How to Paint Like Frank Bowling | Tate
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- Discover how painter Frank Bowling creates dazzling, dripping compositions of colour.
Frank Bowling was born in Guyana and moved to London to study Fine Art at the Royal Academy. To this day he continues to make work from his studios in London and New York.
His paintings use a variety of bright acrylic paint colours and embedded objects that create unusual but mesmerising compositions. Two of his most well-known paintings in Tate's collection include 'Spreadout Ron Kitaj' and 'Sasha Jason Guyana Dreams'. Both of these paintings show how Bowling layers paint to create a deeply textured feel to his artworks.
Bowling’s Studio Assistant, Spencer A. Richards, and his grandson Frederick Bowling took us to Bowling's London studio to show us some of the techniques he uses in his work.
Frank Bowling is on at Tate Britain until 26 August 2019: bit.ly/2YcnJ74
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Thank you so much. Your works are gorgeous and the fact you are sharing your techniques is such an act of generosity.
Wenceslao Futanaki pig. Reported
I don't have a studio, or a grandson, so I did this in my living room, my dog is covered in paint, the carpet is ruined, and my wife is about to get home. Is there a second video on how to clean this up?
Your dog is now living piece of art! Carpet can be art piece too! I hope your wife accepted your pursuits in creativity!
You will need a studio and a grandson to begin cleaning
TRANZCO for real 😳
Haven't you tried ammonia for the cleanup?!
@@mmitja I went straight muriatic acid.
A true artist is happy to share their tools and trade craft, it's their genius that can't be shared or duplicated.
This guy gets it.
Love the honesty and the demystification of the process. Very refreshing to watch. These Tate videos are great. Thank you.
An excellent video and Frank Bowling's generosity in sharing his techniques puts some other artists to shame.
This great artist has already achieved the level of playing around like a child! That actually is the highest level of creating art. Thanks!
Incredible! Thank you for sharing! I feel so inspired - I felt that in my heart!
Wow that is generous to say the least to share these trade secrets lol. I’m interested to see this but at the same time wish I didn’t see it so I could regard the process as a remaining mystery. I know you can’t please everyone lol
Are they really secrets though? Anyone with eyes can see how the paintings are made... but can you make a painting as brilliant as Frank's, probably not. He's learnt so much about what truly is pleasing to the eye and how to make the paint sing that you can see what we've come up with here is nowhere near as beautiful as what Frank is able to make. Frank did continue to work on these and they look COMPLETELY different now.
What he did was like mixed media art. Only done on a giant canvas!! Wow!!
I don't know very many artists who work with a loose, unframed piece of canvas. This certainly adds to the freedom of applying the colors and/or objects. I'm usually not a fan of anything created by using pouring techniques, but the way he does it is, it somehow works out nicely. I watch too many artist who use and apply colors directly out of the container - and the results are often what I call - lazy + ugly painting. But Frank clearly gives a lot of thought to the mixing and finding the colors that he wants. A good example of how art for many of us is about the journey and not so much about the destination. Thanks for this video - I hadn't heard of Frank Bowling before.
many artists only use a canvas stretcher once the work is sold or going to be exposed, cloth is cheaper than wood when you paint a lot that counts.
To add what Nikixos says here. When the work is so large it's also quite cumbersome when the work is stretched. It's nice to be able to fold it away and work on different levels by pinning it up at different heights.
Sometimes I believe nothing is more abstract then reality itself... other times I look at abstract art of Frank Bowling and think of the words of Mondriaan "abstract art is not the creation of another reality, but the true version of reality."
I guess I'm pretty consistent in my thinking after all...
The human mind is notoriously inconsistent. You ever heard of optical illusions. You won't believe your eyes... literally! The world is only as we perceive it yet we all have a different perception.. does that mean we all live in different worlds?
@@superfrederik95 Oh I completely agree Frederik. It's all perspective. And the only constant in perspective is change.
Thank you. I enjoyed this very much and was inspired by the use of color. I have only been painting for a few years and am learning slowly layer by layer😊
Thank u so much for details u ve provided
Beautiful, This was so satisfying and therapeutic to watch
Loved watching this video; I don't do abstract work myself, but ya know, maybe it's time to try it out. We've got enough art supplies, canvas, found objects, paper, all kinds of paint and pastels, you name it, because I'm a procrastinating artist; piled up in this house, and we can't go anywhere, so why not? Going to look at Frank Bowling's paintings now.
