Who Inspires? What inspires?

Cecily Brown

Arshille Gorky

Playing around with Varnish and thinned down oil paint.

When varnish and thinned oil paint meet their texture allows them to to bleed into each other.

Without forcing the two the oil branches into the varnish forming craters of colour next to the translucency of the varnish. I am interested in how this may work within a painting.








This experiment is a mixture of oil and acrylic paint. the thickness of the oil paint washes in to and over the acrylic, while the watery fluid of acrylic flows over the paper. I manipulated the paper to force the paint to move around so that it may mix, I found that the oil and acrylic repelled each other.

Dr Alison Green and Dexter Dalwood

Dexter Dalwood, study for 'The trial of Milosevic', oil on canvas.

Listening to Dexter Dalwood speak about the painting 'The Trial of Milosevic' was a fascinating insite into how he prepares and thinks about creating a painting. His interest in history and political issues feed his work. He attempts to paint things which have not yet been painted, situations and issues which surround our current world. Dexter has been influenced by work such as Édouard Manet's The Execution of Maximilian, 1868-69 (image below). Also by Bellini paintings like The Assassination of St. Peter, (below).

Giovanni Bellini's The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1507) 

The Bay Of Pigs, Dexter Dalwood

Paintings from Past winners of the John Moores Painting Prize

Detail from Peter Doig Painting 'Blotter'.

Slump/Fear (orange/black) 2004 Alexis Harding

"Juggernaut with Plume - fot P.Neruda" 1976 John Walker

Blotter 1993 Peter Doig

Creation and Crucifixion 1957 Jack Smith

Dripping Paint

Primed canvas with thinned oil paint allowed to drip from the top of canvas. 

Thin washes of oil paint.

Oil paint bleeding out onto canvas.

During these experiments I realised that the oil paint seemed to loose its 'glossyness' the thinness of the paint was what I thought I wanted, however the dullness of colour made the outcome boring and bland. I realised that the primed surface was not sealed as well as it could have been and was therefore drawing the colour from the painting. I then decided to research surfaces and what actually happens to the paint depending on the surface it is applied to. 

Images from Liverpool

Liverpool: loads to see interesting sites and stunning buildings!

Images from Liverpool