Painting with Intention

"Rising Cloud, Harrison Lake" 18 X 24" Oil on Canvas

Chromatically, this newest piece demonstrates the versatility of my 3 colour system. Yup, the same 3 colours as before!

But there is lots going on in this one with composition, and I finally was able to scratch an itch on a tight and structured layout without getting too uptight about it. I shot the photo from a kayak, on the backside of a little island out in Harrison Lake. I saw the painting before I hit the shutter.

I wanted to convey the exhilaration, joy and awe I felt in the face of this. The gate of heaven is everywhere, as Thomas Merton said, and at times like this, I think it swings ajar a bit. I have always considered the act of painting to be an act of worship. This time, it felt like High Mass.

So obviously, I needed to summon just about every tool at my disposal to project this to the viewer. Here is some of what I did intentionally, using some very strong hints from Nature.

So I basically started of with the time-tested grid of thirds, and the center stabilising pyramid. Guys have been using this since at least the Renaissance. So nothing new there. I wanted to lay a strong foundation.

You all know that Cezanne rocks my cage, and that I have been wanting to get at his knack for structure a little more closely, so this was the perfect excuse to establish a strong grid of repeating diagonals, creating rhythm, unity and a lively internal dynamic. painting and music have a lot in common, and I am not the first one to think so! I really did not have to manipulate the image very much to do achieve this.

Movement is really important here, too, because the cloud is rising off the mountain. But I wanted the painting to ascend in every aspect. The verticality of the trees emphasizes that of course, but they are static. Again, nothing new here, but I do not always get to apply all I know. Notably, this technique was used by van Gogh in his later stuff, and from him, Emily Carr, but I wanted to use more subtly, rather than it being the dominating thing.

Kinda like boiling water, this internal movement.

In fact, I tried to instinctively create some upward compression with curved lines in this piece too. The top and bottom of the "boiler", as it were.


I have also been interested in the way, in photos at least, the sky-colour seems to bleed into edges of things--especially shadow areas in tree tops. For this painting, I drew the trees in as usual, but then painted the sky-colour in further than I normally would, past where I wanted the masses of the trees. Then I used pure Manganese blue, straight out of the tube to paint over the dried sky-colour on the shadow sides. This blue is translucent in its unmixed form, so I effectively created a glaze in the shadow areas of the trees where they meet the sky. It worked well, I think. Although I wouldn't mind not being so freakin' versatile and clever in deference to developing an homogeneous style, it is good to impress myself one in a while with these little innovations :) I am very interested to continue these explorations in perception. I really feel like I am getting some work done then. Visual research, yeah.

But the biggest buzz of this piece for me was that I was totally in the zone for almost the entire thing. I really, really enjoyed seeing this one come off the brush. Yes, sometimes I forgot to eat--and sleep!

All I Can't Leave Behind

Sometimes I have to make a hard professional call. I figure about 1 in 5 paintings end up in the tip because of some inability to realize my original emotion, or my dissatisfaction with the composition, paint surface or something else. The photo above is probably the worse piture I have painted in a while, and I was incredibly frustrated with it. It will certainly be the worst painting I post on this blog, and I'm only doing so to illustrate a point. I totally stuffed up the island on the left, and after much fiddling with the sky and background, I decided to call it.

But it wasn't all bad. On the right side I think I actually managed to paint the squally rain-and-sun effects of September on Harrison Lake. My first attempt at painting actual weather, anyway. So I got out the ol' utility knife.....

"Squally Weather, Harrison Lake" 11 X 14" Oil on Canvas
I cut it out, slapped a panel on the back, trimmed it, touched up the sky and added my signature, and Tom's my uncle.

The difference between an amateur artist and a professional is that a professional know just how brutally honest he needs to be with himself. Like the Welsh Poet, RS Thomas said about poerty, it is "an essay in applied criticism". The stricter a critic you are of your own work, the better you will paint. 'Nuf said.

CanLit at the Uni

I went with a beautiful woman tonight to the second of the Massey Lectures, hosted by Paul Kennedy of CBC Radio 1's Ideas, my second favorite radio show next to Randy's Vinyl Tap and The Debaters. Well, some days it really is my #1 favourite show.

What was especially cool is that we wanted to see an exhibit honouring Robin and Sylvia Skelton "The Hold of Our Hands" at the Maltwood Gallery at UVic.

Well, well. There was a supposedly Private Function on, but we went in anyway. And we got to meet Paul Kennedy, the host of Ideas, himself. S. introduced me to Lorna Crozier. Parick Lane was there, too, but I didn't say hi.

The lecture, by Alberto Manguel, was great, and it was a really memorable evening all around :)

Pretty cool.

The Deaf Canvas Listens

"...one day something happens, the touches seem to 'take', the deaf canvas listens, your words flow and you have done something."--Walter Sickert.

