All of these paintings have one thing in common; comic book images.
I first made a series of small paintings on MDF board, which were colourful and almost abstract in the way they were loosely painted after real comic book imagery. From there on I moved to a bigger surface on canvas, still full of colour but now focusing more on the faux manga imagery and less on the inconsistent looking art found in these comic books. Abstract Expressionism and motifs found in Japanese painting were used to show the relations between Japanese and American art and comic book culture.
I went further with these ideas by actually painting in calligraphy ink and black and white acrylics only. By losing the colour, I was referencing how Japanese sumi-e ink painting rarely uses colour. The size of the canvas became longer and narrower, referencing the narrow size of Japanese paintings as well. The final three paintings titled Amalgamanga #1, #2 and #3 are an amalgamation (hence the title!) of American and Japanese styles, not just in comic but also in art. You have the traditional smooth sumi-e ink drawing of Japan, and the painting technique of American Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline, an underrated artist well known for his black and white paintings. Even the canvas has one half primed and the other unprimed, suggesting a Yin Yang effect.
Painting in black and white was a unique experience for me. In fact, I find it relates to the way I usually draw. I rarely colour in my drawings, as I prefer to leave them black and white. I think it's because I was never any good at the colouring process, always preferring to do outlines and details. In painting I don't seem to have the same problem, probably due to the scale of my work. Still, it's an interesting way of painting and I wouldn't mind continuing to paint like this in future work.
I first made a series of small paintings on MDF board, which were colourful and almost abstract in the way they were loosely painted after real comic book imagery. From there on I moved to a bigger surface on canvas, still full of colour but now focusing more on the faux manga imagery and less on the inconsistent looking art found in these comic books. Abstract Expressionism and motifs found in Japanese painting were used to show the relations between Japanese and American art and comic book culture.
I went further with these ideas by actually painting in calligraphy ink and black and white acrylics only. By losing the colour, I was referencing how Japanese sumi-e ink painting rarely uses colour. The size of the canvas became longer and narrower, referencing the narrow size of Japanese paintings as well. The final three paintings titled Amalgamanga #1, #2 and #3 are an amalgamation (hence the title!) of American and Japanese styles, not just in comic but also in art. You have the traditional smooth sumi-e ink drawing of Japan, and the painting technique of American Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline, an underrated artist well known for his black and white paintings. Even the canvas has one half primed and the other unprimed, suggesting a Yin Yang effect.
Painting in black and white was a unique experience for me. In fact, I find it relates to the way I usually draw. I rarely colour in my drawings, as I prefer to leave them black and white. I think it's because I was never any good at the colouring process, always preferring to do outlines and details. In painting I don't seem to have the same problem, probably due to the scale of my work. Still, it's an interesting way of painting and I wouldn't mind continuing to paint like this in future work.