Mural Studio at the RCA 1954

John Bratby, that ‘kitchen sink’ painter, must have made ‘Mural Studio at the RCA’ with oils and a brush that was loaded! Look at all that white, black, and grey, like dirty snow or something! It's a painting of a painting studio, so it’s like looking into a mirror, right? I feel like he captured the very essence of being a painter, or being around painters, when you’re young and figuring things out. I can almost smell the paint and turps. Bratby must have been thinking about how artists learn from each other, like the way one painter watches another, picking up little tricks and moves. The way he piles on the paint, kinda clumsy but also confident, makes me wanna grab my own brush and just go for it. I like to think that when we look at paintings, we're just continuing that conversation, you know? We see what someone else did, and it makes us wanna do something, too.