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Figure in a Square #2

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With all the preparations for the “Emergence” show at Gallery 8 on Salt Spring Island (it’s on until 10th June so still plenty of time to see it!) and now the final countdown to the “Caught Red Handed” opening this Saturday at the Martin Batchelor Gallery in Victoria, I haven’t written a post for over a month!! That’s the longest hiatus yet. Sorry. Don’t want to get into a bad habit so here I am with the progression shots of a work in the Emergence exhibition, the mixed media painting, “Figure in a Square #2.”

 

It’s really all about process. As Steve Jobs said in his famous commencement address at Stanford (and if you haven’t heard it, click here now!), “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” Truer words were never spoken. As I began this work, I knew it was about a figure but I had no idea of how it would look or what I should do or what it would say. I had no idea. Until the end.

 

1. The almost blank canvas. I had never used fibre paste before so decided to experiment. I randomly covered the support with it and so created a textured surface.
1. The almost blank canvas of Figure in a Square #2. I had never used fibre paste before so decided to experiment. I randomly covered the support with it and so created a textured surface.

 

2. I used Transparent Red Iron Oxide acrylic paint to cover the surface and then drew the figure in charcoal over top.
2. I used Transparent Red Iron Oxide acrylic paint to cover the surface and then drew the figure in charcoal over top. It was actually quite tricky to do this over the textured surface.

 

3. Next, I took a fairly watery mixture of red, yellow and white gouache and put it around the figure. Only problem was, it ran, all over the place including the figure. It picked up the charcoal in a bizarre way but in the spirit of seeing where the process would take me, I let it be. I was rather excited about what had happened. For sure I could never have planned it or created such a look.
3. Next, I took a fairly watery mixture of red, yellow and white gouache and put it around the figure. Only problem was, it ran all over the place including the figure. It picked up the charcoal in a bizarre way but in the spirit of seeing where the process would take me, I let it be. I was rather excited about what had happened. For sure I could never have planned it or created such a look.

 

4. I pondered what to do next and flicked white paint over the painting. Then, with pencil, I wrote a stream of words over the whole thing. During the day, I had come across a piece of paper that was painted in very similar colours with a heart cut out of it. It seemed to somehow go with the mood of the piece so I collaged it on the top right corner.
4. I pondered what to do next and flicked white paint over the painting. Then, with pencil, I wrote a stream of words over the whole thing. During the day, I had come across a piece of paper that was painted in very similar colours with a heart cut out of it. It seemed to somehow to go with the mood of the piece so I collaged it on the top right corner. But now what?

 

5. I decided to mix up a weak solution of red, yellow and white gouache (i.e. pink) and drip it over the whole from the top. Once that was dry, I went in with pastel. I felt I needed to define the figure further, in a more 'realistic' way. It wasn't easy with all that texture created by the original application of fibre paste but never mind, go with the flow.
5. I decided to mix up a weak solution of red, yellow and white gouache (i.e. pink) and drip it over the whole painting from the top. Once that was dry, I went in with pastel. I felt I needed to define the figure further, in a more ‘realistic’ way. It wasn’t easy with all that texture created by the original application of fibre paste  (which I love by the way!) but never mind, go with the flow.

 

6. At this point, I realized I had lost part of the figure and something was wrong with the neck and how it bent forward so I decided to redraw the whole, this time using a light-coloured pastel rather than charcoal so as not to be too obvious. Can you see the lines? Many of them are around the redrawing of the head and neck but they are everywhere.
6. At this point, I realized I had lost part of the figure and something was wrong with the neck and how it bent forward so I decided to redraw the whole thing, this time using a light-coloured pastel rather than charcoal so as not to be too obvious. Can you see the lines? Many of them are around the redrawing of the head and neck but they are everywhere.

 

7. Gail Sibley, "Figure in a Square #2," mixed media (acrylic, gouache, charcoal, graphite, paper) on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. After more pastel was applied and the whole covered with gloss polymer medium, it was finished. I have to say that I don't think the photo does the painting justice. In reality, it has a more visceral feel. Anyone who has seen it agree?
7. Gail Sibley, “Figure in a Square #2,” mixed media (acrylic, gouache, charcoal, graphite, paper) on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. After more pastel was applied and the whole covered with gloss polymer medium, it was finished. I have to say that I don’t think the photo does the painting justice. In reality, it has a more visceral feel. Anyone who has seen it agree?

 

Working on this series (I’ll show you the third one some time soon) has been a treat and an anguish. Once you are at the finish, you wonder what all your anxiety was about. When you are in the midst of it? Well, there is such frustration, anger, joy, excitement. Talk about being on a roller coaster ride, blind, with no way to see where you are going next! Any one else have this experience?

 

Thanks for reading. I hope this has given you a taste of the experience. Please let me know!!

 

Until next time…

 

~ Gail

 

PS. Oh. My Gosh. I have just started watching the Downton Abbey series. I’m near the end of the first season. No wonder everyone’s hooked. It’s stupendous! I have to remind myself these aren’t real people but just actors taking a role. Anyone else seen it???

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