PALETTE PAINTING SERIES
This new work evolved from tuning in to the present moment and material process of painting, and seeing beauty in the palette papers I use to hold and mix the paint that’s applied to the canvas. Normally discarded, these by-products of the painting process drew me in, communicating a story about how the last painting was created. In the palettes, I see merging shapes and colors. I see the scrapes and contours of my palette knife as I try to capture every last bit of paint. I see the splatters, drips, and runs, formed in carelessness or in urgency, as I move paint from palette to canvas. Studying the paper longer, I begin to recognize forms. I see mutated wildflowers, balloon-animals, fish and tugboats. I use my imagination to find objects like a Rorschach psychological test in full-color, finding what characters are lurking in the dark corners of my psyche. The viewer undoubtedly will see other shapes and make different connections.

Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his Notebooks: “It should not be hard for you to stop sometimes and look into the stains of walls, or ashes of a fire, or clouds, or mud or like places in which… you may find really marvelous ideas.”

PALETTE PAINTING, PROCESS
The artist’s palette is the serving dish, where the paint is squeezed out from its manufactured housing–the surface the artist uses to hold and mix the paint. Paints can be grouped in any manner on the palette- neatly in a row; always the same colors in the same arrangement for less disruption of thinking when it’s time to apply; haphazardly; organically in time throughout the duration of the painting. I generally proceed in the haphazard manner. With acrylic paints, I use palette paper to hold the paint—a 12” x 16” sheet of specialized paper made from permeable, lightweight plastic, which sits on a bright yellow moistened sponge that can be sealed within an airtight container. Because acrylic paints dry so quickly, the ability to seal the palette preserves the paint for several days. When I’ve used up every last bit of space on a sheet of palette paper, I discard it and replace it with a new one. Late last year, I began studying the discarded palettes. When the leftover paint was dry, I began drawing on top of the paint that was left behind, connecting forms, and letting my imagination find a story. I use chinagraph and other wax-based pencils, graphite, correction fluid, and sometimes mascara to work on top of the palette remnants. When I’m satisfied with this secondary work, I transfer it to a larger panel or canvas and let the painting tell me what it wants to do. The final, refined, enlarged paintings are what you see on this page.

-S. Tudyk, 2024
(many more works are in progress, please check back)

This is a collection from 2016-2022 when I was exploring fictional billboards with disjointed, fractured typography. The billboard structure acted as a container for my message, but it was often unreadable.

This is a collection of work from 2013-2019 inspired by letter writing, memories, and living near the ocean for a stint.