Decalcomania as a starting place

Decalcomania, as defined by the MOMA website:

A transfer technique, developed in the 18th century, in which ink, paint, or another medium is spread onto a surface and, while still wet, covered with material such as paper, glass, or aluminum foil, which, when removed, transfers a pattern that may be further embellished upon. The technique was adopted by the Surrealists to create imagery by chance rather than through conscious control.

Using plastic wrap, acetate and a variety of tools to make abstract marks has been, for me, a really great place to start a painting. 

Especially when you don’t really have an idea in mind. I often recommend it to people who feel they are having an artist block, because there is no pressure, there is no right or wrong. It is just pure mark making.

I sometimes just refer to it as “making a mess”. It’s got rhythm to it, of course, but essentially that’s all that is happening.

Painting pure chaos

Vanessa Lemen

I’ve attended a few classes with Vanessa Lemen now. A one day workshop a while ago, and another two these past two weeks. Anyone who is looking for a fresh way of approaching things should seriously consider learning with her. Stay up to date via her instagram or through LAAFA.

Aside from her impressive body of work; intricate, soft, ethereal; she is also a great teacher. 

She’s developed the ability to say her thoughts out loud, which is pretty key when you’re learning with someone - you kinda need to know why they’re making the decisions they do. 

There are plenty of great artists in the world, but not all of them can be great teachers for this reason. 

Artists who rely too much on their intuition can lead to them knowing intrinsically when something is right or wrong, but not equipped to explain it. Intuition is a big part of painting, of course, but when it comes to instruction, there needs to be some clear logic.

My painting approach

I’ve taken many workshops, I love compiling every little tidbit that resonates with me into how I do things. 

Which means sometimes I make a painting with an entirely different approach, but that is also how I keep it interesting and fun for me. I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why one should not do that, and maybe at some point I won’t… but for now, I love the surprise. 

Using chalk to map out my idea on the abstract piece before painting into it is also a great help for fleshing out the thought before making it permanent.

For some paintings, I do pre-plan - but I really think decalcomania has been more my strong suit ever since I encountered it. I enjoy realism for it’s straightforwardness, but I am heavily attracted to the unknown...

On reflection, I think working with ‘the unknown’ dates as far back as my days of watching Mr. Squiggle on television when I was roughly 10 years old. Sometimes I would then go play Mr. Squiggle with friends or on my own. I kinda still do! 

One approach is a scribble technique that I do with a pen. Another way I do it is with paint, using an “off cut” of cardboard or canvas pad, where I dab my brush before painting on my actual painting.. And then use the random paint dabbing as a base for making some kind of strange automatic-drawing.

What I see

The craziest part about letting the drawing or painting tell you what’s there is what you can find.

Sometimes it’s things I would never have consciously decided to draw or paint. Oftentimes it’s the phenomenon ‘pareidolia’ and I just see lots of faces, but, when everything is just right… sometimes it triggers a personal memory.

I uploaded a youtube video of myself discussing this about my latest work-in-progress piece. As a result of that video I was suddenly inspired to write this post, which I feel is just an overall summary of what I said without too much deep diving. 

It’s about 11 minutes long, and you can really get more of an idea about what I mean when I say ‘triggered memories’.

It’s like dreaming, you don’t have much control over what comes up or what you see.

The very first abstract I did with Vanessa turned out so epic that I haven’t even been able to touch it. I like that I see so much in it without even doing anything to it to bring it out. I’m planning to get it scanned and then work on the scanned version, and just leave the original as it is.

Usually I try to make it a rule not to get too attached to pieces because it can stunt the work a lot… but I break my own rule now and then. 

Below is the piece I’m referring to, I find it really haunting. The top half of the painting to me feels like the pain of my ancestors coming through. Honestly it’s kind of spooky.

Trauma and Art

Back to the painting I’m currently working on - it really surprised me by bringing up my so-called ‘blindspots’ that I experienced in Vipassana.

That was already such a strange experience during my time in retreat, but then to see it come up on a figure I’m painting felt very mystical. That said, I can’t say holes appearing in people’s bodies is anything new to my usual repertoire of symbology.

You will be hearing more and more from me about connecting trauma and painting together. I believe we can use painting as a way to not only inspect our wounds, but heal them.

Feeling is healing!

I think that’s about it, check out the youtube video if you get a moment and let me know what you think. 

Written by Ash Darq, with special thanks to my editor Visaic