Lonely Guns

One of the things I find particularly interesting about the Great War is although it was the first war fought using innovations in military technology such as the machine gun, plane and accurate artillery, much of the design of these particularly the huge artillery pieces seems almost archaic. Huge tractor-like wheels, strange camouflage patterns and large foot pads to stop the guns sinking into the ground help create a look quite different to that of artillery from the Victorian era. Huge behemoth-like guns on rail or stationary mounts create interesting silhouettes.
This series of images came from a wash/paint/ink resist technique I use in the classroom. I plan to use the same technique on WW1 Dreadnoughts and on bombed Middle Eastern bridges at some point in the future. I wanted to create a series of images where the artillery appeared to be part of the desolate landscape of the Western Front. WW1 was known as the artillery war in that both sides hurled incomprehensible amounts of ordnance at each other in order to soften each other up before an attack and the 'creeping barrage' was first used where the artillery would aim their shot a safe distance infront of their own advancing forces to clear the enemy out of the way. The resultant devastation gave rise to hauntingly empty landscapes. Paul Nash's 'We Are Creating a New World' is a good illustration of this. I found the angle the gun barrels sit at made me think of young animals or birds waiting to be fed by their parents. Again, tying this into the theme of religion being a justification for war, the barrels strain upwards to heaven, waiting for battle to start so they can be fed the souls of the young men who's lives they are about to take.
I've done two versions of these so far; the initial wash off technique versions and from these, a more painterly version using gesso and printing ink. The printing ink allows me to scratch into the surfaces of the artillery, printing rivets and drawn lines which are subtle in their presence.

These first two show the wash off technique. The next three are the more painterly versions. The printing ink was so thick that two of them are still tacky in places. I painted them about two months ago!

I like the claustrophobic feel to the rail-mounted gun in that it stretches to both sides of the image but I can see me redoing a few of the others on larger surfaces where they are smaller in the landscape. The yellow wash in the background suggests the use of gas on the battlefield.

The 'Lonely Gun' title is a temporary one until I find a better one but as it goes quite well with the connotations of a child waiting to be fed and the innocence and vulnerability of the young, it might stick.