Jona8than Green Art and Other Things

Christmas was very good. I always enjoy Christmas, and while the title of this post may seem slightly blase and only focused on acquisitions, but it untrue. I just enjoy being home. But this blog is suppose to be more work related, so titled it so.

I received the Phaidon book, Ice Cream , which shows contemporary art of the world choose by 10 different curators. Only started reading today, but very interesting so far.

I have also received from a friend of mine, a set of sumi ink brushes, traditionally used for Asian calligraphy and painting. It seems like a very nice set, and I was looking at ordering some the other day on a website. I am hoping to use them for some drawing this year for my said fourth year.

I have been reading up on Asian ink painting lately, trying to get a hold of the aesthetics of it. Not trying tot totally appropriate it, bt rather understand it. I feel a slight connection to it. But more on that later

So I peruse this writers website often, and he has a blog. The writer is Warren Ellis, an interesting chap, does comic, novels, screenplays, etc. He might just be more connected in to the internet than me.

In a recent post, he brings up a quote by Frederik Pohl, another writer of some fame.

Jonathan Green was born two weeks late and seeing out of only one eye. A unique start to the world and this essay; it is these little details that figure in to Jonathan’s work as well.[Jonathan prefers to be refer to as Jonathan, sans surname] He was born in Labrador City, but moved to Carbonear when he was very young. When asked how growing up in Carbonear has affected his work, Jonathan is a little hesitant, replying there was not a whole lot there for him. He said he read a lot, that he “…just devoured books really, all kinds. A lot of fiction, some non-fiction. He really got in to science fiction and fantasy, but read everything else as well. The majority of my life has been reading, all through teenage years as well.” When asked about his writing as a child and later as a young adult, Jonathan is even more hesitant, “I did write some narratives, some stories, I just never ever finished them.”

Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe his materials in one word, he said the word would be "simple". However, there seem to be an element of sensuality in the materials for him, a certain quality of the materials.

His drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers, that allow for tonal use. Charcoal is a rarity in his works, used sparingly. The drawings are usually black and grey; there is absence of colour.

His support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but usually a range of smooth paper; works best with his graphite and marker drawings, and usually white. Though Jonathan has said he sometimes uses BFK cream or grey if “…feeling especially jolly.”

The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. He paints with oil paint with other media like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. The palette range is very different than his drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. There seems to be a distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range, but Jonathan could not offer any idea why.

Jonathan said he would describe his research methods as “…very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground.” The library and the internet are his prime sources, for imagery and information. “Whether at the library or trawling the internet, I am just plugged in to it. I don’t see it as researching, it’s just part of my lifestyle really, a habit.” Beyond researching his subject matter, Jonathan says he researches a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of different artists through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. He has said he finds other artists very inspiring as well, their different approaches to their art making. Contemporary culture plays a role in his art as well, so a milieu of magazines can often be found around. “I am really just addicted to information.” Jonathan said.

Jonathan takes a sip of his Coke and list off numerous artists that have influenced him, but three in particular are Ed Pien, Marcel Dzama and Alberto Giacometti.

Ed Pien had just had an art exhibition at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery when Jonathan was in first year, and Jonathan recalls it quite fondly, along with the symposium on drawing that went with it. It help him realized that drawing can be relevant and can be many things; this was later enforced by other artists and his classes. There was also a mysterious to Pien’s work that inspired Jonathan, this “channeling of the mind’s thoughts and ideas. This drawing from within.” he describes it. His 1 minute drawings were also revealing, Jonathan said he has often had a problem of overanalyzing everything and over thinking to the point that the actual creation is slow to get done. Pien’s one minutes drawings showed Jonathan that you could let the “drawing do the thinking for you.”

Marcel Dzama who was introduced in his first year also enforced these ideas, along with his use of ambiguous narratives and use of space in to Jonathan’s drawings. These ambiguous narratives were interesting to Jonathan, for he saw it as a way to use his own narrative in regards to art making.

Alberto Giacometti influence came a little later to Jonathan than the previous artists, in that Jonathan recall ignoring Giacometti in his first and second year; in the third year both the sculptures and two-dimensional works struck him. The use of line, gesture, shape, texture, the use of figure in his works, spatial concerns, a little bit of existentialism all brought ideas to Jonathan’s work.

Jonathan says that the drawing and painting are very intuitive after the initial research of gathering information and source material. “I’ll pin my references up around my area, but after a while they become too distracting and it would almost seem like the art only starts when I start ignoring them. They become more like starting points to the creation.” He says he starts and finishes a drawing in a sitting while the paintings start off as sketches but always transform away from the original drawing. Jonathan quotes William Kentridge on drawing:

“Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.” *

For Jonathan the construction of his art is through taking source ideas and thoughts, distilling it through his head, and then working at it. It is an intimacy and immediateness that seems to fuel his art making.

The attraction of a subject matter is hard to trace in Jonathan, for it would seem he really does not want to tell you. He will list off a whole barrage of ideas why to use them, but none of them seem true. Ask for the truth, and he might go off on how the truth has many perspectives, and so forth.

The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. Jonathan works in an additive/ subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil.

His series of skull drawings are exploring an iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon; they are full of different meanings and appropriated for many types of meaning. Jonathan says he has been interested in skulls for many years and has researched the use of them in culture.

It would seem skulls have always popped up from time to time in Jonathan’s life and art practice. One can recall Jonathan’s “goth” subculture period from junior high to just pre-Grenfell as one long instance. Upon questioning about this period or why he was attracted to this subculture, Jonathan lists “rebellion” as a possible answer and says “There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation has expanded. It still contains the reference of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion.” Jonathan accomplishes this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermal-ness to the skull, to reflect the varying states of meaning to the skull. Jonathan stands between the archetype of the image and the floating “skull” sign of the postmodern time.

The Rocket works, drawings and paintings that are composed of multiple drawings on paper done in graphite and marker, and oil paintings. The drawings and paintings differ in palette, and technique, are the same in subject: explosions, clouds, rockets, barren landscapes, etc.

His “Rocket” drawings and paintings are a semiotic medley of different signs and meanings. They are images that are based in landscape, that make use of dystopian and apocalyptic elements, modernist symbols of progress, pop culture, television, comic books and graphic novels, the figure relation in space. Jonathan brings up the artist Peter Doig and how he spoke about his paintings as "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you.” They are fictional but with a stake in reality it would seem; there is nothing in the paintings that does not exist in this world.

It is from the above that the topic of comics and graphic novels follow in to his work, they were part of his reading experience growing up and he still reads them. He notes that some of his works are definitely referrals back to the genre of comics, their use of scale, light and shadow, the use of realism and the fantastical.

The internet while a tool of research also seems to factor in to Jonathan’s work as well. “The media saturation is one thing that influences me, this bombardment of images every day. The signs that float about, that have no meaning until one attaches one.” Jonathan said.

The figure seem to always be in Jonathan’s work, which Jonathan replies that sometimes he “uses the figure just for scale, but other times the figure is the protagonist or antagonist, not quite sure which yet.” Is the figure necessary? Jonathan replied “yes, I need a figure there. I fear a drawing or painting without them.”

There is also that curious narrative in the works, that at times feels figure driven but there is no beginning, no start, and neither ending. There are just moments in the drawings and paintings. When asked about where the drawings and paintings are going, Jonathan shrugs his shoulders and says “I really don’t know. I’m still very much exploring in those drawings and painting. I suppose an ending will come, I don’t know. I just feel a need to keep at them.”

To the question how did these drawings and paintings come about, Jonathan pauses for a while and thinks. “I had been drawing different things all summer while at St. Michael’s Printshop, and a Navy vessel came in, and had some missiles on the side. From missiles I went to rockets, and they just seemed like the perfect metaphor for the idea I had in my head. Rockets, as objects have many different uses. They are a perfect representation for what I was going for.” Jonathan aimed to create a dystopian world in which a figure explores in an almost existentialistic sense, with the weight of technology.

Jonathan Green was born two weeks late and seeing out of only one eye. A unique start to the world and this essay; it is these little details that figure in to Jonathan’s work as well. He was born in Labrador City, but moved to Carbonear when he was very young. When asked how growing up in Carbonear has affected his work, Jonathan is a little hesitant, replying there was not a whole lot there for him. He said he read a lot, that he “…just devoured books really, all kinds. A lot of fiction, some non. He really got in to science fiction and fantasy, but read everything else as well. The majority of my life has been reading, all through teenage years as well.” When asked about his writing as a child and later as a young adult, Jonathan is even more hesitant, “I did write some narratives, some stories, I just never ever finished them.”