"I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time.
Oh what a beautiful view, if you were never aware of what was around you.
And it is true what you said: that I live like a hermit in my own head,
But when the sun shines again, I'll pull the curtains and blinds to let the light in."
--Death Cab for Cutie (Ben Gibbard), Marching Bands of Manhattan

"[Monet] has painted the gleaming iris of the earth. He has painted water.... But now we must give a firmness, a framework, to the evanescence of all things, and to these pictures by Monet."
--Paul Cezanne

Globalisation and the Commodification of Spirituality

There. Had to start the newest post with a pompous title :) I have been getting some painting in the cracks between trying to work, travelling for work, and taking some holidays.

"Christchurch Cathedral" 18 X 24" Oil on Canvas.
Well, I keep trying to stretch myself--and succeeding. I think I have got the light down.... Lots to like about this piece, I think. And I have finally overcome my fear of greys. Still only 3 colours, baby!

I leaned the thing a little to the left to give the solid, monumental edifice a touch of the precarious. Yup--maybe a social commentary (I'll leave it to you to unpack. Hint: the dumpster also has something to do with it as well.) But the lean to the left also makes for a bit of drama.

Seems as though I can't paint a bad sky, although painting a luminous overcast sky is not as easy as it looks! So I resorted to pointillism. I have also been trying to capture an effect of the light of the sky and how it wraps and bleeds around the edges that meet it. Very happy with the sky-edges in the trees on both sides.

There is actually a strong sunbeam coming from the right of the picture--this is in the photo as well. A chink in the bottom of the cloud, I guess. I took this photo about this time last year.

The focal-point is the street-light on "yield", but it is held in diagonal tension by the yellow tree areas on either side.

I'm really starting to hit a stride with various paint-handling techniques. I may post details of several areas of this piece. You might not be able to see the thick-thin treatments, and the various rubbing/ grinding/ touching/ wiping/ slashing/ feathering of the paint that went on here. This is pointing away from an homogeneous style, in the manner of Monet or Cezanne. But maybe that is my style--a flexible emotion shorthand. We'll see.

And no, I was not inspired by Monet's Rouen Cathedral paintings--which are brilliant, but still look to me as if they are assembled out of multi-colour granola. I like granola.


The underpainting helps to see the subtle interplay of diagonals. I spent about 4 hours on the drawing, and laid it out with a straight-edge. I need to do some more work in front of the live model. Even the Old Masters knew (especially the Old Masters), that drawing naked people helps you paint churches--and everything else in the world.

And now for globalization.....

"Freighter" 14 X 18" Oil on the Usual Stuff.
A fresh little piece, wiped on in an hour. 3 colours again, if you needed to know! This piece always gives me a jolt of delight when it catches the corner of my eye. The tones are spot-on. Shot the pic from the ferry. Simple, dramatic, solid composition. Kinda de Stael, kinda Group of 7.

That creamy orange in the sky and water is actually the ground. Mixed up a big barrel of it--it brings out my famous blues :)

OK, up next--a lily-pond. (automatic associations with Monet again--I can't escape!) And maybe a painting of Harrison Lake. I'll let you all know.

Be Blessed All,
Nicholas

New Drawings

Here are some of my newest drawings, scanned straight outa the ol' Moleskine.

I draw like I paint, in my own quirky style, but rooted in reality. All these are drawn directly from life.

"Mt. Doug seen from Summit Park" 7.25 X 9.75"Pencil on Paper.


"Jaye Knitting" 7.25 X 9.75" Pencil on Paper.


"Reclining Nude 2" 7.25 X 9.75" Pencil on Paper.


"Limes and Salt" 7.25 X 9.75" Pencil on Paper.

End of Summer--Almost

Great time with my little sister , Peanut, who came out for a couple of days from AB. It was good to get out with her on bicycles, and share some of the sites around this town.

I did this accidental self-portrait that is kind of arty. Here are a few more good pix from the week, and our official mascot, Burdock.

Best of the Old Stuff

For those of you who have not seen my older work, here is the best of it. I'll be getting a professional photographer to do these up right soon. I have to colour down now, but the focus needs work.

This period is still the high watermark in my work. Although I did not paint a lot, I made every picture count. I had no money--the canvas is primed thinly with household latex, on whatever scraps of canvas I had. Crazy dimensions, paint put on with absolute love, delicacy and precision.

I'm moving on to bigger work, more diversity, and experimentation. But this period taught me how to see the world with eyes truly my own. The one of the boats started the whole thing. It is still an inspiration, and has a place of honour in my studio.

Enjoy:


"Small Boats--Conway Harbour" 1996. 18.125 X 12.75" Oil on canvas.

Still the huge little canvas when I painted it. How did I do this?? Somebody please tell me! If anyone wants this, well, I need the downpayment on an apartment.....


