College 23rd january: pathway project

Today I took advantage of an almost empty room 04 to do some more 'writing' on a large scale.

I taped up sheets of A2 black paper onto the wall, and see white acrylic, watered down quite a bit, to make some big 'script' paintings, working vertically on the wall, and allowing the paint to drip a little.  I did two large pieces: this squarish one....

and this one, rather longer and thinner....

And some separate sheets (partly done as warm-up exercises: it takes a little time to 'get my hand in' to the non-writing script each time).

I liked the results, and got some very positive feedback from other people, including Matt who made a point of seeking me out to tell me, which was kind of him.

One of the interesting things which is emerging is that my 'writing' is acquiring a consistent style and form, all of its own.  My earlier drawings were each one different - perhaps because I was consciously trying to 'design' different script styles.  But as I've grown more familiar with the process, and more confident, I am thinking less, and loosening control, and the result is a flowing script-like, rhythmic line which is not at all like my 'real' handwriting.

Psychologists could no doubt have a field-day with that.....

I also had another useful tutorial with Mark, who had even more suggestions about other artists who I could look up - if I have time.  And a stern reminder about getting my essay done.  Oh dear:  where have my time management skills gone?

Art I LIke: Cy Twombly

Yet more research for my Writing Pathway project, on Cy Twombly, American b. 1928, d. 2011, who has made a whole series of generally very large paintings which concentrate on mark making which resemble scribbles or perhaps writing.   His website is here and contains a huge range of images of his work since the 1950s.

Some of his work just looks like scribbling, but the overall effect is impressive, not least because of the enormous scale of his works.

Untitled, 1974, 68" x 85"

Unititled 
oil based house paint and wax crayon on canvas 
48 x 55 in. (122 x 140 cm.) 
Painted in 1967. 

Some of his works are smaller and done on paper, like this one,  Roman Notes: one plate, 1970, 34 x 28"

The following images are Untitled, 1971, a series of six lithograph 22 x30".  This is the first, the rest follow below.

Images copied from here.

Twombly also made assemblages of works like this, grouping several sheets together, as in this example, Roman Notes (Bastion 21-26) where each sheet is 34 x 27". 

Some of his pieces are absolutely massive.  

Notes III, 2005-2007, 96 x 144"

This one, Untitled, 1970,  is 13' x 21'.

The MoMA gallery website has a very illuminating description of how it was hung in MoMA, Mew York, requiring a whole team of 'roadies' and a hydraulic lift to get it into place.  It looks pretty fantastic once up, too.
(the link is here)  and the MoMA site describes it thus:


Twombly is a key member of the generation of American artists immediately following the Abstract Expressionists. Between 1967 and 1971 he produced a number of works on gray grounds. The largest in the series, this monumental painting features terse, colorless scrawls, reminiscent of chalk on a blackboard, that form no actual words. Twombly made this work using an unusual technique: he sat on the shoulders of a friend, who shuttled back and forth along the length of the canvas, thus allowing the artist to create his fluid, continuous lines.

Here is another image of some of his later works in a gallery setting, with an indication of their huge size.

Cy Twombly Sensations of the Moment, MUMOK exhibition view, Foto: MUMOK, Lisa Rastl, © MUMOK.

There are obvious connections between his works and the a-semic writing panels which I have been making for my project, although I had not until today really looked at his work.   In particular, I am interested in the scale of his pieces, something i still have to think about for Monday's college session.

College week 13, Digital Illustration 6th December

A successful afternoon re-learning the most basic moves in Photoshop, sufficient, anyway, to make four very simple stamp designs for our termly assignment for Garreth.  He is unfailingly patient with dinosaurs like me who find it ridiculously difficult to remember the simplest things.  I realise that I am quite proficient at Word, Powerpoint, etc - because I have had to learn them for work, and have used them so much that I can find my way around.  Moral: I need to use Photoshop etc as often as possible, so I build up a similar store of experience.
I resolved to find a way to build some digital work into my next Pathway project on Writing/Word - which on the face of it shouldn't be too difficult, so long as I don't just rely on Word-processing type products.  It is the photo manipulation, and doing clever things with In Design and Illustrator which i rally need to practice.  We will see.   Perhaps some digital design to prepare a screen print?  More thoughts needed yet...