…. if I might be allowed to misuse the famous quotation from Marshall McLuhan. It came to mind while I was thinking about the group of paintings on which I have been working recently. Ordinarily I regard pastels as being my medium of choice, but here I am embarked upon a series of images all done in acrylic, of which four have been completed so far and another is on the easel.
One of the things I have found interesting about this experience has been the encounter with a different medium. To some extent it is difficult to recognise these new items as the product of the same artistic imagination. They are freer in gesture and dependent upon the creation of texture in a way which is not possible with pastels. Perhaps when working with pastels I tend naturally towards the making of precise marks, and for some reason I escape from that discipline when armed with a brush. Also, I think, I am working with a palette which allows for a stronger contrast between light and shade. I haven’t reflected on these things until now, but I do wonder to what extent they might be conditioned in some aspect by the media I am using. The interesting thing which follows from this is that I do appear to be creating a darker and even wilder atmosphere than might be expected from my earlier work. How might that, in some respect, be generated by the difference of medium? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that (at least as I use it) paint somehow encourages a more gestural approach to working.
Interesting!