TIM BAKER

Two more from the Will It Paint art livestreams (we are currently at #4 but waiting for decent weather to photograph that one, and also it got damaged cos I forgot to peel it off the board before it dried so it tore/got sliced as I removed it). I have already sold #3 to Dunproofin, as it was created during his DJ stream on Saturday night, with the panting being a live representation of his set (the video on YT is soundtracked by my iPod, DJ Charles but I was listening to his set).

Here’s the livestream video of Will It Paint #2 – if a few bits are muted it’s the copyright mavens – I need to update my iPod playlist to filter out Eagles, Don Henley and Prince – several of the muted videos are because of those three – although oddly #4 is also blocked by Genesis – Abacab?!

The second piece is called ‘Going Back (Thinking About U)’ because both songs came around – the Dusty Springfield song is one of my faves, although here it’s a cover by Dolphin, and talks about childhood which is never far from my mind and recently I’ve gone on a deep dive on that track so those covers will appear on the next podcasts.

Also sadly Terry Hall from the Specials/Colour Field and Fun Boy Three recently died, so I had ‘Thinking About You’ on the playlist – so yes this is also brought to you by the letter U (no numeral 2, although I was listening to Happy The Harmonica by Negativland on one of the streams).

I was trying out the markals (remember those?) and oil sticks (ditto) on the art livestream for the first time, attempting a wax resist which really didn’t work. I made a big mistake – I added the oil-based media first, then the acrylic. I do know better than that! But I noticed cracking later on some of the acrylic ink, which reminded me of why you don’t do that (the shorthand is: oil takes longer to dry and shrinks, so if you put a faster drying paint over the top, it’ll crack).

I didn’t like this piece when I did it, but quite like it now, I like the sgraffito and mixture of marks. Certainly my works are generally getting lighter – after the dark black horror of the first – which is way darker and duller than the photos suggest. In fact I’ve replaced the main image with a later photo in natural light which is more accurate – it bugs me posting things that look better than my work – cameras do tend to add contrast and saturation as much as you try and take it out in editing.

But I think the third is the most successful so far, and indeed is now sold.

I wish I could post Dunproofin’s livestream version but it’s subscriber only – so my art livestream off my YouTube channel will have to do. He played a wide bunch of music, not mashups but a lot of 80’s tunes – Pet Shop Boys, Cure, Blondie (you can see a tracklist on his Discord) is one I remember enjoying painting to, but it was an inspiring set, I painted much faster and ended earlier – which I think benefitted the work cos I tend to overwork stuff.

So now I have a 2-3 hour limit on the livestream paintings as result.

This one was the Dulux emulsion tester rollers again, stickers, acrylic paint – some older Galeria paint that I was trying to resurrect and gave up on, and acylic ink. I think it’s the most successful painting in a long time. Energy but some great loaded strokes, including the best abstract brushstroke I’ve ever done (the one below the title/name).

The name ‘The Big D’ of course comes from the letter D, his name and the Wet Leg song – which he didn’t play but probably was at the back of my mind.

You can catch my art livestreams by subscribing at my YouTube or my Twitch channel, it will notify when I go on. Currently it tends to be Saturdays but aware I don’t want to clash with Dunproofin so might move them – Sunday? Mondays are fairly free, but I agree with the Boomtown Rats about Mondays. Not a good day for me.