Let's Talk Art Blog

Working with monochromatic colour, doesn't just mean using black and white - far from it! As I look back at my paintings over the years, I can see I've quite often favoured an essentially monochrome palette in many of my pieces, but I've usually added a touch of other colours. There's a subtlety and depth that can be achieved in using a restricted palette which for me, allows the shapes and lines to have a stronger visual conversation...

Here's a little play around with a sketch that wanted to be a landscape to begin with, which I wrestled with as you'll see. This threw up an interesting observation for me about how I work. Often the first thing I see is a horizon line or other landscape element and only once I've registered that can I move past it and into the abstract. Enjoy!

Amidst a festive flurry of activity I wonder to myself.....am I making progress? That pesky little signpost called 'productivity' usually pops up in my mind when I ask myself this question. What do I actually have to show for my time in the studio this week? How many paintings have I started or finished?

If you've been following my Instagram you'll know I've been taking a bit of a deep dive into colour recently. I am a self confessed colour addict and it's always been a fundamental part of my visual language. But more often than not, I've worked with it intuitively or subconsciously rather than intentionally and consciously. I was interested to test my knowledge and understanding and see where making more conscious decisions about colour choices might take me.

As part of my latest body of work, I wanted to revisit art making processes that I haven't used for a while. And no, I haven’t fallen out of love with colour, I’m just having a little wander! Years ago a printmaker friend sold me little old table top press. And it’s gathered dust and got a bit rusty but whilst I was cleaning up for open studios it seemed to be the one thing that I just kept moving from place to place, with no real idea where to put it.

I'm working on a couple of big paintings at the moment for an upcoming exhibition in early 2023 and whilst I had greens on my palette I wanted to capture some of the colours in my sketchbook for future reference. ....