Seems crazy I know and somewhat counterintuitive, isn’t the point of painting to put paint on your canvas?

Actually there is a lot of paint to start off with, but it doesn’t stay that way for very long. A thick layer of gloopy dark paint gets put down – and then using rags or brushes, this layer slowly gets rubbed away.

It becomes an ‘intricate dance’ of tonal values, a journey from darkness to light, and a harmonious relationship between the different elements within the artwork.

Here are a few reasons why:

Colour Simplicity, Organic Shapes

I use just one colour (granted it is a bit of a hodgepodge of colour mixing going on) but then that’s it. This decision eliminates the need to agonise over colour choices and combinations, allowing me to just paint. And then using rags and brushes I trying to find the image - it’s almost impossible to have ‘line’. Instead shapes emerge organically, and the edges are softened, lending a dream-like quality to the artwork that's hard to achieve through traditional painting methods.

Embracing Looseness·

For someone with an A-type personality like mine, 'Rubbing Away' provides the freedom to abandon over-explaining and the preciousness that often accompanies art creation. The result is a looseness in the work, an allowance for spontaneity, and an escape from perfectionism. Also there’s an atmospheric quality to the work, it’s more subtle but there’s still movement.

The Race Against Time

These paintings have a deadline of just 2 days, after which the paint dries and it’s just not the same adding white paint.

The Messiness

It’s incredibly messy (I even use garden gloves for my hands) but I feel like a child again, just the pure joy of creativity.

The Grand Reveal: Erasure as Art

‘Erasure’ is really all about the ‘grand reveal’. It’s about tonal values, it’s about moving from dark to light, and it’s about parts relating to one another. And in some inexplicable way, this process feels hopeful and optimistic.

All that from an art process 😉