Abi Whitlock: Light Through Water

6th August 2024 by Josephine Zentner 0

Abi Whitlock won the People’s Choice Award in the Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her acrylic on canvas painting Lone Star. In this interview, she discusses what she loves about working with acrylic paint, her essential studio materials, and how her approach to painting light through water has evolved.

Above image: Abi adding final details to a painting in her studio.

Lone Star, 2024
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 40 cm | 31.4 x 15.7 in

Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background?

Abi: From a very young age, art was always something that featured heavily in my life. My mother was an art and design technology teacher and always encouraged me in my enthusiasm for creativity. Art was my favourite subject at school and I constantly had a drawing on the go when I was younger. Despite this, I never saw a career in art itself as something I could make a reality. That changed after I became ill during my second year of university where I was studying Food Science. Unfortunately, in the end, I was too unwell to continue with my studies and had to leave. After that, creating art and teaching myself how to build upon my painting skills specifically, became a real lifesaver when I didn’t really know what else to do during this time. That’s when I had the realisation that I wanted to take my art further and make it more than just a hobby.

Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?

Abi: In the morning, before I even start to focus on work, I always make it a priority to go for a walk by the river near my house. Immersing myself in nature and getting some much-needed fresh air sets me up for a day indoors at my easel and puts me in the right mindset to start creating. There’s something about being near water that instantly re-invigorates me and gets me ready to take on the day. I’ll then get back and complete any laptop-based admin work and answer emails. Once these (less interesting!) tasks are finished, I’ll begin painting and try to focus on that for the rest of the day. I’ll usually listen to music or podcasts while I paint to keep that side of my mind occupied. Music can be really helpful to get me into the flow while painting if I’m feeling a bit sluggish! Not forgetting plenty of cups of tea!

Taking Flight, 2022
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm | 27.5 x 39.3 in

Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?

Abi: Firstly, a daylight lamp. These are really useful both when the light is changeable during the day (e.g. going from bright sunlight to overcast and cloudy) or when it’s getting dark in the evening but I still need to keep working with the same quality of light. Without the lamp, I find keeping consistency to my colour mixing in variable lighting a lot more difficult.

Secondly, a strong and secure H-frame easel that can hold a range of canvas sizes, especially larger canvases without the risk of toppling over.

Lastly, a selection of tiny brushes for intricate detail work: We’re talking down to size 4/0 so I can paint in the finest strands of hair and tiny bubbles if necessary!

Materials and detail of new work:
Sublimate, 2024
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 50 x 20 cm | 19.6 x 7.8 in

Josephine: What are the stages of your work on a painting? Do you make drafts?

Abi: The first stages of work begin way before I even sit down in front of my easel. I’ll usually work from several reference photos that I will have taken at an earlier date. During the summers, when the weather is sunny, I’ll normally organise multiple photoshoots in various swimming pools and sometimes (if I’m lucky enough to go abroad that year!) the ocean.

Back in the studio, I’ll create a basic line drawing on the canvas in pencil so I can map out where I would like the figure to be within the piece and then I will begin blocking out the canvas using the darkest tones that I will be using in the painting first. From there, I will layer detail on top – usually using lighter and lighter colours as the piece progresses. My favourite part of the entire process is at the end. This is when I get to add those minute details that the viewer has to get close up to see. These are so important for getting that realistic effect and I find they add so much life to a painting.

I don’t tend to make drafts. One of the beauties of working with acrylic paint is that it dries fast and you can quickly layer more colour on top of any parts of the painting that aren’t working so well. Nowadays, I’ve been doing what I do for such a long time, I can generally envision what I want to achieve before I begin putting paint on the canvas and I don’t often have to make huge corrections to the composition of a piece.

Sun Soaked, 2021
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 76.5 cm | 24 x 30.1 in

Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?

Abi: I did in the past and used to really enjoy the freedom a sketchbook would give me to play around with different subject matters and mediums without the pressure of having to make something technically ‘good’ that was going to be seen by other people. Sadly, nowadays I have a lot less time to work on creative projects outside of my everyday work and any time I have spent out of the studio is taken up by the rest of life’s many responsibilities! I do want to get back into it though, having a sketchbook is great for formulating and building on new ideas, keeping your work fresh and exciting.

Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?

Abi: Yes, it happens to me every so often as I think that it does with most human beings who spend their lives making things for a living. We can’t always be on our A game, feeling super inspired and pumping out work that makes us feel good 24/7. Brains generally don’t work like that!

