ÜBERPAINTING

In 2008 British Artist M J Forster slipped into a style of watercolour painting he self-named Überpainting. An Überpainting can only be painted in watercolour and in theory are similar to a silk screen print as they all comprise of successive layers paint each uniform in tone and colour.

An Überpainting is created within a restrictive framework and rules set by the artist. Some rules are imposed by the inherent restrictions of the medium itself; this is what created the consistency appearance of the paintings despite the variation in subject. The artist says “If I were to draw a comparison between painting and literature, Oil painting is the novel, watercolour is poetry, and Überpainting is like a Sonnet. So, it’s out of this restriction that coupled with a consistent appearance a greater creativity emerges”.

In an Überpainting every wash affects both the subsequent and the previous. It is impossible to paint a finished piece first time. The various possibilities involved in four washes need to be eliminated throughout the process. This is achieved by making slight alterations from painting to painting until the final piece is settled. There are no short cuts to this process, and it can take as many as 30 individual paintings to achieve some sort of finality.

Throughout the painting process the artist experiments with different lines and colour combinations. There is a point where the successful variations become multiple, and the painting can morph into several different unique works. In theory it would be possible to paint a virtually continual Überpainting gradually altering the work into another subject each painting unique and complete in itself.