I have been continuing my experiments with making art on newspapers as a way to respond to what’s happening in the world. In previous blogs, I have talked about using crows to express the grief and the sense of loss that I have been feeling.

This blog captures the experiments where I have responded more directly to the news with the painted images. I have also tried to think more carefully about the process of this way of making. Through trial and error, I believe I have developed a more systematic process of producing these paintings which I have documented below.

METHOD

My response to some recent news about innocent people being killed in a war was to explore painting dead crows. I have often seen dead birds on the road or pavement, but I have never studied them closely. So the start of the making process was to research online images of dead crows.

Once I found a desired image, I would do a drawing in my sketchbook with my non-dominant hand. I have previously documented my wish and need to use my non-dominant hand to be more expressive while experiencing that feeling of not having complete control of what was happening.

I then did a Chinese ink study of the same dead crow composition on a piece of A4 rice paper:

I then choose the newspaper and started to paint the chosen composition:

Finished dead crow:

Painting held up to the light, taped to a glass window:

A second experiment with a different dead crow was done following the same process, but with an added step of making a faint charcoal outline sketch on the newspaper of the crow before painting. This step was added because brush painting with ink on paper is unforgiving, hence having a sketch of the shape helps to ensure the composition is largely in the right place.

Sketchbook drawing of the second dead crow:

Chinese brush painting study of crow body:

Charcoal outline was drawn prior to painting to mark out the composition:

Completed painting of dead crow lying on its side on pavement, held up to the light.

The last experiment on responding to the news involved an image of a man lighting a gas lamp. It was important for me to research how a street gas lamp worked so that I knew what I was drawing. The diagram below was very helpful.

This time, I did two ink sketches as initial study to test the composition:

The chosen newspaper page that I wanted to respond to was laid flat and a rough charcoal drawing of the composition was made:

Then the painting was done and held up to the light. Gaslighting – Chinese ink on newspaper:

REFLECTIONS

It was cathartic to directly respond to the news. So I enjoyed making these pieces of work. However, looking at them now, they feel rather literal and obvious. Dead crows to respond to innocent paramedics being killed and a man lighting a gas street lamp to respond to the gaslighting going on in many places. All seemed too obvious.

These paintings were made using my dominant hand – I think it was because these composition ideas were very new and I wanted to be more confident in my depiction. However, I believe the outcomes are less satisfactory than the previous ones where I used my non-dominant hand. The mark making here seemed too deliberate and lacking the energy that I had achieved previously.

Although the artistic outcome was not completely satisfactory, the process of responding to the news by directly calling it out was satisfying. It was like ranting without actually ranting. Also, I gained clarity and tested out the process in a more conscious way. So all was not lost.

LEARNING

The initial drawing and sketching step was helpful for new compositions. But I don’t feel it’s an essential step, depending on how familiar I am with the subject.

Using charcoal to mark out the composition on the newspaper was very useful and is an essential step that I should use.

Responding directly with images may end up being too literal or obvious. So use with care.

NEXT STEPS

Try different approaches to composition and images. Experiment with more abstract images.

Make more work.