In line with the previous post about destruction being an integral part of the painting process, I’ve decided to assemble a visual diary of a failed painting I did a couple of years ago. (I take photos of everything.)

1. Loose colour in the background, figure drawn in (something? charcoal?) and then redrawn with liquid latex. 

2. Decide some geometry will liven this party up, put a wash of thin paint over masking tape to create a grid. 

3. Start filling in some shading and detail on the figure, still not sure what I’m doing with that grid. 

4. Turn grid into Matrix-y columns of tiny squares, start sticking in tiny images cut out of newspapers etc. 

5. Test out possible colour combinations/ compositional tweaks in Photoshop, but nothing I do is working. 

6. Give up on the figure entirely, I hate it. Decide this painting is destined for abstraction, paint over everything in stripes of white and purple. 

I’m actually not sure where this painting is now; I think I might have painted over it completely with white and left it in a friend’s flat. If I recall correctly, it’s on their mantelpiece behind some beercans and a portrait of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote.