Painterly Process

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Times' 20/10/08

This drawing being processed from a newspaper reproduction of an unfinished portrait of Francis Bacon by Lucian Freud, stylistically belonging to the painter's mid period, when his brushstrokes had loosened up & the paint displayed a seductive liquid quality, given a luminosity akin to that of typical Pre-Raphaelitism or Impressionism through the use of a white ground, before the typically mature style with its clogged, clotted, crusty, profoundly corporeal quality. The subtle colour harmonies of the original are wonderful to behold, even in cheap reproduction on newsprint, demanding of great care in the attempt at tonal transcription.

Life Imitating Art...

"Watch a single leaf fall drunkenly to the ground
And you still got some shopping left to do"
Lambchop 'Uti'

Experienced something of a Kurt Wagner moment in town today, on the way to the 'li-berry' before braving the shops - it occurred just so, a leaf spinning slowly to a stop at my feet!

Soundtrack:


Cabaret Voltaire 'The Living Legends'
Nick Drake 'Five Leaves Left' & 'Bryter Layter'

In something of a bizarre coincidence, I contrived to hear Cabaret Voltaire's still-fresh-fabulous-&-remarkable-after-all-these-years proto-techno-punk stomper 'Nag Nag Nag' not once but twice in the same evening, it featuring not only on the 'Living Legends' CD but also later on the soundtrack of the film 'Me Without You': the band's influence on subsequent generations of musicians & electronic experimentalists still endures, the echoes being heard as vividly as ever, in any number of instances, especially those employing samples of 'found' voices, & otherwise an affected, self-consciously 'retro' aesthetic.
'The Living Legends', being a selection of EP & single tracks, is an excellent & recommended primer.

It also occurred that 'Five Leaves Left' might well be, considering its sonic aesthetic, the most autumnal album it's possible to imagine, so perfectly realised & evocative is its ambience, the atmosphere of wistful nostalgia permeating every note & even the spaces between, even allowing for the associations inevitably conjured when listening to Nick Drake.
Like the sound of the clocks going back...forever.

Remembering John Peel


On the 4th anniversary of the passing of the great John Peel, to whose guiding light the Opposite of Tomato owes an incalculable musical & wider cultural debt (I mean, where else would it have been possible to be exposed to the sonically-experimental delights of Cabaret Voltaire, for instance, back in the late 70s?), it seemed appropriate to devote at least the time for a listen to 'Uh Huh Her', the last album of PJ Harvey's that The Man would have had the opportunity to hear before his untimely death (see the wonderful, poignant photos on front & back of PJH's 'Sessions' CD for an indication of the fond mutual regard they obviously held).
Thanks, John - the melodies linger.

Black (& White) Francis

Today the opposite of tomato is:
"a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl"

Presenting the third (to fifth) example of the drawing-from-photographic sources project.

The original of this image, illustrating a news story about the forthcoming Sotheby's auction of Francis Bacon's 'Triptych 1974-77', where it is expected to fetch a record price in excess of £25million, suggested itself in a number of ways.

Firstly, it depicts an artwork, which presents an interesting challenge in itself, in the 'copying of', of course related to the traditional manner employed by artists in learning from the Masters how to draw & paint by example.

Secondly, depicting the work specifically of Francis Bacon, a painter I've long admired, for his work & its sheer painterliness & also his philosophy of art, most fascinatingly chronicled in the book of David Sylvester's interviews with Bacon, 'The Brutality of Fact' (a must read for any aspiring artist).

Thirdly, it was an interesting photo to work from given that Bacon himself habitually used photographic images as the source material for his paintings, in terms of figure reference, colour, etc.

Added to this was the knowing nod by the photographer to Bacon's work in the form of the figure moving across the hung paintings, captured in a frozen blurred moment suggestive of movement, as Bacon's familiar technique itself implied.

Furthermore, the image presented the opportunity of being worked upon as a triptych (separately across 3 A4 sketchbook pages, with virtually no reference back to the preceding image(s) apart from very cursory measurements for placement purposes), echoing the form of the original, again a familiar Bacon method.


graphite/60x30cm

original image: Daily Telegraph 08/01/08

In a desperate attempt at attention-seeking & coming out of the wilderness that this resource represents, I've also been busy creating an account & gallery at the rather excellent online creative community deviantART, which, in terms of image content at least, will mirror that of this blodge. Hopefully, I shall be able to capitalise on the community aspect particularly & generate some form of creative dialogue, which is essential.