STUDIES FROM LORRIES AND TANKERS

I want to leave my 'Zen' paintings for now and move on to a visual source in this case, lorries and tankers.

Whilst driving to and fro from college I have become fascinated by the colour, shape and geometry of lorries and tankers. There are round tankers, oval ones, striped ones, tankers with ladders, tankers wrapped in pipes. And there are lorries.

I am not going into the laws of relativity but, I sit there, still, not running or walking and yet the world passes by, a sort of time travel. The wheels go round and round. Driving is rather like meditating. It becomes automatic but with an alert wakefulness. I wonder what the lorries carry. Do they have illegal immigrants on board, or food, or cigarettes? I have been known to follow an interesting lorry for miles, off the motorway and through a town to some industrial estate somewhere. I spent a very interesting and funny day at the Highways Depot. The drivers are proud of their lorry, keeping it clean and in working order.

Tanker. Colours changed from gold and black to white and navy (cutout)

Tanker. Colour changed from gold to white (cutout)

Following on from the lorry pictures in previous blogs, I have only just begun to draw and sketch the imagery. I am planning many more studies in different mediums.

Ongoing sketches in various mediums.

'Ladder' Digital print.

'Wheels' Digital print.

I have spent a considerable amount of time this term trying to master the computer and digital printing. I realise I am only at the very basic stages and I am looking forward to creating designs where I can place 'space' and other elements into my design.

However, I am pleased with my progress and with my understanding now. I will continue this study. I do feel that the lorry subject is perfect for experimenting with digital printing.

TANKER HANGINGS.

'Tanker with rear light', 2009. Crepe backed satin silk.

'Ladder' Silk crepe backed satin.

With both of these hangings, after creating design sketches, I took the abstract shapes, matching the blend of tanker colours, a colour palate so different from the colours I had been working with and created these pieces by using masking and using blank screens. This is extremely laborious and high risk. This talked me into mastering digital printing.

I wanted to start with darker colours at the bottom, rising to lighter colours at the top. I love the splash of rust, the rear lights.

All images of mine are copyright.