Peer review 1

This is a breakdown of some of the points gained from a peer review, the paintings shown were a selection of the work to be used for assessment.

I review took place with Tattooist and graphic artist Andrew Train.

• The idea behind my current work grew form an original interest in Japanese Sumi-e, something that naturally teetered out of my work towards the middle the course yet found its way back in later on. I wanted to combine the use of ink and oils, perhaps because of my lack of confidence in ink as a primary medium
• The idea that I currently use for my ‘rorsarch’ paintings came from a studio session of experimenting due to a  bought of ‘artists block’ I feel this is a testament to the ability to work thing out by ‘doing’ and not just thinking about it.
• I am very hard on my own work, sometimes to my detriment, I make countless paintings that I don’t show to anyone sometimes scrapping them completely before anyone else has looked at it, sometimes my judgment can be assisted by input by peers in order to hep working things out and possibly improving paintings.
• The consensus is in your early career as a painter an important moment is when you are aware that you are happy with your own work. I feel my work is acceptable when I am happy with it.
• I sometimes feel like Im reliant on the inkblot idea, this is due to me feeling that I am not a ‘great painter’ technically, I have never been taught how to paint or anything I think that technically I am an ‘ good/ok painter’
• The use of the ink blot/rorsarch paintings has created smaller ‘microcosms’ within the image, this serves as a new way of looking at the paintings, it is an original idea, it can be improved by going up in scale, more detail.
• I was concerned that I may be flitting through different conflicts with no real cohesion, in a series of paintings I have depicted parts of Burma, Gaza City, Nairobi and Belfast. It was suggested that this is not a negative aspect, due to the fact I have made work not about war or conflict specifically but people, individuals who have been caught in a bad situation, who have been as quoted ‘totally dicked’ by their governments and fellow countrymen.
• The fractured inkblots serve as an analogy to the narratives within the images, the images depicted are sometimes difficult to make out and the stories behind them are unclear, your eyes are drawn to different aspects. In some of the images you can make out what it is but you don’t know why it is their. The viewer is left to discern what they are seeing.
• The immediate impression to an initial viewing is how the images have been applied to the canvas, the viewer is drawn to the different ways that the paint has been applied, some images look like paper has been torn (The Gaza City piece) whilst others (Belfast City Centre) looks though it has been torn out of the linen, as though it was within in the linen.
• The images were the conflict is almost non existent are not as strong, technically they are ok but they amy be a bit dull and pointless, the theme should be kept from moving to the more obscure aspects and should be more controlled, better planned.
• The coloured inkblots on cotton canvas are not as successful, they are hard to make out.
• It is noticeable that I am trying to work out different styles using the same inkblot technique if there was any real criticism it is that more work needs to be done, it can be tidier and technically better.
• The general feel is that the work is original, it has a lot going for it, it looks professional. More care needs to be needed in the actual paintings technically, the work although mostly taken from photos still have an organic quality, something quite human to it. I should defiantly plan out my paintings more, better research the original images and try to take more photographs myself in order to expand on the subject matter (conflict)