Wow!!!! What beautiful creations
wonderful!!! Thanks a million!
Bravo! This was such a joy to watch! Thank you.
You're so nice for sharing this.
When i see u r work i feel i am under water or i am diving in the ocean.so beautiful so creative.unbelievable!!!!😇
AAh Frederick Bowling what a lovely voice you have! you could do documentary voice overs and such with that voice, accent and intonation. just lovely!
You're very kind, thank you :)
Beautiful artwork! this is so wonderful and impressive~👍 Very nice painting~!!!
Playful and beautiful.
Lovely and inspirational, thank you. And fun.
Thanks for this video!
Such a soothing video
Beautiful work and I love your advice to other painters: just go for it!
How awesome!
Beautiful
MAGNIFICENT!!!
Thank you. Fascinating. Gonna try the sprinkles and gel as glue for found objects too.
enjoy
Interesting. Thank you for sharing 🤗
Love your work.awesome
Inspiring
Beautiful, thanks for sharing
Totally super inspiring. 💗🙏🏻😍
Magically impressive is what first came to mind in visualization. I could use a companion artist at times. My pup is sometimes helpful though.
Congratulations! welcome to Brazil
Brilliant 💎
Fascinating!
I enjoyed alot 👍🏻 thank u
Love your Art
Lindo.Assisti com meu filho.Adoramos
Fun experimentation. I like!!
Love it...
Amazing stuff
Art that looks amazingly fun to make and fun to look at! Cheers, Steve aka The Talking Fly
Cheers, Steve! It was an absolute blast to make. We really did have a lot of fun :L
Just go for it!
go for it....i like that
Very nice presentation
That's a great looking videos!
Does anyone know what acrylic brand Frank uses? This is AMAZING!
The Next Video should be about David Hockney's landscapes
WoW!
I like how he makes globes around.
Beautiful 👌new friend 🤝
I have seen full time enjoyd😃👏👍
good textures
Bravo! you are unique
How to varnish something like that? Wouldnt the chalk for example smudge?
WOW BEAUTIFUL STUNNING THANKS YOU GOODNESS 🌟 DAPHNE COTTON ALWAYS 💜 AWESOME
No one can paint like you ( but today people around Asia and other continents will say I can create / it's me my past 19 years account. ) I know him from when I was 9 years old kid.
Fantastic, thank you for sharing such valuable information. to me Frank Bowling is one of the great artist of his generation! love his work !
Thank you! It was a blast to make and I can say what we've shown is only the tip of the iceberg. Frank's mind works in such an incredible way and he's managed to make such a great impact on the art world it really in incredible.
@Arijit Shome www.artnet.com/magazine/picturepostcard/picturepostcard2003.asp They were on the same postcard collection 2003 but I don't think they would have known each other. Let me know if I should ask him!
Lovely. Loved your style of art 💕
I really enjoyed this. =)
Glad you liked it! :D
@@superfrederik95 =)
Great, informative video. I love the colours and textures.
I migt not create any meaningful things but I am glad I start painting...so fun
Ayyo Tube i started 10 days ago and I found it so relaxing check my channel sometimes .. its not my content yet though
Awesome. But now i cant get it out of my head that i must paint bowling balls and roll them.
This guy gets it.
*nods*
A beautiful film thank you very much, what a great artist and so playful with his paintings! I like how his friend Spencer A Richards and his Grandson Frederik Bowling create a painting in the approach of Frank Bowling, I have to say they created a great painting themselves! Again thank you for this film.
Thank you for your kind words! Frank continued to work on this piece and it's now completely different!
Absolutely fantastic video ! Thx! Inspiring !!! 😎🙏🏻💕🤘💕🙏🏻✅
Does anyone have any idea what I can use as a replacement to Ammonia? I ideally don't want to be whacking out such intense chemicals in my home lol. I had a google and somewhere said vinegar can be a common replacement but I'm not sure if that rule applies when it come to this process. Any ideas?