The landscape is another part of Jonathan’s works,

Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe his materials in one word, he said the word would be "simple". However there seem to be an element of sensuality in the materials for him, a certain quality of the materials.

His drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers, that allow for tonal use. Charcoal is a rarity in his works, used sparingly. The drawings are almost always black and grey, there is absence of colour.

His support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but usually a range of smooth paper; works best with his graphite and marker drawings, and usually white. Though Jonathan has said he sometimes uses BFK cream or grey if “…feeling especially jolly.”

The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. He paints with oil paint with other media like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. The palette range is very different than his drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. There seems to be a distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range, but Jonathan could not offer any idea why.

Jonathan said he would describe his research methods as “…very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground.” The library and the internet are his prime sources, for imagery and information. “Whether at the library or trawling the internet, I am just plugged in to it. I don’t see it as researching, it’s just part of my lifestyle really, a habit.” Beyond researching his subject matter, Jonathan says he researches a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of different artists through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. He has said he finds other artists very inspiring as well, their different approaches to art making. Contemporary culture plays a role in his art as well, so a milieu of magazines can often be found around. “I am really just addicted to information.” Jonathan said.

Jonathan takes a sip of his Coke and list off numerous artists that have influenced him, but three in particular are Ed Pien, Marcel Dzama and Alberto Giacometti.

Ed Pien had just had an art exhibition at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell Art Gallery when Jonathan was in first year, and Jonathan recalls it quite fondly, along with the symposium on drawing that went with it. It help him realized that drawing can be relevant and can be many things; this was later enforced by other artists and his classes. There was also a mysterious to Pien’s work that inspired Jonathan, this “channeling of the mind’s thoughts and ideas. This drawing from within.” he describes it. His 1 minute drawings were also revealing, Jonathan said he has often had a problem of overanalyzing everything and over thinking to the point that the actual creation is slow to get done. Pien’s one minutes drawings showed Jonathan that you can let the “drawing do the thinking for you.”

Marcel Dzama who was also introduced in his first year also enforced these ideas, along with his use of ambiguous narratives and use of space in to Jonathan’s drawings. These ambiguous narratives were interesting to Jonathan, for he saw it as a way to use his own narrative in regards to art making.

Alberto Giacometti influence came a little later to Jonathan than the previous artists, in that Jonathan recall ignoring Giacometti in his first and second year, but was struck by him in the third year. The use of line, gesture, the use of figure in his works, spatial concerns, a little bit of existentialism all brought ideas to my head and to my own work.

Jonathan says that the drawing and painting are very intuitive after the initial research of gathering information and source material. “I’ll pin my references up around my area, but after a while they become too distracting and it would almost seem like the art only starts when I start ignoring them. They become more like starting points to the creation.” He says he starts and finishes a drawing in a sitting while the paintings start off as sketches but always transform away from the original drawing. Jonathan brings up a quote William Kentridge has said in an interview about drawing as this

“Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.”

For Jonathan the construction of his art is through taking source ideas and thoughts, distilling it through his head, and then working at it. It is an intimacy and immediateness that seems to fuel his art making.

The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. I work in an additive/ subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil; whereas my Rocket [Rocket just for state of reference] drawings are marker, pen, and graphite on paper and the sizes of these vary.

The attraction of a subject matter is hard to trace in Jonathan, for it would seem he really does not want to tell you. He will list off a whole barrage of ideas why to use them, but none of them seem true. Ask for the truth, and he might go off on how the truth has many perspectives, and so forth.

His series of skull drawings are exploring an iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon; they are full of different meanings and have been appropriated for many types of meaning. Jonathan says he has been interested in skulls for many years and has researched the use of them in culture.

It would seem skulls have always popped up from time to time in Jonathan’s life and art practice. One can recall Jonathan’s “goth” subculture period from junior high to just pre-Grenfell as one long instance. Upon questioning about this period or why he was attracted to this subculture, Jonathan lists “rebellion” as a possible answer and says “There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge has expanded of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation. It still contains the reference of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion.” Jonathan accomplishes this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermal-ness to the skull, to reflect the varying states of meaning to the skull.

His “rocket” drawings and paintings are a semiotic medley of different signs and meanings. They are images that are based in landscape, that make use of dystopian and apocalyptic elements, modernist symbols of progress, pop culture, cinema, literature, the figure relation in space. Jonathan brings up the artist Peter Doig and how he spoke about his paintings as "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you.” They are fictional but with a stake in reality it would seem; there is nothing in the paintings that does not exist in this world.
The figure seem to always be in Jonathan’s work, which Jonathan replies that sometimes he “uses the figure just for scale, but other times the figure is the protagonist or antagonist, not quite sure which yet.” Is the figure necessary? Jonathan replied “yes, I need a figure there. I fear a drawing or painting without them.”

There is also that curious narrative in the works, that at times feels figure driven but there is no beginning, no start, and neither ending. There are just moments in the drawings and paintings. When asked about where the drawings and paintings are going, Jonathan shrugs his shoulders and says “I really don’t know. I’m still very much exploring in those drawings and painting. I suppose an ending will come, I don’t know. I just feel a need to keep at them.”

To the question how did these drawings and paintings come about, Jonathan pauses for a while and thinks. “I had been drawing different things all summer while at St. Michael’s Printshop, and a Navy vessel came in, and had some missiles on the side. From missiles I went to rockets, and they just seemed like the perfect metaphor for the idea I had in my head. They are a perfect representation for what I was going for”








The painting start off usually as a sketch, drawn and redrawn till it feels right compositionally. Then it is drawn on the canvas, freehand, the grid does not hold any appeal to me. I would consider that I paint very directly, very confidently (ADD PERIOD)

The intaglio etchings are of an average size to me, though some may consider them large. They are similar to the drawing in that there is an absence of colour, and the support is white, again that starkness. They are created using the full range of intaglio techniques, and while printmaking is definitely more process based, they do not differ (COMMA) to me (COMMA) too (OMIT "too") much from my drawings.

Jonathan Green was born two weeks late and seeing out of only one eye. A unique start to the world and this essay; such beginnings set the mood, setting, context, etc. of the essay. Or sometimes it is just an interesting detail.

Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe my materials in one word, the word would be "simple". The materials are chosen for their simplicity, and the small sensuality that I enjoy in them.
My drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers for they are a high quality marker that allow me to work tonally. Charcoal is never forgotten though, the mat black is used sparingly. I usually stick to black or grey tones, rarely any colour used in my drawing.

The support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but I do go through a range. I prefer smooth paper; I find it works best with my drawing methods in graphite and marker, and usually whites, sometimes BFK cream or grey if feeling especially jolly.

The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. I work in an additive/subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil; whereas my Rocket [Rocket just for state of reference] drawings are marker, pen, and graphite on paper and the sizes of these vary.

The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. Oil paint is what I use, with other media sometimes used like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. I would not call myself a mixed media painter though, does not seem a need to make that distinction. The palette range is very different than my drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. I am unsure of the distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range as of yet.

The painting start off usually as a sketch, drawn and redrawn till it feels right compositionally. Then it is drawn on the canvas, freehand, the grid does not hold any appeal to me. I would consider that I paint very directly, very confidently
The intaglio etchings are of an average size to me, though some may consider them large. They are similar to the drawing in that there is an absence of colour, and the support is white, again that starkness. They are created using the full range of intaglio techniques, and while printmaking is definitely more process based, they do not differ to me too much from my drawings.

Drawing and painting are very intuitive after the initial research of gathering information and source material, while the references are around, they seem often too distracting. They become more like starting points to the creation. The drawings are just executed and finished usually in a sitting. The paintings sometimes start off as a small sketch, and then executed on canvas where they start to become. There is always an initial starting point. William Kentridge in an interview spoke of drawing as this,

Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.

The construction of my art is through taking source ideas and thoughts, distilling it through my head, and then working at it. It is an intimacy and immediateness that fuels my art making.

The series of skull drawings are exploring an iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon; they are full of different meanings and have been appropriated for many types of meaning. I have researched different uses and appropriation of the skull imagery through the years, so I am dealing with this iconography in my drawings of them.
To myself, skulls have always popped up from time to time in my life and art practice. There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge has expanded of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation. It still contains the reference of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion. I did this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermal-ness to the skull, to reflect the varying states of meaning to the skull.

