Being in the middle of projects I didnt have much to show today, so here is a set of old paintings I never put on the blog. I called them The Upside of Down. This was the first I sold. Below is the second one sold.
They came from one picture, it was oil on paper. I treated the ordinary, 90lb watercolour paper with a mix of exterior emulsion and PVA. This prevents the oil from sinking into the paper – rather like rabbit skin gesso. Here is the completed piece with me taking a rest – if you take a nap always put an open book on your lap; you appear productive.
I have my doubts about the vertical lines and because the paper was only 90lb it started to tear with the weight of the paints and gesso. So I cut it up and sold it like pieces of cake.
Here is another cut off the old block which has since found a new home:
I think I sold another one as well and still have a couple more available. It might be an exercise worth repeating. It is a variation on selecting a favourite passage of a painting and developing another from it and also the size allows some big gestures even if a few of them aren’t very nice.
Other abstracts, including the last few Upsides of Down are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
graham mcquade 
interesting pieces – are they watercolour paper from a large roll (i.e. to be so large)/
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Thanks Ken. Yes, it was a large roll of paper. I probably purchased 90lb (rather than the 140lb sheets I use) to keep the cost down.
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Just had a look at your website, Graham. I didn’t realise how varied a painter you are!
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Thanks Chris, I like a challenge; any subject, any genre, any media and the ones I like I put on the website and instagram.
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That’s cool. I don’t ever want anything to be off limits either. I suppose at some point it’s necessary to narrow down a bit, if you want to sell—through galleries at least—but I’m sure it makes you a better painter to paint diversely.
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I do know of a well known British figurative artist who admitted to me that he put his landscapes out under a different name. That’s what happens when the lunatics run the asylum.
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😆
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I really like the photo of you napping with the open book on your lap. 😊
And the original painting I like very much indeed, I like the vertical lines.
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Thanks Beate, if you’d told me earlier I wouldnt have cut it up. Oh well…
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😄
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I have a stack of art work on paper and I have been meaning to chop the paper and frame it within a matte. Your post proves that there are many ways of working with larger pieces, even cutting them down to a smaller size. I have even seen an artist who cuts paper on which he has done abstract work, and make earrings and bracelets with the paper. Genius! Have a great week Graham.
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Thanks Louise – I guess there is gold in those discarded and unwanted paintings we all have. A number of times I have cut an unsold half imperial painting down to a quarter imperial size and got a much punchier painting and wondered why I hadnt painted it that way in the first place. Then you see on Redbubble and Fineartamerica where you can place these images – I’m certainly not sweating my assets
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Fantastic, Graham! You know I’m attracted to abstracts like this, I love the layers and texture. I often repurpose my paintings and cut them up to be small pieces or to add to other paintings, it’s a great look, and practical too!
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Thanks Tiffany – I like complexity and layers in my abstracts too and the slow build up of this painting allowed for lots of applications. I know you reuse old paintings and abstracts are great for this – I should try this myself. I cut up unsold pictorial work too to get rid of unnecessary aspects and put them in a smaller frame in the hope of enlivening them.
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