Hey, sorry for being so late to get you an answer. Vinegar could do! The reason Frank uses ammonia is to break down the paint so it's always gonna be pretty intense!! Masks help deffo. Also I would suggest trying white spirit for acrylic base and turpentine for oil based. Go easy tho, it's only a small amount you'll need to get an effect but you'll have to play around with all the consistencies to get a good feel of it. :)
❤️❤️❤️
💚💚💚💚💚
If you sniff the ammonia, the painting usually is more unusual
This is awesome art I do artwork like this I also make .outsider art and found object art and paint it's great outlet for me to get to know people. And get my art out there. To the Public Because. I am Also on the autism spectrum to
YES! get your work out there! Make new and incredible things! Being on the spectrum makes your head more special and more imaginative than anyone else out there. You go for it! Check out the article by the Sunday Times. I spoke about how we are all on the spectrum and I believe that Frank is too. All he can think about is paint! That's hyperfocus if I've ever seen it
thanks for your awesome comment Frederik b I am getting my art work out there I have had a few group shows . Your so right Frederik. About what you wrote Franky bowling is one of my favorite artist. . . I will check out the article about autism spectrum in the. Sunday times. . Keep being awesome Frederik
in this age of the internet everyone can get their work out into the world. also outsider art is very popular now. instagram may be misused by lots of people who have lost their way attempting to be the Kardashians but it is a great place to share art and find other people's art work that you like. Though I wouldn't say Frank is an outsider artist nor is his method of producing paintings an outsider method. Good luck with making your work.
Lovely work Frederik! It looks like you use raw unprimed cotton canvas. Is that true? I wonder what you or your grandfather uses to cover or “varnish” your paintings to protect them. Thank you for your response!
Yep, it's true. Sometimes the canvas will still have oils and stuff in the cotton so if you wanna really break the surface you can use soapy water too.
Varnishing wise he usually uses Elvacite varnish which is dissolved in Turpentine. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it though, It's awfully penetrative and will make everything sticky.
Imagine if he captured his creations in resin.
👍🏿
The key is layers
I can't wait to come home and splash paint around and talk deep and emotional about it and sell it for 1000s
Pollack's Work
Yes, do that! Have fun :)
Good luck! Sometimes the emotions are only a reflection of what you feel in that time. I think that the paintings are independent of the emotions that you give it. One day it might make you happier, one day more inspired. Who knows how a bunch of things on a canvas can make such an impact on your mind. Maybe you can figure out what kind of painting will bring out emotions in the people around you?
Bhahahahahahahahah
I'm not into Frank's work, but I respect the fact it's work. In this video he has not once 'talked deep and emotional'. He has remained practical and interested in the various actions required to make differing marks. And the thing is Stian, you haven't spent a life time wanting to do what Frank does. He does it and has done it and always wanted to do it. If it was something you felt the urge to do, day after day, every day if there is the time to, then you too would be an artist. Because you do not do you are not an artist. The matter of money is a separate matter as to why people spend as many hours of their life making. It is a very human response to being alive: fill the hours making something and at the same time take in other people and their make. Money comes afterwards and it is mostly to do with the silly people who value collecting things of worth (the worth they themselves attribute to the art objects). But it's great if a living artist can make money from their work. Very few artists make a living from their work while they're alive. Recognition often takes time, and hype takes a while to experience momentum. If you can't see the realm of making art as valuable just with regards to a life well spent, an eye seeing the world and making marks as it relates to that world in whatever way it seeks to, if you have no time for this realm then I feel sorry for you. Every First Nation on this earth has learned crafts to produce clothing tools shelter. Every First Nation has decorated those items. And eons before these humans lived there were early humans making cave paintings of the animals they hunted. It makes sense they would want to get their hands on food so much their every waking thought was valuing and needing food. So it makes sense the mind and what it thinks understands it is contemplating the hunt even when the hunt is not happening. the thought is also a picture in the mind's eye = art is intrinsic to human experience. Frank invited his assitant and his grandson to have a good old go at showing you how he works. Maybe just be pleased a man has got to spend a life time doing what he wanted to do. You should be pleased for him!
Thank you 25,928 times. (That's how many views when I came along)
You're welcome 50,133 times (That's what I see now)
WOW! I now feel like I know TOO much about Frank Bowling's process. Hmmm.
Why too much? This video only scratches the surface....
