“Every decision or non-decision shifts the Universe in a whole new direction.”
Ray A. Davis
For the past six months, I’ve been experimenting with different ways of starting a painting.
- Canvas vs wood panel
- White gesso vs clear or coloured grounds
- Collage vs stencil vs brayer marks as first layers
What I’ve discovered is that, like a complex ecosystem, the paintings that result are surprisingly sensitive to initial conditions.
Because I paint intuitively, engaging in a ‘call and response’ with the painting as it develops, small initial differences can lead to very different decisions being made along the way.
In the world of ‘chaos theory’, this idea is known as the ‘butterfly effect’. Loosely described, it’s an acknowledgement that small, seemingly trivial events can sometimes result in much larger (and un-forseen) consequences.
This is what I’ve noticed in my paintings.
On canvas, I tend towards increasing opacity and and softer edged shapes, in part due to the way the paint adheres to the surface, but also, because of the way my brush interacts with the grooves of the fabric.
On birch panel, my shapes are more translucent, with harder edges and more visible brushstrokes. I also find myself less willing to cover the entire surface with paint, enjoying the contrast between the raw and painted wood. This preference is further magnified when I paint on clear gesso, rather than a coloured ground.
These differences emerge without a change in tools (I use the same 1 and 2 inch brushes, regardless of surface) or process (alternately adding and subtracting paint to build up the composition).
And even when paintings are completely different in colour palette, the underlying initial conditions seem to direct the work!
The scientist in me longs to do a proper, ‘controlled’ experiment.
This will be the focus of my studio practice in the new year; a way of combining the ‘old’ me with the ‘new’.
I encourage you take a closer look at the new work and notice these differences for yourself.
Share your observations in the comments section below!