied. If the lower layers are still wet when the next layer is carved on not only will the colours mix but perhaps worse, the textures of the earlier layers would also be lost. 

"White Water" is a four layer painting progressing from Near Black through First Grey to Yellow Ochre and finally on to Titanium White. The addition of the Titanium White makes this my first full palette painting in the Near Black Series so I am delighted that it has proved to be such a success. It is also the first painting in this series that directly references the void of water, so seascape, as its source; much as the water void photos which I added to the blog in its early days do.