propulsion - an open-ended series of paintings

As stated in the piece on my other series, Everything At Once, Propulsion stands in stark contrast, being the antithesis of meticulous planning and execution. It is an entirely improvised approach to artmaking, with drawing and painting integrated in one activity - rather than working from drawings. My main inspiration was musical, not painterly.

The intention is to achieve a kind of unimpeded flow, allowing the outcomes to emerge where they will, without (too much) pre-determination. To let go of my innate need to control. The only planning with these paintings, such as it is, is a decision beforehand on the colours to be used.

With number two in the series, I also drew two faint pencil guidelines before putting paint to paper - a diagonal and a vertical perpendicular.

Propulsion #2

I was somewhat anxious before starting the first in the series. By way of encouragement, here's a note I wrote to myself on 17th January this year:

Reference the 'start #11' comment: I thought this was going to be the 11th instalment of Everything At Once. A couple of paintings later, I realised the working methods and intentions were very different and a new series had started. It needed a name.

'Propulsion' refers to a) the literal movement of my brush when painting these pieces and the requisite speed of decision making needed b) the feeling of movement generated by the finished pieces.

At the time of writing, three have been completed in the series and all have video highlights of the process, where you can see my hesitations and rehearsals of brush strokes before making the final marks.

Use this link please to send a question or message me privately