A painting begins as a blank canvas. The idea starts out as a vision in my head. A good analogy is there a seed that has been planted and my job is to cultivate it in the garden, the garden being the canvas. When I am working on a painting for a specific client I also keep an open mind and listen to what they see. This is the fertiliser. I started this project out by creating a rendering. A simplified digital concept that becomes the road map. Like any good traveler I know that a map provides different options to get the destination. In this case the destination is a conceptual idea, and I do leave room for chance and accidents to happen. Digital art and painting are 2 separate things, although both are connected to the vision. Knowing this I understand the painting will not look like the digital image. I am not a photo copier, I am an artist and as such the challenge to take the concept and put it onto the the canvas with paint is somewhat of a chess match. However this chess match does not have the same rules, each painting develops its own set of rules and conditions from the moment the first mark is made. I do admit that sometimes the ‘accidents’ while in production can seem less than desirable. Sometimes the brush and paint seemingly make the decision for me. This can create a tension between myself and the work. This is an uncomfortable feeling. I must be willing to take some risks in order to move forward and see it through. Sometimes this means painting over an area more than once, even if to the untrained eye it looks good. That is being a painter. Trusting that the vision is there, and trusting the process! This is a back and forth dance, until I get to a point where I know I have done my best and move onto the next section or area I want to concentrate on. A painting is a whole of many parts, so I also work towards a certain kind of balance. This can get a bit overwhelming depending on the complexity of the composition. I try often to let the paint do the talking, and this changes from painting to painting, and in some ways this keeps me open to discovering new ways of doing something instead of repeating how I have done it before. This is how I develop my skill and push the envelope of what I think is possible. I have a trail of paintings that certainly embody my style, a style that has taken many years to cultivate. Keeping in mind that I also don’t want to just replicate the style, I want to see how far I can go with it and most times….most times, it works out. There are always those moments when I am telling myself to stop because I am stuck on something. Sometimes I am a bull running into a wall over and over again, sometimes I get through, although more times than not I think this creates more work and headache. I have learned to move onto a different area and then give it some time before I go back. This all happens while I am working on the painting. And then there is life, I may want to go 8 hours straight without interruption, life doesn’t always allow for that. I have found that 2 solid hours broken up throughout the day are a great way to stay fresh, rest eyes, get other stuff down and let the paint set properly for the addition of more layers. And yes my paintings are layered. Abstract shapes and colours, over and over until I feel it is done. In that sense I see it like a sculpture, adding a shape here and there until the form meets my satisfaction. I realise there is only so much time, however I really do not think about time when I am working, I set my timer, that takes care of that element. So without further adieu here is my last video for my latest commission with some words here that I do hope have been somewhat insightful into my process. The one thing I used to do a lot as a young artist was read artist journals. I always found bits and pieces of information and insight in to how artists worked, that really helped me along my path.
‘The Magentaverse: the final stages’
A Hälts digiFILM featuring the final stages of my commission painting juxtaposed with the place I call home, the East Kootenay, aka the Columbia Valley, B.C. Canada. Sounscape is called ‘art space’.
https://vimeo.com/haltsart/themagentaverse
Magenta, the colour that is non-existent in the spectrum of light
Mahaloness 