I cant enter the names of these works in any Shows without titles!… I like having a name that raises questions about the piece, perhaps the questions I have in my mind when doing the work…. I am personally not happy with ‘untitled’ or the new trend of ‘untitled (insert title that is not important enough to be a title but is impoirtant enough to be a subtext title in parentheses)’ if anyone can think of a title for these pieces I would appreciate it – Titles I have kicked around are: Repose Regression Sigh Coocoon Pathos Maybe reading back over the original blog entries may help – I know I posted all this for a reason!

This was a very fast painting working on foreshortening again and taking the figure as a whole rather than little sections…. So, working in thick rough brushstrokes and creating highlights by wiping away traces of paint (which is why I had to work very very fast) The result is a particularly textured and 3d effect that I am rather proud of…. The title is pretty obvious but I chose red hair because the color would work particularly well (blonde not so much and dark would be too dark) I also chose it because the pose seems to have some unbridled sexuality and red hair is frequently considered a sexual and passionate color.

Anyway, as I was saying, I asked if he was alive and Liam thinks he is because his hand looks like it is clutching something…. Most art study I have done is historical and of course the nude is a universal subject in history, But right now?… This photo required barely any modification in iPhoto, just a little light exposure and contrast editing and cropping.

But in my usual stupid perfectionist nature I have taken out what made it art and made it something it is not…. I will modify this same painting and try to regain the base human grit and darkness I had before, hopefully retaining some of the more anatomically correct features as well…. Anyway, you can track the modifications on this painting here as I will be posting updates here.

It was incredibly difficult to execute and Unfortunately i think that the work Involved has taken away some of the spontaneity…. Liam thinks this piece is more happy than the other nudes, my jury is out really it could be the tones in color because the actual pose is quite dark when you think about it…. I don’t have any interpretations at this stage, at one stage it looked like muscle fiber and he looked vaguely dead which was kind-of weird.

actually, relaxing my techniques and trying to create art (as opposed to exact duplicates) has made me happier with my art where before I was never satisfied…. I am unsure if the black and white is what is causing the look of pathos, my choices of image or my current feelings but this painting strikes me as vaguely sad…. the sheen on the paint caused this to not photograph brilliantly, but you can get the idea.

I like the fact that it has a certain pathos and darkness to it that feels like the subject (or conversely me, as an artist is often subconciously the subject) is turning their back on the world and curling up into a foetal cocoon…. I feel that many of my paintings are just created and create their own meanings as they go…. with this one I liked the shape of the bare back and the butt, I liked the curves and basic shapes.