I think this is kind of what I am after for the foreground , a rough texture which will help add further interest to the foreground. This is tissue paper which has been rough ly stuck down, Then I have added texture paste and pulled a pallette knife through it and into it which created ridges. When this has dried the paint and inks can be added . The raised edges have been further accentuated by pulling a pastel gently over the top of it.

childhood further colour studies.

I have scanned the original colour study into photoshop and this allows me to experiment further with colour schemes. The red overtones to the third image gives the image an overall warm feel and makes me think of a hot sun drenched late afternoon . Its quite an interesting pallette, the only thing that dissuades me is the warm reds and oranges give a comforting feel which is not what I want to portray. It is clear that I need to consider the pallette carefully for this painting.

I think the most successful colour scheme is using the blues as it lends itself to a somewhat more dour atmosphere . The use of orange coloured highlights help to further accentuate the light. I think also at this point I need to experiment with texturising the foreground. .

The overall painting I want to be painted with a freshness and a vitality which is something my preliminary work often has, but the final piece often lacks it due to my overworking the image.

Paula Rego - Telling Tales [Excerpt 1]

Paula Rego

Rego. P Little Miss Muffet 1989 Print.

Rego. P. Jack and Jill. 1989 print

Rego.P Untitled (1986)

Rego. P Two Girls and a Dog (1987)

Another artist that I am researching is Paula Rego. Her works tell a story, but they have dark undertones, she shows the viewer scenes that we would not normally want to see . Her subjects at the same time are familiar as in domestic family scenes, little children and dogs but she paints them in such a way that appear grotesque and there is always an unsettling quality about her work.

Her art is principally to do with her own childhood experiences and the mother and daughter relationship are a recurring theme. With the mother portrayed as an overbearing and suffocating influence.

The women that she paints are often tough and muscular with malevolent expressions on their faces . Her work is not conventionally beautiful, but it is both ugly and beautiful at the same time .

She has painted scenes of schoolgirls having abortions and scenes that hint at incestuous relationships. They are dark, but she is not afraid to paint them. They are the experiences of women, and Germaine Greer has claimed that she she is the greatest painter of womens experience that has ever lived.

The prints that she created based on nursery rhymes which she created for her grandchildren are equally as disturbing. They are brilliantly executed, and she has such an amazing imagination. I think I read somewhere that as a little girl she was obsessed with Blakes paintings of Dantes Inferno and that is where she got a lot of her inspiration from for these nursery rhyme prints .

Rego quotes in an interview for the Guardian that," In Painting you have an emotional freedom to express everything. You can't do that in life - you wouldn't want to. I can turn the tables and make women stronger than men. I can make them obedient and murderous at the same time."

Jaggi M.(2004)
Her work is interesting to look at and it is definately subjective, as the paintings could have so many different stories depending on the viewers experiences and outlook. Perhaps this is why more women seem to relate and enjoy her work than men.
The Paintings that she created in the mid to late 1980 's which show one or sometimes two girls caring for a sick dog, were painted two years prior to her husbands death of Multiple Sclerosis.

The paintings show the girl helping the animal to eat and drink and to get dressed.

Jaggi, M (2004) Secret Histories. The Guardian. Saturday 17th July 2004.

A line from a poem by Carol Ann Duffy springs to mind whilst working on this painting,


"Wherever you have touched the earth, the earth is sore"


This kind of sums up the essence of what I am trying to portray in this painting.





Here, I am considering the colours and the positioning of the child. I am not too convinced about the size and the positioning of the child as he is a little too central.


I think I want to make him look really small and almost insignificant against the huge backdrop of tower blocks and fencing. So positioning is going to be important.


I have collaged newspaper and layered thin glazes of paint, in this colour study which does add further interest, but I am going to consider using them for the tower blocks .

a lost childhood pencil studies

These are a couple of pencil studies taken from my sketchbook. I want to be sure of the correct position and posture for the child.

I am thinking at this point I prefer the position of the first study, and I will probably use this one.