During the processes of painting and repainting - the practice of applying paint and scraping it back off again - there are resultant blemishes, bumps, knocks and scratches that accumulate incrementally on the surface. Canning (2012) remarks that his paintings do not aim for “flawless” surfaces; rather “they’re marked, and they do tell the story of the history of their making”. The hereditary traits of Canning’s inheritance of his father’s trade can also be seen in works like “Lithium” (Fig 4-11, 2008), and also in “Conditions of entry” (Fig 4-12, 2010), where these pocks, deep gouges and scars marring the surface are filled and rendered flawless through the workly characteristics and processes of skimming, polishing and buffing (Canning 2015).
