As November 8th draws closer I am shut away frantically trying every bizarre technique imaginable as I try to find the best way to create paintings that illustrate the musical stories in this concert in the shortest possible time. At the moment I am favouring household emulsion paint but I've been trying oil pastels with paint, with scratching and scraping, drawing and splashing... oh everything. I want all the scenes to begin with a black (and blank) canvas, to make the effect suitably spooky. I find painting at an easel very hard though, and some pieces of music only last around three minutes!!! Detail is no good - the cameras can't project anything other than bold high contrast images. Anything subtle doesn't show very well. I also have to narrate the stories before the orchestra play the music (and I begin to paint). Here you can see a version of Night on the Bare Mountain, and an attempt at The Swan of Tuonela. Neither is good enough yet!!! I KNOW I can get them better. Practise...practise...practise.
