Content free

I mentioned content free art the other day (see reference 1). I was subsequently fired up by reading in a sale catalogue from Bonhams that pieces of content free art from a chap of whom I had not previously heard called William Scott might fetch £20,000 - while wikipedia says that pieces of content free art from a chap of whom I had previously heard called Cy Twombly might fetch £40,000,000. So I decided that I wanted a piece of the action; I wanted to get into the thriving business of the emperor's new clothes too.

First step, select a glued white pine panel, possibly Courland Spruce, certainly once part of a cupboard of some sort.

Second step, prepare the surface. That is to say sand it down a bit and apply two coats of Wal-Mart brilliant white emulsion paint, far and away the best ground for bringing out the grain of the spruce. I prefer to leverage the grain of the underlying panel in this way, rather than working off a completely plain surface, or the rather dull texture of the cheaper canvas.

Third step, knock up the painting. Some horizontal stripes in Oxford Blue Weathershield undercoat from Dulux. Balance the composition with a pink design in Homebase silk finish emulsion. Stand back to admire the work and decide that I cannot manage content free; I need a bit of content.

Fourth step, tweak the thing a bit using my reservoir paint brush (see reference 2). This took me to state 1, as illustrated.

Fifth step, having noticed a tendency of the pink paint to break up on top of the blue paint, I started to worry about longevity. Would my art stand the test of time? Deciding that it might not, glued a sheet of hardboard to the back of the board to reduce cracking. Took the opportunity to add a hanging rail while I was at it, for the greater convenience of the buyer.

Sixth step, in the study for the present, while I deliberate the next steps, the final touches.

It has been interesting to work in colour again, having confined myself to black or blue biro for quite some years now.

Reference 1:http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tate-power.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/failure-to-ignite.html.