I, myself, tend to go through dips and troughs of feeling more and less motivated. When I’m at a low point creativity-wise, I’ll try to immerse myself more in the work of other artists in an attempt to gain some inspiration from external sources.

Working alone the majority of the time can lead to you becoming quite creatively stagnant and stuck in your own thoughts/patterns of working. I find visiting exhibitions, going to the theatre or even checking out cool artists on social media can spark new ideas and get the creative juices flowing again.

Flare, 2013
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 50 cm | 39.3 x 19.6 in

Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?

Abi: The person who has been the biggest inspiration for my work, especially when I first started out, is probably the artist Alyssa Monks. She’s an American oil painter who creates works that feature women in the shower or bath. The way she manages to capture the feeling of water on skin, slick, wet hair, and misty steam on glass is truly incredible and, when I first began painting, it really made me want to refine and hone my skills when it came to being able to depict the many qualities of water using only paint and canvas.

Josephine: How did it feel to realise you had won the People’s Choice Award?

Abi: It was an incredible feeling and I didn’t quite believe it when I found out! I had a touch of the old imposter syndrome when I first read the news because the standard of work across the board was amazingly high and so many of the other artists, I felt, deserved just as much recognition. So, all in all, I’m extremely grateful and humbled that so many people decided to choose my piece!

Deep Dive, 2024
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 cm | 31.4 x 31.4 in

Josephine: Your work centres around figures in swimming pools, and the way light plays on and under the surface of the water. How long did it take you to master the treatment of water in paintings, and to understand and capture all the colours that make up the water?

Abi: To be honest, not too long as in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think painting water is any more difficult than painting any other subject (if we’re talking about straight-out realism). It all comes down to observation. The first time I ever used acrylic paint properly and on a large scale was to paint a canvas of a woman in the water. However, when I first began working, I used to try to replicate exactly the details of the water from the image I was using as I didn’t yet have the confidence or the knowledge of how to create realistic-looking water without sticking religiously to what I saw in my reference. Nowadays, I’m a lot freer in how I paint water. I’m now pretty familiar with the many patterns and shapes water tends to create so I can go much more off-piste and add details of my own that (hopefully!) take a painting to the next level!

Josephine: Did you work from a photograph? If so, do you have any advice on working from photographs while still maintaining a sense of movement and spontaneity.

Abi: Yes, I generally work from several photographs at once and pull in different aspects of each to create a singular, complete piece. I think the trick is not to be too slavish to the image. I always add in more colour than is strictly realistic as I love that bold punch of vivacity that takes work to a level beyond reality and into a more dream-like realm. I also love adding more light to my paintings to make them really sparkle. I want to try and capture that blazing heat that you get in the summer when the sun’s glare bounces off the water to make the observer truly feel like they are there alongside the swimmer, cooling off from the heat of the day.

Emerald Waters, 2017
Abi Whitlock
Acrylic on canvas, 92 x 61cm | 36.2 x 24 in

Josephine: What materials are you looking forward to purchasing with your prize voucher?

Abi: I’m really looking forward to stocking up on some more of my favourite paints. I usually use a mixture of Liquitex Professional Heavy Body Acrylic and Golden Acrylics in my work. Liquitex has a great line of cadmium-free yellows and reds that are indistinguishable from their counterparts and Golden Acrylics always give exceptional quality. Both brands have intense, richly pigmented colours and good opacity which saves a lot of time when it comes to layering up colour. I can also never have enough canvases! I feel like I always need a backstock in almost every dimension you can think of because when I’m inspired I just want to be able to grab the right-sized canvas and get going! I really like the Jackson’s own brand deep-edged ones as they’re great quality, feel really sturdy and the paint glides on nice and smoothly.

Josephine: What’s coming up next for you?

Abi: I’ve currently got a few commissions in the pipeline that will keep me busy for the next month or so and then I’m off to Spain for a couple of weeks which will be an excellent opportunity to pack in a number of photoshoots (in between sunning myself of course!) I’m especially looking forward to doing some ocean-based shoots as the quality of the light and the colours you see in the water are so different from that of swimming pools and I really want to explore natural bodies of water a lot more in my future work. Then, in the Autumn, I’m taking part in the AAF in both New York City and Singapore and finally Context in Miami Beach in December. So, all in all, the rest of the year ahead is looking exciting!

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