GHISLAINE
HOWARD
|
Study for
mother embracing her child charcoal 76cm x 61cm 30" x 24" |
GHISLAINE
HOWARD
|
Study for
mother embracing her child charcoal 76cm x 61cm 30" x 24" |
"What interests me most is neither still-life nor landscape but the human figure. It is through it that I best succeed in expressing the nearly religious feeling that I have towards life." |
| THIS WELL-KNOWN statement
by Matisse perfectly describes my attitude towards painting and particularly
after the birth of my son Maxim, when I had an endless source of images
and feelings to express. In the work based on my pregnancy, discussed in
my previous article, the focus was inescapably
myself, a single figure; but now it was a relief to turn to the exteriorised
image of two figures, separate but indissolubly linked through gesture
and emotion.
The first painting, Mother feeding her child (right) came easily, almost unexpectedly. Work periods could be as short as 20 minutes but fortunately this lack of time concentrated my thoughts, so that when I reached the studio I was able to record freshly experienced sensations quickly and economically. The image is essentially a self-portrait, generalised to become a depiction of any mother and child - an image familiar to us all through many versions of the Madonna and child. |
Mother feeding her child
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| For this painting I used a medium weight
canvas that had some colour already brushed onto it in preparation for
another picture. (A clean, ready-to-paint canvas is a rare occurrence for
me, often I have to use any support that is readily to hand.) I drew directly
with charcoal and rapidly worked in the paint, using it thinly and sparingly
in order to exploit the under-painting, creating and suggesting new forms
and colour combinations. In the right hand area, for example, the warm
sienna and greenish tones add a textural depth to the blues. I relish this
use of chance - coping with previous, arbitrarily placed marks adds an
excitement to the execution and, I hope, to the viewing of the picture.
The composition is based on a triangle and within this format the figures emerge as simple, solidly rounded forms. I wanted a sense of oneness; the child is held close to the mother whose caring gaze fills the space between them. It is a day to day routine, a mundane event, but it is one that epitomises the bond between a mother and her child. This work is a good example of how limited time can actually help the creative process. The painting was completed in a single session of intense concentration, the hand taking over the decision making in the speed and immediacy of the execution; the thought and organisation having gone on before in those periods with Maxim when I couldn't get into the studio. |
Michael with Maxim
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One morning I came downstairs to find the baby squealing with delight as he was swung into the air by my husband. They were framed by the window and etched against the brilliant winter sunlight. I made a mental note and dashed off a summary notation of what I had seen - just enough to fix the image in my mind, emphasising the sleeves of my husband's dressing gown, the upraised arms and the contrasts of light and shade. This was another occasion when I had to rely on memory and, as only the essential things remained in my mind, I was able to exaggerate and simplify the arms and the hands which bridged and supported the baby. This is an important painting for me as I feel it says much about the bond between a father and his child, expressed through play. Like much of my work it presented me with both emotional and technical problems: the effect of the figures against a bright light and the transformation of the relatively deep space into a flat surface pattern. |
| Michael with Maxim was the first painting to spring from this initial impression. The canvas is a fine quality flax, lightly sized to give a rather absorbent textured surface. The paint is applied thinly and in a single session. Large areas of the raw canvas show through the patches of paint, serving as the tonal basis of the painting. This was done in a conscious effort to maintain the freshness and vitality of the work. The charcoal mixes with the paint and the individual marks of the brush can be clearly seen. I have since returned to this image using a large canvas measuring 72 by 36 inches. Being further removed from the initial experience, my representation of it has changed: now the figure dominates the picture area. This is my usual practice when I find a strong motif - I return to it much as a landscape painter returns to the same location, each time discovering new and unexpected aspects of it. |
Study of Maxim pen and ink 9cm x 11.5cm |
I continually
made small pen and ink drawings of Maxim, catching the particular character
of an ear (what peculiar things they are), his snub nose or his woolly
giraffe.
These are jottings in a visual diary which do not require further development into more generalised and, I suppose, more public images. The size of these drawings and the precise nature of pen and ink gives them a lightness and immediacy which enhances their decorative qualities.
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| I painted Mother embracing her child (right)
at the end of 1985. I had caught a glimpse of myself hugging Maxim in one
of the mirrors that occupy various corners of the studio. Using these,
and the mental image of myself that I have formed after years of self-portraiture,
I began to construct the painting via a series of drawings. I soon arrived
at a complete preliminary drawing which established the main elements of
the composition and then I started work on the canvas. Stretching the canvas
over board, I applied a light coating of size and blocked in the main lines.
I closed in upon the figures, the composition remaining very close to the
drawing at first, but soon the painted image demanded a different treatment.
In the heat of intense concentration it often seems as if the artist is a mere instrument of the emerging picture, intuitively responding to something that cannot be fully understood. |
Mother embracing her child
|
| I worked quickly, blocking in the figures
over the charcoal lines, using whichever colours my hand alighted upon
to establish the main forms. Previously I had looked forward to the intrusion
of chance in my pictures and now I was using the same principle in a more
disciplined way - brushing in areas of colour that I knew would be overpainted
to some extent later on in the painting's development. This underpainting
enhanced, enriched and even suggested the colour to be applied later.
The direction and movement of the figures is described by single large brushstrokes. Again, some parts of the work are lightly painted, allowing areas of raw canvas to show through; these areas, in conjunction with heavily painted areas, give variety and texture to the canvas surface as well as focusing attention on certain areas. Painting the heads caused me some problems and I became engaged in a continual process of scraping down and repainting until the exact balance between the two hues was achieved - no easy task when the model was incapable of keeping a pose! Finally, Maxim's head was painted after a rapid sketch, snatched whilst he was seated at the breakfast table. Although the work had different areas of completeness, there came a time when I knew that I should do no more to it. The colours, arbitrary though based on observation, were heightened and changed continually during the development of the picture. I believe that as well as being a feast for the eye, a painting should capture a mood, atmosphere, or idea which is formed as much by the the interplay of colour, line and form as by the subject matter.
One can only explain so much; to me the art of
making paintings, records of my involvement with life, is still something
mysterious and magical.
Max - the first day (detail)
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As I worked on these two articles I felt that I would learn or uncover
the method by which I make these images. Surprisingly, I have found
that for me, real progress only came when I stopped worrying about style,
subject matter and social relevance. The birth of my son and the
urgency of having so little time to record so much, meant that these
questions, which can often inhibit an artists's creative powers, were
answered by the necessity of getting the thing done.
