An orange and yellow painting fused with black and white
A rich and indulgent volume of paint meets a colour palette full of warmth and vibrancy
140cm x 70cm (55″ x 28″)
Quicksilver
£1950
I love orange and yellow paint
It’s a fact. These two colours are devilishly good and can literally turn anyone’s face into a beaming smile. With more than a passing nod to sunshine and all the good things that are associated with it. It is nourishing, warm, familiar and ultimately reassuring. 
But on their own they can become a little bright and unyielding so inevitably, when looking at them from an artistic perspective, it’s very often the case that a darker colour is needed to help bring everything into a more balanced state.
And that, my dear friend, is where black plays such a pivotal role.
Dealing with the weighty things
Black, as I have talked about before, is a very final colour. There’s no getting away from it once it’s on the canvas. I overdo things frequently which normally means I have to throw away the canvas and start again.
But black is also a great leveller. It is grounding and gravitational. But perhaps I see its greatest quality as a permissive one – by that I mean it allows you to see all the other colours far better as they have something to compare and contrast themselves to.
You can’t ever see the light if you are surrounded by darkness right? Opposites are always needed so that you can acknowledge both in their simultaneous existence. It is the exact same principle with colour. You get to fully appreciate one thing when it sits opposite another.
Feel the warmth
When I look at this I instantly get a vision of a magnificent sunset with all those amazing golden yellows and tones.
I also think about the geology of the land and imagine rugged dark rocks borne of volcanic eruptions as well as mid tones of grey that echo all the other stunning formations.
Power and beauty
This painting is small, compared to what I normally do but it really is a powerful one thanks to those mighty colours. It is also down to the volumes of paint I have used and the way I moved them around on the canvas.
In particular I love the way black and yellow paints have combined to form some unusual hybrid colours that I can’t readily describe too well – how ace is that? The level of detailing is ridiculous.
I am using a new spreader here and have been mightily impressed with how things have turned out. There is less dilution of tone, more intricate structures formed and I have managed to keep colour separation down to a minimum. I am very pleased with this and there will be more like it in different colour palettes when time and energy allows.
Please come and see this for real – it really is pretty epic.
