White Paintings

I was inspired by Rachel Whiteread's Study for (White) series to create a painting using only white paint for both the substrate, background and focal point as a way of considering textural variation as a form of presence in the absence of colour.  This led me to consider the mark making I would use to ensure that any image I made was visible to some extent.  I decided to experiment with applying acrylic paint with a combination of paintbrush and natural sponge.

I chose acrylic because of its thick consistency and shiny / light reflective finish as I hoped this would allow enough paint to be applied to create a visible relief on top of the substrate and to reflect any light source around it.  Using a large paint brush I applied a base coat onto the paper, ensuring that the brushstrokes were roughly applied so that they remained visible in order to create a layer of texture.  I then applied a stencil (cut from a printed photograph taken at the photoshoot) through which I stamped thick layers of paint using the sponge.  I found that dabbing the sponge quickly and forcefully produced the best texture.

I thought the painting focussing on a single figure was successfully minimalist, with reflected light and texture revealing the image to a greater degree than I had initially expected.

I decided to create a second painting based around three different stencils created from full body and partial profile photographs.  I chose to surround the full figures with the head and shoulders images to create a sense of perspective, perhaps that the full figures are receding away.  This composition is less successful than the first because the figures are unevenly spaced - neither symmetrical or asymmetrical enough to create interest.  The different scales of the figures are, however, interesting and could be pushed further in future experiments.  I think the textural quality of the smooth underpainting combined with the heavily stippled sponge painting is the most successful aspect of this work - something I will further develop.

Stencils

Above and below - close up images of sections of the above full painting.  These are compositionally more successful, particularly the top image as the eye is drawn up and around the painting.

I think the areas I will continue to develop from these investigations are limited colour palettes, combinations of textures, jumps in scale and cropped images.