Elesym XIII.

The last couple of days before the Easter Holidays, I was given the chance to use to a large space in the studio area to show my work for the upcoming assessment. I was really surprised...

Last semester I had a bad time and hardly any work was created. It was all bits and bobs which didn't relate to each other. I had no idea what I was doing. And I wasn't enjoying myself.

But this was a great opportunity and of course, I said yes to it! I thought maybe the tutors had seen that I have come a long way and grown with my art since the last dreaded assessment. I wanted to do well and use the space to its fullest. That's when I decided I needed to achieve another painting before this final assessment for second year. I chose to come back to uni early which allowed me enough time to create a fourth piece.

I wanted to change the way I used circles, developing my work once again, whilst keeping the abstract version of the elephant skull again. I decided to use acrylic for its bright colour and ability to dry reasonably quick. This is what I ended up with. Not too shabby, hey? People seem to like it... Well, they say they do haha!

Elesym XII.

I must admit, this is probably the piece that I am most proud of this semester. It has had a lot more thought put into it than the others and I guess, I never thought I would ever create something like it. For me, it's very abstract. It must mean that I've made some progress. Yay me!

Elesym VI - XI.

These are kind of a series within a series. They are clearly unfinished and all still works in progress. God forbid if I called them finished, I would be told what is wrong with them straight away! I am still working with using shapes from the elephant skull and transforming them into even more so unknown forms.

I hope to finish them over the summer; I should be able to. With the lack of space I have back home for working, nothing usually is achieved, but these are only little. Maybe you will see them again sometime, keep an eye out.

I also learnt that hanging things up is quite helpful...

Elesym V.

Not a great final picture, sorry! There is a better image in a later blog post.

This piece is very different from the previous painting. I wanted to work in an opposite way, after it was suggested that I try to work freer and oil paint was the best way to do this. I also decided that I would not use a flat colour and chose to blend coloured patches, as I have not quite managed to master that technique with oils. However, yes, I know, practice makes perfect…

The only same part of this painting is that I used the stencil tracing for the skull again. I then worked up layers of washes on it and in doing this, I realised why I used to have a small select colour palette. Too many colours makes it really complicated and you have to think more about which colours you are using for shadows etc. I still kept building them up until I was satisfied with a point to leave it at.

It is a recycled canvas, which I think I have mentioned before, from a friend. You can still see some of the previous painting that they had painted within the white space. After the washes on the skull shape, I thought it would be best to stop. To cover it I would have had to use white acrylic, which would have been better to do before starting the painting and it would have left it a flat colour. I feel this would have looked out of place. With how it is, it possibly looks like a porthole and a foggy landscape outside, then obviously the strange shape floating in the middle.

I think it appears unfinished and I am fine with that. I can still go back to it at a later point if I wish to.