UNTITLED ABSTRACT COMPOSITION ( 2019 )

Acrylic on canvas, 76cm x 101cm

UNTITLED WORK IN PROGRESS 28 / 11 / 2018 ( A )

EXPERIMENTING WITH TEXTURES

My painted work has always had a tactile quality to it, so much so that I regard it as a 'subtext' to the main composition. In other words, in each painting there are two pieces of art to read: The coloured shapes as seen from directly in front, and then the different gradients and grooves that you read from the side, or in a strong, angled source of light.

In the current series, I'm going to experiment with not only the depth, but the surface textures, like brickwork or peeling paint.

Below: Untitled acrylic-on-canvas ( extreme closeup ), with ruler to show scale. Full size: 80cm x 80cm.

THOUSAND YARD STAIRWELL

While working to promote the Custard Factory Open Studios recently, I experimented on various background designs for the event's own blog wallpaper ( mobile phone viewers are advised to scroll all the way down to the bottom of any of my blogs and click 'view web version' to see the fully-realised designs ). I have a stock of photos from around the Custard Factory buildings, and used simple repetition ( no actual filters ) to create some eerily surreal images.

VECTORS: ARTWORK RECONFIGURED

INSTAGRAM PROMO SAMPLERS START THIS WEEK!

Above: Sample of digital art based on my 'Brazil Mood Painting' ( 2011 ).

I've started an Instagram poster series, highlighting my abstract art. Over time, my paintings developed their own geometric language and style. It's proved very popular, especially with architecture and design companies in the US, so that's why I'm translating many of my compositions into a purely digital form, allowing them to be produced seamlessly, at a large scale, in different configurations on a variety of materials. 

( Scroll down for the link. ) 

Below: Sample of digital art based on my 'Stealth' painting ( 2015 ).

Below: Sample of digital art based on my 'Athini' painting ( 2011 ).

Click here for my Instagram page!

ON THE SLATE

This piece has been around for a while, and the size isn't one I'm currently into ( 40cm x 40cm x 3cm..? ) so I'm going to use it to experiment on. However, there are some cool slate-and-concrete tones in there, and lots of different surface textures, too.

WORK IN PROGRESS 'B': 21 / 02 / 2017...NEARLY FINISHED.

Probably about one day away from completion. Here's a teaser, below. I think it may be the best abstract painting I've done so far...I'll explain why when I've finished it.

Below: Detail close-up of Untitled Acrylic on Canvas, 60cm x 60cm.

WORK IN PROGRESS 'B': 20 / 01 / 2017 / ABSTRACT LIFE

As usual, this will look drastically different when it's finished.

See also Oct 2016.

Above: Photographer unknown. Email me if you want it removed.

GRAPH-PAPER EXPERIMENT #1

Digital Drawing w/ texture.

ALEXI K AT THE LONDON ART FAIR - FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY*

*Just to be clear, I am not in the current London Art Fair. I was merely a visitor. However, on the way back from there, en route to Marylebone and then the Midlands, I spotted this beautiful section of wall, currently under repair, at Moorgate Tube Station. I love the colour of the concrete and the ghostly blue line. 

So I am declaring this patch of wall at Moorgate, an official Alexi K.

Below: Moorgate Tube Station Wall, by Alexi K, January 2017.

LONDON NIGHT SKY

FOR MORE OF MY URBAN ABSTRACTIONS SEE:

ALEXI K LONDON FIELDS

ALEXI K PARK LIFE

MULTIPLE SINGULARITIES

CONTINUING EXPERIMENTAL WORK...

( All diagrams made from discarded fragments of other drawings, randomly placed on top of each other, and made entirely of vector lines. )

EXTERIOR GRID VISUALISATION EXPERIMENT

LONDON FIELDS

Photos taken in London, on December 30th 2016, walking between the Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

FOR MORE EXAMPLES OF URBAN ABSTRACTION, CLICK HERE

GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS ABSTRACT

Last night, on Christmas Eve, I started to design a digital Christmas card to send out. Nothing commercial, just something I send to friends and family. By around 2am Christmas morning I completely ran out of steam, and thought, I need to be asleep or Christmas Day will be a write-off. This is the first time I've failed to get any kind of card done.

Today, while the turkey was roasting, I opened the files and tried to salvage something from all the fragments, and still couldn't come up with anything.

However...these 'fragments' do look rather beautiful in their own right, so I'm putting them out there as a late Xmas gift to you. Enjoy the holidays!

Below: 2D vector line sketches with layering effects.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK #5

Below: Chevrons I, 2D Digital Line Drawing.

Below: Chevrons II, 2D Digital Line Drawing.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK #4

Still getting a feel for the software.

Below: Grey Structure II, 2D digital line drawing.

Below: Deconstructed, recoloured and with added texture.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK #3

Still exploring vector drawing, creating random shapes and then stretching and distorting them. Decided to take this one apart, and then stopped when it suddenly began to resemble a 1980s album cover. 

Below: 80s Album Cover,  2D Digital Line Drawing.

In the second piece I'm beginning to explore the perrception of depth within the 2D shapes.

Below: 80s Album Cover Remixed,  2D Digital Line Drawing.

In the third, all colours have been removed to expose the actual lines that make up that version of picture.

Below: 80s Album Cover Remixed 2,  2D Digital Line Drawing.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK #2

The intention was to emulate my postcard line drawings with nice clean vectors ( which can be enlarged without losing quality ). Inevitably, the different medium ( digital ) presents its own set of opportunities and tangents, and you end up deviating from the original idea but inventing a new one, instead.

Below: Grey Structure, 2D Digital Line Drawing.

NEXT SHOW: DIGBETH FIRST FRIDAY!

Here's the current piece ( previously referred to on this blog as 'Work In Progress 'C'' ). I was going to make some adjustments today, but having seen it in the bright light of the studio, I'm going to leave it alone. For now...

Harsh sunlight and a good angle is the best way to view my paintings...maybe the best way would be to hold them in your hands and read them like a book..?

See it on December 2nd at The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham.

Exhibiting as part of the Daphne Francis Gallery group show 'Balance'.

Below: As yet Untitled Acrylic-on-Canvas, 50cm x 75cm, Nov 2016

WORK IN PROGRESS 'C' : 24 / 11 / 2016 - DETAIL

To see the earlier iterations of this, scroll down to the 11th & 10th November blog entries.

Full size: 50cm x 75cm, Acrylic on Canvas.

Including this, I have a total of three 'in progress' paintings. The other two are currently on display so I won't get to finish them until I get them back.

You'll notice I've changed the scale on the blocks and bars of this piece. Everything is bigger, which means there will be less art on the surface of the canvas. You can still see the 'histories' underneath, but over time some of these details will gradually be over-written.