My drawings and paintings are a semiotic medley of different signs and meanings. They are images that are based in landscape, that make use of dystopian and apocalyptic elements, modernist symbols of progress, the figure relation to these objects. Peter Doig spoke about his paintings as "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you.". This seems to suit my drawing and painting imagery, in that they are obviously more of a cognitive imagery, composed of many different thoughts and sources. To say they are of the cognitive, of the mind, reflects the





My research methods are very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground. The library and the internet are my prime sources, for imagery and the information on the subject matter. I research a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of the artist through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. From there I will research other artists of the genre, tracing their influences, contemporary thought of the day, etc. Contemporary culture plays a role in my art as well, so magazines and the internet are sources for information.

It is hard to narrow down the number of artists that have influenced me over the years, and that currently influence me; it is kind of like the Paris run way. Who is good for this season? There are always the ones that stay from year to year, the classics perhaps, the ones that have had the greatest impact on my upbringing. So my short list would be:

Alberto Giacometti
Francisco Goya
Raymond Pettibon
Ed Pein
Royal Art Lodge/ Marcel Dzama
Wayne Thiebaud
Wim Delvoyle

So it follows from here to literate how these artists influence my art making, and in particular, this semester’s body of work.

Subject mattter, my subject matter is a representional drawings and painting.

The series of skull drawings are exploring a iconography that has been a part of human history, and has especially been included in art history. Skulls are a loaded icon, they are full of different meanings and have been appropriated for many types of meaning. I have researched different uses and appropriation of the skull imagery through the years, so I am dealing with this iconography in my drawings of them.
To myself, skulls have always popped up from time to time in my life and art practice. There has always been an interest in this object for me; and of course, with everyone, was a symbol of death. This meaning has changed over the years as my knowledge has expanded of different cultures, meaning, and appropriation. It still contains the meaning of death to me, but through my drawing of the skulls it is done to show that the skull in various states of distortion. I did this by an addition and subtraction method to create an ephermalness to the skull, to reflect the ephermalness of its meaning.

The drawings and paintings are images of that are dealing with the ideas of semi apocalyptic landscape, where objects

Need to sleep, get back tomorrow

Pained again today, did some re-adjusting of colours and such. Think I got the painting headed whre I want it now. Feeling pretty good about it now.

Hopefully do some more on my other paintings tomorrow, and get them a solid state, maybe finish them. Though that might be too much to ask...

Feeling pretty good now, keeping the enrgy up, and trying to be fearless. Was inspired to do a series of painting maybe for next semester, but that is thinking too far ahead.

Painted yesterday for a long time, and left to work on this fourth year essay, see below post. The whole time the current painting stuck in my head, and the same today. Something not working with it, there are good parts in it eveything seems off to me; not what I want. I'm going to scrape some of it tomorrow, but really hope I can get what I want done to it. The large exapnses of color in the explosion/cloud seem to be what angers me, they don't work. I would say they're fighting againest each other, but they're not, its not a tension filled fight, nor pushing and pulling, "just don't co-exist well" is the best terms I can say. I believe I know what I want, just have to execute it tomorrow.
It kind of brings me down, the confidence has dropped a bit. Being tired today doesn't help it either, ad I know thats a factor, nor having my dosage of coke cola till just now. I read a lot of asian books on war, stragedy, samurai code; trying to cultivate that attitude at times, this fearlessness, a no fear of death and such. Sounds nonsense at times I suppose one would think, but in the Book of Five Rings the author stresses that the applications of the techniques/mindset in the book can be applied to other things such as calligraphy and art. Perhaps I am rambling here, just a venting of frustration.

Will try to write on subject matter soon.

Jonathan Green was born two weeks late and seeing out of only one eye. A unique start to the world and this essay; such beginnings set the mood, setting, context, etc. of the essay. Or sometimes it is just an interesting detail.

Jonathan’s art consists of drawing, paintings, and printmaking. If asked that to describe my materials in one word, the word would be "simple". The materials are chosen for their simplicity, and the small sensuality that I enjoy in them.

My drawings are a variety of media on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite or Prismacolour markers for they are a high quality marker that allow me to work tonally. Charcoal is never forgotten though, the mat black is used sparingly. I usually stick to black or grey tones, rarely any colour used in my drawing.

The support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but I do go through a range. I prefer smooth paper; I find it works best with my drawing methods in graphite and marker, and usually whites, sometimes BFK cream or grey if feeling especially jolly.

