Influences

Jock Mcfadyen

Jock Mcfadyen uses his accurate sense of depth and overall high accuracy to form vividly coloured, realistic and caricaturist paintings.

Mcfadyen, J. (2004) Cambridge Heath

His use of a vivid colour palette in this painting is extremely effective in highlighting the petrol station despite the lack of light due to it being the evening. The image and colours give a relatable sense of cold fresh air, generating a feeling of nostalgia. However I find the composition a little crowded due to the dark, detailed clouds hanging over the petrol station, which almost take your focus instead off the petrol station.

Mcfadyen, J. (2018) Harvey 2

This is one of Mcfadyen’s more abstract paintings. I find the colour blocking effective in producing a harsh sense of depth. I also find the colour palette very complimentary. The exaggerated figures clash with the rest of the piece causing them to be the focal point. I don’t like the style of the figures, however I do like the simplicity of their surroundings which also consists of some minor but effective details. I will be using this approach in my pieces to come.

Mcfadyen, J. (2021) Roman Road

This was one of my favourite pieces from Mcfadyen: it delivers a vast range of feelings from stress and speed, to a still, ghostly aura all at once. The thick fog that surrounds the entire piece and the peculiar car cause the peace to give off supernatural connotations. I found the colour palette of this piece very powerful in producing a feeling of neglect that I can sometimes feel in the estates which I visit for my own work in London. I will be using this and his other colour palettes to influence my work to come.

Jai Llewellyn

Llewellyn uses clean, sharp lining and a contradiction of thick and thin layering of paint throughout all of his paintings. This, added with his main use of large quadrilateral shapes, causes the tone of his pieces to be very reliant on his colour palettes.

Llewellyn, J. (2022) Nightwalk 11

I find this piece and the majority of his pieces very elegant and vulnerable due to the large areas of transparency. However, I find his pieces are too simple and therefore too impressionable leaving the observer questioning what the piece is about. But this could be Llewellyn’s aim.

Inspired by Llewellyn I experimented with borders following his use of clean sharp edges which I found quite effective in capturing the empty spaces. It also pushes the piece together to form a hard, somewhat claustrophobic feeling. I will experiment with his sharp bordering and lining in my future paintings.

Experimenting with blue prints

I found this use of colour to be aesthetically pleasing. However, it was not accurate in depicting the estates.

The composition is overwhelming but there is a clear sense of depth. in addition, the colour placements are inaccurate. In conclusion, I will not be using the blue prints to influence my future work for this project.

Francis Bacon Gallery visit

Bacon’s use of surrealistic creatures creates a strong unsettling feeling which contrasts with his use of matt, calming colour palette which surrounds the creatures depicted in his paintings.

Bacon, F. (1957) Study for Chimpanzee

I found this composition to be very ugly and messy which in a clever way draws you into the piece as you wonder what it is.

Bacon's work in general

Bacon’s use of blocking colours for his backgrounds and foregrounds is very effective in highlighting the figure due to the harsh contradiction of natural, human tones with more prosthetic, man-made tones.

I was inspired by this aspect of Bacon’s work to experiment with figures in my work.

Francis Bacon’s colour schemes remind me of the Shining’s carpet designs which were made to be unpleasant whilst psychologically causing one to want to leave the room. It seems like Bacon was trying to deliver these feelings in his pieces too.

Artist Research

Confirm copying