I've been thinking about the way in which I associate a lot of my memories with the place in which they occurred, and how this changes the feeling of a place when I paint it. I've been making some paintings using sepia ink, charcoal and chalk and experimenting with ways in which I can use the media to different effect.
The below painting was created using a reference image, and I was focussed on how I remembered the movement of the leaves, and attempting to simulate that using different brushstrokes. I feel that the brushstrokes were successful up to a point, but the birch trunk itself appears completely static and almost hampers the entire sense of movement in the painting. The trunk also appears too deliberately rendered and too sterile- it does not give the feeling of the trunk. I think to be more successful, I need to spend more time watching and considering the movement of the tree, and focus on recording that, however that may look.
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attempting to simulate movement of leaves using brushstrokes
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a memory of lighting effects through leaves
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The above painting was made from memory and reflects a time when I was lying underneath a tree and watching the leaves sparkle as the breeze moved them. It reminds me of the person that I was with, and is a kind of quiet, pleasant memory for me that has increased in importance over time.
I think this experiment was more successful in that it does have a slightly otherworldly quality to it, and so I think a viewer would recognise that there's more significance to the painting than simply depicting a tree.
I do think it shows some sparkle, and some movement too. I wonder whether it is still too ‘figurative’ in that a viewer may interpret it as literal and try to discern the scene rather than focus on the feeling it gives.
In the below painting, I also used a reference image from my trip to Sherwood forest, but the style is influenced by the collaborative drawings that I've recently been making with Kaj. Kaj's work emphasises the movement and flow of lines, the sensation of the act of drawing, and a freedom from the rules of formal elements. In this piece, I focussed on my enjoyment of creating it above all else, and I think that comes across in the end result. Since I felt relaxed while creating it, I was more playful with the lines and brushstrokes that I made, and perhaps the image itself is more reflective of my emotions than an actual depiction of a tree.
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emotional depiction of a tree
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