The Skull drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. I work in an additive/subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil; whereas my Rocket [Rocket just for state of reference] drawings are marker, pen, and graphite on paper and the sizes of these vary.

The paintings are on stretched canvas usually, and sometimes wood. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. Oil paint is what I use, with other media sometimes used like pencil, oil stick, and spray paint. I would not call myself a mixed media painter though, does not seem a need to make that distinction. The palette range is very different than my drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. I am unsure of the distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range as of yet.

The painting start off usually as a sketch, drawn and redrawn till it feels right compositionally. Then it is drawn on the canvas, freehand, the grid does not hold any appeal to me. I would consider that I paint very directly, very confidently

The intaglio etchings are of an average size to me, though some may consider them large. They are similar to the drawing in that there is an absence of colour, and the support is white, again that starkness. They are created using the full range of intaglio techniques, and while printmaking is definitely more process based, they do not differ to me too much from my drawings.

My research methods are very intuitive and wide arcing, covering a lot of ground. The library and the internet are my prime sources, for imagery and the information on the subject matter. I research a lot of different artists and different periods of art history, trying to get an understanding of the artist through biography, critical essays, and of course, their work. From there I will research other artists of the genre, tracing their influences, contemporary thought of the day, etc. Contemporary culture plays a role in my art as well, so magazines and the internet are sources for information.

It is hard to narrow down the number of artists that have influenced me over the years, and that currently influence me; it is kind of like the Paris run way. Who is good for this season? There are always the ones that stay from year to year, the classics perhaps, the ones that have had the greatest impact on my upbringing. So my short list would be:

Alberto Giacometti
Francisco Goya
Raymond Pettibon
Ed Pein
Royal Art Lodge/ Marcel Dzama
Wayne Thiebaud
Wim Delvoyle

So it follows from here to literate how these artists influence my art making, and in particular, this semester’s body of work.

The week has been an interesting one, busy and distractions galore.

I have been painting, drawing, reading, and obviously not writing...

Thursday I was sitting in Brewed Awakening with Jordan, just after he got off work and I spent money on unnecessary things. Enjoying a hot chocolate [ best hot chocolate in Newfoundland is found there] and perusing a Taschen "Art Now" book. In it the artist Peter Doig is featured; a Scottish/Canadian/Trindad artist, who is known for this interesting landscapes. I am not a huge fan of his work, they don't do it for me, or at least the reproductions don't.

He did say this "I don't think of my paintings as being at all realistic. I think of them as being derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of you."

It is not one of those wonderful epigrams that can be debated endlessly, but struck a chord with me, for obviously my paintings have a sense of reality to them, but they are definitely more from my head. I will say they are not surrealist, but rather constructed to fit certain subject matter and formal considerations.

I think at times, or rather, in honesty the majority of the time, terribly conscious of the subject matter. In that I think about what I am painting, what is is suppose to be, suppose to look like, I never get to the surface, to just the surface. Lucien Freud said "Mustn't be indulged to the subject matter. I'm so conscious that that is a recipe for bad art"

I think from that I understand why my drawings are seen as more confident, more stronger than my other work. In my drawings, the imagery matters to me, but doesn't control the drawings. The drawings is just done, to be a good drawing. I use the line more easily, tones, everything is just done.

Painting seems different for some reason. Despite my experience with painting, I can not get the same execution of my drawings in it. There is some block there. I have been changing my painting process more, to mixing up large quantities of paint, working more wet on wet, using paint stick, etc. Something just isn't clicking yet. Maybe I have to bust out a lot more paintings. Smaller perhaps, and lots of them?

It is an interesting question to ask what are your influences in art, it is a question asked I suppose to find out more about your art through comparison of your influences. Of course, your influences change over time, as your range of other artists and their works expand. When writing about ones influences, one always mentions the artists that have had a positive influence on your art. Do not the art that you hate also make an influence on you? As in "I hope to never make something like that". I wonder if that does not have the biggest effect on me, for there is a lot of crap out there I don't want to replicate.

I have been painting over the past few days, trying to tune up the current painting. Just trying to up the torque and horsepower out of it, along with some custom details. It has a low rumble now, and I would put it in a mid range category, if I can continue this metaphor/simile. Its not a cruiser or racer, still working on ideas for those. A nice Lamborghini or Aston Martin level of painting would be nice.