An
average
guitarist running amok
in......A WAH WAH SHOP😬
what a Racket!!! Lol😁😁😁😁
That's his grandson??
Yes I am.
People are so weird you clearly heard that said in the video
👀
One day I'll expose there
Guys you never showed us a difficult part, and that would be stretching the finished canvas on to a stretcher frame?
Stretching a canvas is pretty easy. Adjust the canvas how you want it against the frame and staple from the center of each side (like a cross) to the edges, every four inches or so; stretching as tightly as you can (best to use a stretcher tool) along the way. Staple the edges like hospital-corners on a bed. I make my frames using 45-degree angle cuts which I hot-glue together and then firm-up with finish nails. For large stretcher-frames, you need horizontal and vertical supports every few feet to prevent warping.
Stretching the canvas isn't too difficult! However it does become harder when you use more gel and objects since the canvas becomes stiff and wobbly. The best way to deal with this is to add some extra bits around the edges which gives you a nice bit of leeway to get it over the stretcher!
SO YOU CALL THAT THING ART ,AND HERE, PEOPLE THAT PRETEND THEY APPRECIATE IT A LOT AS THEY ARE ART SPECIALISTS!!
Hahaha im a working artist and I STILL have a hard time appreciating this shit...
I actually thought so before. But when I tried out making some artwork, I feel it's not that easy. Color combinations, proportion, shapes...I feel the artist needs to be really free to create spirits for the artwork. You can apply same procedures, but not everyone can make the audience feel "wow". I feel "wow" for Frank Bowling and his whimsical world.
hi frederik
Hi :)
I know that the young guy is an artist by his pointy moustache!
I've never been a fan of Salvador Dali ... so any artist who tries to look like him, is already off of my radar LOL
He's an attractive fellow.
@@pattiturville3963 for fun. Dali's look is all about fun.
@@pattiturville3963 Oof that's a bit harsh. I don't think I can do dali but I'm just growing this for fun! Who knows where it'll go? I'm part german too so I'm considering getting involved in the moustache competitions there but you gotta start early otherwise you've got no chance Haha
@@ai-man212 You are too kind
Could the Tate do some videos on the processes of earlier artists such as Leighton, Reynolds and Pre-rapaelites too? The emphasis these days is too much on contemporary practices rather than the entire breadth of art history.
I was forced to do this cuz of homework 😒
Lol 😂 You can tell those protective gear items were purchased just for this video; not worn for one painting.
You know it's true! 😂😂🤣 I actually started wearing a mask a year after this video came out because someone told me they followed my advice and I hadn't even tried a mask for the first time at that point. Turns out they will save you a lot of pain, watering eyes, burning nostrils and throat!! xD
Wear mask and goggles folks!!
A true artist shares secrets. Sure they are unable to be replicated.
@Wenceslao Futanaki I think you'll find that all of these artists took very detailed notes on the things that they were making and shared them as much as they could. Clearly you're trying to troll so I'm gonna stop replying to your comments.
@Wenceslao Futanaki How to make an atomic bomb is no longer a secret! People are too smart and too many for things to be a secret anymore. Regarding Da Vinci for example... didn't he have a LOT of writings about how he made things, stacks of literal books that he's filled with things he's learnt and observed around him. One of his most famous pieces is the man in a circle which is about the proportions of the body? Throw a rock into a quiet lake and you'll find that the ripples will spread across all the way to the other side.
basically their saying anybody can do this .
John Castle Go ahead
Yep! Good luck!
Kind of like Helen Frankenthaler but without the subtle lyricism and restraint. These paintings mostly look like overworked and muddy messes. Not for me.
А что так можно было?)
How the fuck this is called art
Is no one going to mention the moustache?
yes, you will.
I walk out of my apartment and most young men, black, white, or latino have similar mustaches or crazier beards I forget to notice until sometime says something. Like when my brother visits from Indiana points it out and I'm like, yeah I guess it is weird if you don't see it everyday. But then most of the girls have silver or magenta hair shaved close on one side.
Someone did. They called me a hack and charlatan.
@@superfrederik95 screw em
@@yseson_ Haha I know that guy's a bit of a troll :D fun to chat with though!
Dorothea Tanning
This was already old in the 60s
Right. Do your art history degree and come back to me on that one.