Interstellar Overdrive

The inspiration

Interstellar Overdrive is a large sized abstract painting created using enamel paint onto canvas. As a lover of all things cosmological it’s inevitable that from time to time I get my space head on and create something inspired by the universe around us.

With this particular painting I have used a thinned down version of my paints so that they can be more easily manipulated it with paint brushes. This is not the normal way I do things but occasionally I get them out and have a go. Brushes are never a primary tool for me but I do like the way they spread paint around when it’s less viscose that it normally is.

The hole

The main focal point here is the big circle element in the corner. This is very much black hole related and is the bit that sucks everything around it. I like that it isn’t in the middle of everything as that would have been a bit obvious. Instead, the position I gave it allows me to get expressive with all of the other elements that circulate around it. I can even let some fly away whilst allowing others to get sucked in.

Colours and finish

The colours are absolutely cosmic! The black is dense in paces yet light in others. The shocking pink (telemagenta) sends a dramatic twist through the painting and is perfectly complimented by the inclusion of aqua green. Think dust clouds and the formation of nebulae and you get the idea.

There is also a liberal amount of Swarez blue in here too and that contains a tiny metallic flake that adds a little twinkle in certain lights. Textures are represented by both high and low points on the canvas – particularly where paint is at its densest and thinnest respectively.

You can also see the differences in matt and gloss paint as each one reacts differently to being thinned down so that’s another element that exists but is very tricky to photograph.