I have been reading, the new GQ: Gentleman's Quarterly, and browsing a few art books. Suppose to be reading Hegel and Kant...

Gessoed some cardboard tubes tonight, in prep for a possible sculpture attempt. Debating the current merits of that; as in whether it is relevant or worth the time, will I be ate alive for them, etc.

Also hope to start my big drawing I had planned soon as well. The big sheet of paper isn't as intimidating as one thinks. Have had many people come and ask me where I got it, so I wonder if there will be some other big drawings soon at the college. Trendsetter perhaps?

Only another four weeks left...doesn't seem enough time really.

So it has been a week since posting on here, which is fine enough. Last week at the end was quite busy, with some other course work needing completion. I did manage to do some painting and work Friday evening, but the weekend was the Halloween weekend, so a lot of things were shot; to be expected.

Monday I took William Faulkner's advice "Kill your darlings", and painted over my explosion canvas. The painting wasn't working, and so quick as a whip, I started a new one over. Quite liberating in a way, and feeling much happier with this one already.

The mention of William Faulkner is interesting as well, for had a discussion of literature, text, and images last night in art theory. I feel like I straddle both areas at time, there is a huge love of reading and writing; and actually won an Arts and Letters Award one time for poetry in grade twelve. Planned on doing english and philosophy after a semester of pre-pharmacy. So did a year of English, and other arts courses.

Yet in my art making process, the combination of text and image come difficult to me. I do usually have a sense of narrative to my works, but I find it hard trying to achieve a sense of poetic to my works with words. It hasn't hit me yet.

Borrowed a book from the library about Luc Tuymans , I'm a little intrigued by his pieces, the muted colours, the efficiency of paint, the relation between title and image of the paintings.

It was dark as pitch this morning, which really just throws my day off. I don't like waking up in the dark, for to me, it means go back to bed. Still very grey out, reconsidering ever going to the Great North with 20 hour darkness, might just ruin me. Haha.

Had a studio visit with Pao Quang Yeh today, he is a officer with the Canadian Council of the Arts as well as being a practicing artist. We only had 15 minutes really, for more people wanted a studio visit with him than the previous artists.

Pao is a pretty insightful artist, he asked some hard and penetrating questions to me about my artwork, and in doing so, revealed that I might not have the actual reasoning for why I'm doing the stuff I am doing figured out yet. Which, I'll be honest, I don't; nor did I feel prepared today for some reason for some of those questions. Lack of alertness really, really ought to sleep better.

Those are not excuses or defenses against some of what he asked me. One thing he focused on, was the idea that I was not speaking with my own voice. That I was not sure of some of my reasoning, and that I was doing things that conflicted with my intentions. I should be honest with who I am, and where I am from, should not be apologetic with anything. Going to talk the talk, got to walk the walk. He cut under my personality to something a little inner, caught me off guard. Be damned if that happens again.
My skulls drawings were a sort of contention, in that he was not getting the intentions of what I wanted the skulls to be in the artwork; which goes back to my unsureness of the intentions of course. The mark making could be improved however, and there was advice to approach them as portraits not just renderings.

He didn't feel my painting, the current one in progress was working either. In that I didn't seem committed to it yet, even in the under painting. I am unsure of what he meant by that, and I neglected to ask more about that. I do have to get in to a bit more, if thats what he meant. Just got to bust in to it. He asked about combining my painting and drawing together. Said look at Ed Pien's work. I will say one thing, shouldn't mention artists you admire right off in a meeting. haha.

He liked my smaller drawings a bit more, the ones I do very quickly. They're small little sketches on some BFK paper, done with markers and pen work. They are nice, but I saw them as something more preparatory to my art. I had planned to do one, a small sketch of a rocket, as a bigger drawing. About 7ft by 4ft. He recommended doing more of them, in the small size, but many of them, hundreds and install them together;to think about what that would say. Interesting proposition, and one I have considered before. It just doesn't excite me the same way a large drawing does.

Was an interesting conversation, something to think about. Especially on how I communicate, in short time periods for instances and of course my art making. Does kind of lights a fire though

Hoping to do some painting before the night ends, though the stomach is gnawing upon itself. Currently at the library, working on an art theory paper. Sometimes I love writing and reading theory, other times, as of now, it is killing me.