"Corner of a Sunset" 1996. 7.25 X 16" Oil on Canvas.

-15C. The hill across the highway from my trailer. No money, on welfare, walking home from town. I saw this, then went inside and painted it.



"Cattle Country--Wolf Ranch" 1997, 12.5" X 11.125. Oil on canvas.

This one and the next two were painted from photos I took on a bike blast up to Kamloops and back.


"South Thompson Country" 1997 14.5 X 11.25" Oil on Canvas.

If you squint at the sky in this one, the clouds start to move.... I stopped before finishing the weeds in the foreground. Perfect. This gave me the idea of leaving the foreground out of focus, which I have been using a lot in my most recent stuff.


"Hay and Sky" 1997. 15.5 X 17.5" Oil on canvas.


"Corner Field--Winter 2000" 2000. 8.375 X 15.5"

Oil on canvas. The same field as below, but in winter. Sat outside in the wind and melting snow by the corner of the garden to paint this one.


"Oats and Cloud" 2001. 12.125 X 14.5" Oil on canvas.

Dad had the field reaped the next day or two--I just got it in time. I think I painted this form a photo, but I can't remember.....


"First Cut" 2001. 10 X 13.5"

Sat in the driveway that summer morning with the smell of fresh-cut hay all around me. Lots of pink in this one from the glare, but it is a deliberate device, too. the old Massey bale-wagon on the left. I got the silvery, silky-ness of the knocked-down grass dialled.

I am unofficially changing my name to Nicholas Williams. My "nom de painture". Hopefully this will save all future explanations about the discrepancies between my given name and my signature. Since it is actually the same name, and I need to "brand" myself ;) I'm taking this step. I'll have business cards printed shortly. Lots of my poet friends call themselves what they want (Radar, Strong Cottonwoods, etc., so fair is fair. If you want the full explanation, go here.

OK, now I am going to go paint some more. Next up--some of my best drawings.

Best,
C

I Could Have Told You That.

Honestly, does this look like a van Gogh?! The treatment of the eyes and nose is very uncharacteristic, I think.

This painting looks like a crazed Gordie Lightfoot or something. It's good, and muddy and kinda van Gogh-esque, but, it's just not him.

I had the opportunity to see 3 van Gogh's in Vancouver this last weekend, as part of the "Monet to Dali" show. It was really good--there were two pieces there I had not seen before. Same goes for the 3 Cezannes. I looked at "The Brook" for a good 1/2 hour.

Got into a life drawing class night before last, and have been doing a lot of drawing generally.

Stay tuned,
Colin

Some New Stuff

"Christchurch Cathedral from Vancouver Street" 14 X 18" Oil on Canvas.

L-l-love this little piece. 3 colours, baby, and all the mixes are spot-on. Love those coppery greeny-oranges, dark turquoises and strange purply pinks. Yeow! OK, I think the paint-quality could be a little bit tighter. But I did this one in a single shot, with a little bit of retouching, but not much. tho only thing I should not have done is put that white in the foreground. Oh well. I do like to leave some bare canvas in the foreground.

Focus is a conscious consideration for me. I deliberately leave the corners and the foreground of some pieces unfocused/ unfinished. I am not a realist in the strictest sense, but I do this because I want the eye to not get hung up on those bits, but to be drawn into the picture, and stay there--hopefully for more than .003 nanoseconds ;)

I like the contrast of sharp and shallow diagonals, and the repetitions they create, and how the whites step into and then condense into the center.

The details of the tower are a bit sketchy, but it is not the focal point of the thing. Almost by accident, the two shadows on the background "rhyme". Nice. Art happens.



"Ruthie" 14 x 18" Oil on Canvas.

It even looks like her! I am happy with this one in that regard. My friend Ruth is visually impaired, so her face is is grayish, and there is a riot of colour around her as a matter of subtle symbolism. The composition is decent, and there is lots of overpainting that seems to work OK.

I'm not 100% happy with it, though. Ruth's likeness was a bit more accurate in the underpainting. As usual, I can muck it up a bit by putting paint on it. I painted the underdrawing and the face in two sessions. Ruth had a hard time sitting still the second time, though.... the corner of my desk and filing cabinet are not too worked up, and I have left Ruth's sleeve and hands deliberately unfinished. Like Hemingway said, the stuff you leave out is as important as what you keep in. Same applies to painting as to writing.

Ruthie looks a bit sad here, but she has a bright, sunny personality, in spite of ill health and personal tragedy. She's my hero, and this is meant to be a tribute to her.

08/20/07: The more I look at this piece the more I like it. Well done Nicholas (great cheers and hurrahs).

Vids

Hi Gang,

As soon as I can get some paint to dry around here, I will be posting my latest visual research. A fairly productive weekend in that I have 4 pieces that are waiting a final session. In the meantime, here are some videos that are high in artistic merit, and I think, interest. One funny, the other real.

