Tim Eden. Blade Runner 2049, 2017. Oil on canvas sheet, 6″ x 6″

I needed a way to keep my hand in the painting groove while I’m deep in the conceptual phase of a bigger idea. I thought I could try knocking out regular ‘small studies’ (6″ x 6″) but there was always that burning question…

What to paint?

The intention was to practice technique rather than the end result per say, and having to come up with a constant stream of worthy ideas seemed like it was going to be a little more difficult than I thought.

While this small study idea was bubbling around in my head, I went to the cinema to see the new Blade Runner film.

There were so many visually spectacular scenes, it gave me an idea – why not just paint images of things that I enjoy watching. It could be movies, bands… doesn’t matter. But it would be a subject I have some attachment to.

I vowed to start this exercise by painting an image from Blade Runner 2049 and see where things take me from there.