I was informed to look at Zhang Huan lately, he has created some beautiful skull drawings done with incense ash. Culturally specific in a way, but yet, the meaning is very clear if one has some knowledge of his background and culture. They are also just beautiful, very well done. There seems to be an attempt to rehabilitate the icon as well. Not sure, shouldn't speculate. They are awesome though....hmm.

End of transmisson

To describe my materials in one word, the word would be "simple". The materials are chosen for their simplicity, and the small sensuality that I enjoy in them.

My drawings are graphite or charcoal on paper; usually graphite for the smoothness of the line, and the shine of the graphite. Charcoal is never forgotten though, the mat black is used sparingly. I always stick to black or grey tones, there is no colour in my media choice. The support has so far always been paper, a few in particular, but I do go through a range. I prefer smooth paper, I find it works best with my adding and subtracting, and usually whites, sometimes BFK cream or grey if feeling especially jolly. That is the extent though, I like the purity of black marks on white. The starkness perhaps.
The drawings are usually large, least a full sheet of paper, sometimes multiple sheets connected, or a large sheet; the expanse of space is enjoyed. I work in an additive/subtractive method, of using the eraser as a drawing tool as much as the pencil.

The paintings are on stretched canvas, though wood is not ruled out. Gessoed, sanded, and toned. Oil paint is what I use, with other media sometimes used like pencil, oil stick, spray paint. I would not call myself a mixed media painter though, does not seem a need to make that distinction. The palette range is very different than my drawings, the palette seems endless, pastel to neon to earths and darks. I am unsure of the distinction between the drawings and painting in terms of colour range as of yet.
The painting do start off usually as a sketch, drawn and redrawn till it feels right compositionally. Then it is drawn on the canvas, freehand, the grid doe not hold any appeal to me. Then light washes, undercoats and darks are applied, sometimes glazed, usually alla prima; due to time constraints.I have been introducing other mark making ways in to my painting, but still always feels like an oil painting to me.

The intaglio etchings are of an average size to myself, though some may consider them large. They are similar to the drawing in that there is an absence of colour, and the support is white, again that starkness. Created either on zinc or copper plate, not a big difference to me except in some technical factors.
They are created using the full range of intaglio techniques, and while printmaking is definitely more process based, they do not differ to me too much from my drawings. They seem of the same sort.

The subject matter, sources and influence, need some more time to digest.
Write some more later.

Very interesting, the process is so much a part of it

So I have been reading about William Kentridge today, a south african artist. I have encountered him before in Vitamin D: Drawing but of course, it was still images. Then in digital class the other day, Mark Prier, brought him up and talked of his animation technique. Then I found a great interview with him in pressPlay
where he has this interesting quote pertaining to drawings.

What does it mean to say that something is a drawing-as opposed to a fundamentally different form, such as a photograph? First of all, arriving at the image is a process, not a frozen instant. Drawing for me is about fluidity. There may be a vague sense of what you're going to draw but things occur during the process that may modify, consolidate or shed doubts on what you know. So drawing is a testing of ideas: a slow-motion version of thought. It does not arrive instantly like a photograph. The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning. What ends in clarity does not begin that way.

-William Kentridge.
pressPlay page 408

That passage really struck me, it seems to encapsulate how I feel about drawing but could never seem to get at...yet. It seems so true to me. Going to ponder it more. The idea of drawing-animation is very cool as well, thoughts of application on my skull drawings have come to mind.


I did some painting last night, a lot better than I had been doing. Light washes, pushing paint, started using a paint stick as well, which felt right and looked good as well to me. Bringing another element to the painting. Did a little more this afternoon as well before coming to this library. Really wish I could get up earlier, I'm feeling like not getting enough done. A lot of ideas.

So as part of my fourth year work Independent Work of my Visual Arts degree I have created this blog.
Part of the fourth year requirments is a writing requirment, that goes in conjunction with your actual art. I intend to explore the writing side of things in this blog. So the majority of the blog writing will relat to my art and the making of it.

Today I have been doing some painting or preparing for painting. To be honest, I'm painting like an idiot now, so taking some time to regroup and get focused. I currently have 2 paintings started now, so going between them.
I have also recently purchased a large sheet of paper for a large scale drawing, so that is currently in the wings along with some etchings I want to attempt. So multitasking like an Apple comp. There are ideas for a video piece as well, but that depends on time and resources.