It's summer in Victoria, and the place is flooded with tourists. Especially America tourists. We love American tourists.

Clash of Cultures. The only thing I have against Muslims, is that, as a non-Muslim, I can't date any of those dark-eyed girls! ;) Still, I wish I had more Muslim friends--because I want what they could contibute to my life. I think that the diferences between us all as humans are so small as to be not worth fighting over. One of the underlying reasons for conflict, is, of course, resources. The global north would be less bastards if they consumed less reasources, and I could go in three different direcctions from there--but this blog is supposed to be about art.

Hey, there is a good question I should adress on this blog! "What can art do to make this world a better place?"

Peace out,
C

Maybe I Can Paint Water

"Evening, Gonzales Bay"

I need a different/ better camera too. I think to put together a real portfolio, I gotta work this out.

Soo..... Another uptight easel painting. I think I got the light down, though.

I have been really experimenting with some different stuff lately, and doing some framing. Big sale at Opus, so I scooped some sweet deals!.

And I even have my own point gun--I'm a real man!

Too short a long weekend. I didn't even get drunk of watch the fireworks. What kinda Canadian am I??

Happy Anniversary to Kuzin Ray and his wife Debra. Shout out to them and their gang. They could have gone into the movies but they decided to start a family. Good call.

G'night.
C

Ouch.

I must admit that there is not much local news what really makes me wince, but this did:
Gallery Burns

This place was owned by a Dutch family, and supported a lot of local talent. To make it worse, their accountant had offices upstairs. At their age, they might not rebuild.

Ashes
More Ashes
And More

Sick. That is a lot of good hard work up in smoke.

C.

Three is all You Need.

I have worked out a system for using only 3 colours, because, as we all know, any colour can be mixed from those. The printing industry has been doing this for years. So my thing was to choose colours closest to the process colours of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (CMYK). And of course, I don't/ won't use black, because it's yucky. Of course, CMYK is used for optical mixing, but....

So for me it is: Manganese Blue, Permanent Rose (Quinacridone Red), and Windsor Lemon. This is not Windsor & Newton's recommended 3 colour system, but what do they know? ;)

The Mang. Blue is actually a copper phthalocyanine pigment, because they discontinued the actual manganese-based pigment due to toxicity and cost. But it is pretty close. The yellow--I just special ordered 4 tubes from the friendly gals at Opus. Had to come all the way from the big warehouse in Old Blighty.

So here is the paintings I have done so far in this system. It's been super fun, and I often wonder why I don't paint exclusively this way.....

"Still Life with Orange and Spoon" This little gem was done back in '96. Still can't do that soft, gritty paint textures anymore. Something to do with brushes and canvas priming. I thought at the time that this one was just an experiment. But now it is a constant inspiration. Not for sale.

"Two Apples" Done late last year. Flirting with realism here. Dad has this piece now.


"Courier Bag" The faithful man-purse in which I pack groceries, tools, paintbox supplies, smoking equipment, clothes, papers, etc. every single day of my boring little life. Custom-ordered from Timbuk 2 in the three colours. It is also the national flag of Romania. Painted really fast, wet-into-wet.

"Island Wine" Has something of a Old-Masters feel (but not execution). This baby needs a big gilt frame and to be hung in an ornate, late Georgian drawing room in James Bay above an old oak sideboard with a pipe rack and a cut-glass carafe :)

"Taste of Asia" Thanks to friend Clau for the Dragon Fruit and pears, and to Anna for the avocados. A bit weak, this piece, but cheerful.

Been working hard today and grinding out to Romanian techno-pop:

"Alo... aalo...
Sunt eu, Picasso
Ti-am dat beep
Si sunt vonic
Dar sa stii, nu-ticer nimic

"Vrei sa pleci
dar nu ma, nu ma iei
nu ma, nu ma iei
nu ma, nu ma, nu ma ieie....."

(&c. With some footage of Bucharesti Otopeni airport.)

Time for bed.

c.

It's a Signature Thing.

A lot of people ask me why I sign my canvasses "Nicholas".

• According to my mom's old 1958 Webster dictionary, Colin is orig. dim. of Nicholas. Believe it.
• "Colin Williams" is pretty generic-sounding. I mean, I could be called "Jones" or "Smith" or something....
• "C. Williams" or "Colin W" looks dumb in paint.
• CMD Williams is equally dumb. And I don't want to be one of those guys who you never know their actual first names: AY Jackson, JEH MacDonald, AJ Casson, JMW Turner. Can you imaging? "Yo CMD, 'sup?" Uh huh.
• I am sure there are other Colin Williamses painting today, even in Victoria.
  
• It sounds kinda Dutch, and I'm half Dutch (Frisian actually.)
• I've been signing it that way for years.

So there.

C.