Moments in between the layers, and failures

This is a collection of images I took while making some of my paintings. The technique I use involves putting down paint and then wiping it away in order to build up the image. Sometimes of the moments that happen in this process reveal a ghost of the object that doesn't fully exist in the final form, but lives in the layers between the surface and ground. 

This was when I realized I couldn't do the intricate objects on a smaller scale and decided instead to use the small canvas to test out making tightly cropped images instead.

Often I wonder if one of the more ghostly under images might be better than the final painting, this one in particular I think would work well as it appears here. Going forward I may want to try working on two at once and leave one at a mid-point so i can compare which one I prefer.

This one I considered a failure, it was a good learning moment realizing my method didn't work very well if the object has straight lines, circles or text. I found the wonkiness distracting

I ended up trying to completely wipe the image away, which didn't totally work, but I think I may try adding a layer of white on top and seeing if the image seeps through at all.

I had initially planned on mostly painting my collection of blue and white ceramic pieces, but I found the method I was using did not work well when attempting to paint painted objects. This was when i realized that interesting textures and shapes would work better than painted images and shifted the direction of what objects I would use.

The stories in between surface and ground

I photograph the steps in my painting process and put them together into videos that show the object coming into and out of existence 

Sketchbook, tests and mockups 

I do material tests, color tests and make mock ups in my sketchbook and photoshop to help guide my decisions about what to paint, scale and display. For a more in-depth look at some of these activities, please look at studio diary PDF, downloadable from my additional content page or below. 

Studio Diary .pdf