Having spent some time "living with" the A0 watercolour and reflecting upon Simon's feedback from the three day course I felt the need to continue the journey independently just to see where it might lead me. The large watercolour I found disappointing because the energy and dynamism of the collage was just not there so I wanted to keep pushing forward towards finding a more satisfying result.
My starting point was to return to the collage and use it as a reference point for some tonal studies and mark making experiments which I then tore up and collaged back together resulting in something quite dynamic - I'd got the energy back!
The above piece really inspired me to continue with renewed confidence. I decided to tear up the A0 watercolour and use it as material for fresh work - wow did that feel good!
I made a couple of collage reconstructions from the torn pieces in A1 and A2 and felt pleased with the results. Both felt true to the character of my original source material.
Although happy with these I realised how much I wanted to satisfy my desire to create a purely watercolour response and to be able to express the energy within these compositions purely in watercolour without any other interventions creeping in. I decided to attempt this by working from sections of these collages.
So this was my attempt at pure watercolour on A3 paper where in two out of three collage has crept in! I am almost happy with the middle painting simply because it is purely a watercolour painting!
So where next? Back to deconstructing only this time in a more considered way in order to achieve a greater sense of clarity and purity which I am beginning to realise is what the essence of watercolour painting is about for me.
Really happy with this, however it is a reconstructed piece - I still want to capture that "purity" which I hope I can achieve by making a painting directly from this!
I'm still not happy with the result because once again the energy and flow of the original has been lost in translation. So there's only one thing for it and that is to yet again - deconstruct and then reconstruct!
Once again a piece I'm happy with where I can enjoy the flow and purity of the medium within an overall construct that holds on to some rhythm and energy. However I feel there is still a further step to take...