Tractor for scale - 'once you go large....'

“Its a big beautiful white rectangle and its one of the most complex pieces of art I have ever created.”

I remember from one of my first visits to the Art Gallery of South Australia as a child, a painting by Piet Mondrian which appeared to the mind of a child to just be a bunch of coloured squares. Much later in life I have come to realise how difficult it is to paint a straight line and I can truly appreciate the work. Something else that has always intrigued me is monochromatic painting. Especially the works of Robert Rauschenberg. As a child the idea of minimalism and simply painting a canvas white seemed absurd although much of the art world seemed that way.

When I started seriously painting 12 months ago my main focus was understanding abstraction but somewhere along the lines I accidentally delved into the word of monochromatics and I think I can proudly say ‘I get it’ now. First lets look at how the painting came to be.

My original goal was to stretch my own canvas. Being on an artists budget after buying many premade canvases I knew there had to be a cheaper and more fun way. Cheaper is something of an illusion the actual cost just to make my canvas ended up being quite high, but as with all prototype endeavours there were tools to be purchased and valuable lessons to be learnt. Now having some experience I would never create a piece in the same way, making this one truly unique.

Rear view clearly showing the Xmas print

A friend once told me once you start painting on large canvases you will never go back so I decided to go big. The finished piece measures 1830mm X 915mm. This peculiar size was chosen because 1800mm is the length of pine that was available and within my price range and still short enough to fit in my car. Having never made a frame before and not being confident with fancy joints I decided to buy some metal bracing for the corners. I now realise that these are completely unnecessary but they have become a part of the art.

The steel corners made assembly quite simple and keeping the frame square an easy task. Then came stretching (stapling on) the canvas. A quick youtube video taught me everything I needed to know and the simple task of putting a taught canvas on a frame was complete… sort of. Originally there was no centre brace on my frame, one was jammed in to prevent the excessive bowing the tight canvas caused, a good lesson for next time, put the bracing in first.

The real interesting point here is the canvas choice itself. Sure I could have gone to an art supply store and purchased pre primed canvas on a roll, but it turns out that's quite expensive and seeing as canvas is literally just 100% cotton I took a trip to my local spotlight store to see what a roll of plain white cotton duck was selling for a meter. No idea why they call it duck cotton, but I think its a cool name even though I'm sure it has nothing to do with ducks. Now plain cotton duck can be had for around $7 per lm which is quite affordable, but when I spotted some Xmas print canvas designed for furniture covering on sale for $2 a meter, I started to have ideas.

The price was certainly right and being a thicker weave designed for furniture covering seemed a bonus compared to the thinner and more expensive plain white.(who covers furniture in xmas print??) My main goal when producing art is the appearance of the end result irrespective of the materials used. If Xmas print fabric means I can make more canvases and not have to paint over old ones, then I am happy to use it.

When It came time to stretch my canvas I quickly realised the metal corners holding my frame together were going to be ‘in the way’ so I made the decision to just leave them there and put the canvas straight over the top, they were a part of the art now. Something else I never realised was just how much gesso would be needed to cover a canvas of this size.

Completed and dry, I had stretched my own canvas. Being so large, I didn't have anywhere to really put it so I put some hooks in the wall and just hung it up. After staring at it for the last 3 months, the piece has really grown on me. Sure it was initially intended to have some colour thrown on it, but this particular piece ended up finished before it even started. Which leads me to the main point What does it all mean?

Metal brackets protruding

The real beauty in understanding monochromatic minimalism is looking past a mere image and looking at everything else a painting encompasses. Typically this means the way light interacts with the canvas, but in this instance the canvas tells the story of being a poor struggling artist. When viewed from a distance the painting is patchy and white, but its quite obvious there is more detail to be had up close. A child, or adult might ask what is the point of painting canvas all one colour, and it may seem easy or ludicrous or any number of adjectives, but the truth is there was a time when it had never been done before. People had been painting canvases for hundreds of years until someone decided to do solid colour. There was a time when it was revolutionary. This is the idea that I am paying homage too.

An artist is someone who creates art. This should come above all else. You don't need expensive paint or professionally produced triple primed canvases to create a painting, you just need to paint on something, literally anything. This piece makes the very construction of the canvas the centrepiece. The stroke marks from spreading gesso are quite prominent. Everything this piece represents would be unlikely to be reproduced, its flaws are what make it so unique.

If I had to call it anything, I guess I’d call it an “Unmasterpiece”. Up until I started writing that sentence I had never considered naming it. There is a high probability this canvas will receive some colour as I am thinking of starting a new project and painting over it. I might put it up for sale just for laughs first, but I have doubts anyone would be interested in such a weird piece. This brings me to the next point what would it be worth?

Raw materials
1.8m 42x19 pine x3 $15
Brackets x4 $12
Canvas $4
Gesso $20

I also purchased a staple gun, new saw and mitre box $75
plus time (at least)8 hours @ $40 per hour $320
Petrol and travel to aquire materials $40

I would need to ask around $450 to cover my costs, if anyone out there is interested, I will accept crypto as payment :) Now I don't create art with the intent on selling it, I create art because I enjoy it which is why I am also quite happy painting over old canvases. If it was good enough for Picasso, its good enough for me.

As always I would love to hear your thoughts and thanks for reading.