Scribbles, scrawls, stripes, spaceships, socks & sandals, sports courts and something sculptural.

I added the “frame” to this painting yesterday. There is an awkwardness to this work, and the yellow is a bit full-on (if something can be a bit full-on).

Is it finished, is it complete? I am uncertain.

Is every element pulling its weight? What if I take one element away? What if I add something new?

Keen to push the work to places where I feel uncomfortable and uncertain – this is where things get interesting.

Here are a couple of John Baldessari things I enjoyed yesterday…

A Brief History of John Baldessari.
Narrated by Tom Waits. (5min 55sec)

And from an interview towards the end of another You Tube video:

Baldessari: Being an artist is also a life of sacrifice. You’re always, you know, having to give up something. I know that sounds romantic but you just have to get more and more focus, and the more you focus that means the more you have to exclude some things.

Interviewer: Like what?

Baldessari: Being an international playboy… Can’t do that anymore.

…I’ve just got to paint a monochrome.

The “black” consists of Paynes Grey, a splash of Red Oxide and a daub of Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), mixed into a Regular Gel (Semi-Gloss) medium.

I was taught on my foundation course not to use pure black. In doing so, you risk creating a dead hole in a painting, a pit from which the eye struggles to escape. Mixing a black avoids the pit, creates something more subtle, more mysterious and hopefully, more interesting.

Resisting the temptation of overworking, this little guy initially felt awkward to me. After living with it for a few days, I’m appreciating the composition, colours, and variety of this painting. It’s not perfect (whatever that is) but it’s feeling complete.