PROCESS
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OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE REFINED AND STREAMLINED THIS APPROACH, SHAPED BY THE FOUNDATIONS OF MY EARLY ART EDUCATION, THE PRECISION AND DISCIPLINE OF MY ARCHITECTURAL TRAINING AND THE BREADTH OF EXPERIENCE GAINED THROUGH COMMISSIONED WORK. IT IS AN EVER-EVOLVING PRACTICE, CONTINUALLY ENRICHED BY THE WISDOM OF FELLOW ARTISTS I’VE ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE WAY. MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT REMAINS IN DIALOGUE WITH MY WIDER CREATIVE PURSUITS - INFORMING ONE ANOTHER BACK AND FORTH, COMBINING TO EXPAND MY OVERALL CREATIVE OUTPUT.
MY PROCESS UNFOLDS IN TWO MAIN PHASES: RESEARCH, REFERENCE & DIRECTION AND DRAWING & PAINTING.
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PROCESS VIDEOS
IMMINENT SPRING
INN3R DISCORD
A QUIET LEAP FORWARD [WIP]
RESEARCH, REFERENCE & DIRECTION
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FASHION/ STYLING ALSO PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN SHAPING MY VISION. I HAVE A PARTICULAR FASCINATION WITH MENSWEAR, AND AN ENDURING PASSION FOR SHOE AND SNEAKER CULTURE. THE WAY FIGURES ARE STYLED IN MY WORK, AND THE CULTURAL WEIGHT OF CERTAIN GARMENTS OR SILHOUETTES WITHIN DIFFERENT SUBCULTURES, REMAINS AN ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATION. TO SHAPE THE FINAL DIRECTION FOR EACH PROJECT, I IMMERSE MYSELF IN RESOURCES SPANNING REFERENCE BOOKS, MAGAZINES, ONLINE ARCHIVES, AND IMAGE BANKS, ALL OF WHICH CONVERGE TO GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REFERENCE SHOOT. CONSIDERING THE PLANNED FRAMING AND COMPOSITION IDEAS, I ALSO STRETCH, PRIME AND PREPARE MY CANVASES AND CUT MY WOODEN PIECES WITH THE PROPOSED FRAMING IN MIND.
​​MY PROCESS BEGINS WITH INSPIRATION DRAWN FROM THE EVERYDAY, CAPTURING FLEETING MOMENTS THROUGH NOTES, SKETCHES, AND OBSERVATIONS MADE IN TRANSIT, AS WELL AS EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO EVERYTHING FROM CURRENT AFFAIRS AND THEIR HISTORICAL ROOTS TO THE PERSONAL TRIALS OF DAILY LIFE. AT THIS STAGE, MY DIRECTION IS DEEPLY INFORMED BY A WIDE SPECTRUM OF BLACK AND AFROCENTRIC MEDIA: FROM THE RAW ENERGY OF 1970S BLAXPLOITATION CINEMA AND THE DEPTH OF BLACK ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHY, TO THE ARTISTS REFERENCED IN MY STATEMENT AND THE WEALTH OF GROUNDBREAKING WORK EMERGING FROM TODAY’S BLACK CREATIVES ACROSS DISCIPLINES.
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AS I’VE NEVER HAD CONSISTENT ACCESS TO LIVE SITTERS, MY PROCESS HAS ALWAYS RELIED ON CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED SETS OF REFERENCE IMAGES. AFTER COMPLETING MY INITIAL RESEARCH, I WORK CLOSELY WITH MODELS TO REFINE THE CONCEPT AND THEN SHOOT A RANGE OF OPTIONS. THE CHOSEN IMAGE IS TYPICALLY SUPPORTED BY VARIATIONS, SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ANGLES AND CLOSE-UPS OF INTRICATE DETAILS, WHICH PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY DURING THE DRAWING AND PAINTING STAGES. THESE ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES ALLOW ME TO ADAPT AND REIMAGINE ELEMENTS OF THE COMPOSITION AS IT EVOLVES. ONCE I’M SATISFIED WITH THE MATERIAL, I CONVERT THE SELECTED REFERENCES TO MONOCHROME IN PHOTOSHOP, CREATING A FOUNDATION FROM WHICH THE DRAWING AND PAINTING CAN FULLY TAKE SHAPE.
DRAWING & PAINTING
MY PAINTING STYLE BEGINS WITH BREAKING DOWN WHAT THE EYE SEES INTO ITS FUNDAMENTAL BLOCKS OF TONE, A FOUNDATIONAL LESSON FROM SCHOOL THAT ENABLED ME TO TRANSITION FROM PRIMARILY PRINTMAKING TO PAINTING AS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST. BEFORE ANY PAINT IS APPLIED, I UNDERTAKE A RIGOROUS DRAWING PROCESS. USING GRIDS OVERLAID ONTO MY CHOSEN REFERENCE IMAGES, I INTERPRET AND ADJUST DETAILS, POSITIONS, AND PERSPECTIVES TO CREATE A REFINED SKETCH THAT SERVES AS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE PAINTING. THIS STAGE IS THE MOST CRITICAL IN MY PRACTICE: IT DETERMINES HOW SUCCESSFULLY THE FINAL PIECE CAPTURES WHAT I INTEND, AND FOR THAT REASON,
I DEVOTE SIGNIFICANT TIME AND CARE TO IT
IN MY EARLY PRACTICE, I COULD ONLY BREAK IMAGES INTO BROAD BLOCKS OF TONE. OVER TIME, THIS PROCESS HAS GROWN INCREASINGLY INTRICATE, SHAPED BY EXPERIENCE, THE PRECISION OF MY ARCHITECTURAL TRAINING, AND A QUIET FIXATION BORN FROM THE PRESSURES OF ADULT LIFE, WHERE DRAWING BECAME A RARE FORM OF RELEASE. AS A RESULT, MY PAINTINGS VARY FROM HIGHLY DETAILED PRECISION TO MORE GESTURAL, SUGGESTIVE MARK-MAKING. APPLYING PAINT AT THIS STAGE, DECIDING WHERE TO TIGHTEN AND WHERE TO LOOSEN IS MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE PROCESS, BRINGING ME PEACE THROUGH THE CALM AND FOCUS IT REQUIRES. CURRENTLY, I AM EXPLORING WAYS TO MERGE THE SHARP EXACTNESS OF MY RECENT WORK WITH THE LOOSER, MORE ENERGETIC STYLE OF MY EARLIER PAINTINGS,
CREATING DIALOGUES AND TENSIONS THAT ADD RICHNESS AND DYNAMISM TO MY PRACTICE.