ASS5 - Project 2 Adding other materials

  

    For this next Project, I am experimenting with adding other materials into my paint. 

Textured ground

   The first exercise is too create a textured ground to paint onto. I went around my house the last couple of weeks to find bits of items that I could use to create  interesting ground for my paint ready for this exercise. I collected things such as pasta, string, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, plastic bags, wood bark, hay and cardboard. I tried to think of materials that would create good texture

    I got a large piece of cardboard and firstly began to apply heavy Gesso. It creates a thicker ground then normal Gesso, which is great for adding texture. Once applied I  looked at the things I had collected and tried to think of a theme that I could create.

    I decided on creating a theme with the waves of the sea, rolling up on a beech. I decided this because of a few items I had such as:

•  Bubble wrap, as it has a bubbly texture.
• Hay, which could be used as seaweed.
• Bits of wood could be debris washed up.
• Swirly pasta which look like mini waves them selves. 

I think this will be a good idea as a base for my them

      I am now applying my objects on to my Gesso textured cardboard. With the string and pieces of cloths and card, I am trying to create wavy lines across my board, to capture a texture of the water moving. I have applied cracker crumbs, to help show the sand on the beach, through the shallow water. I think this will work well. I have now also just added the hay which I think is perfect for seaweed. I am using PVC glue to help stick items down firmly.

   As the above photos show, I have now added other materials on to the surface. I have used rabbit food, which are curved pellets, to create a sense of waves. I have used some circular small round sweets to show bubbles in the water of the waves crashing up on the beach.

      I think I've got a good variety of materials on my textured ground I want to wait for this to dry and then I can begin my painting.

      I have now started my first layer of painting. As you can see there a blues, yellows and purples within the painting to capture the waves on the beach. I have also used dark paint in a curved area, where A big wave is and is the deepest part of the water. I now need to wait for this to dry and I will then add more materials to create further texture.

     I have left it to dry and now I am going to add more materials to my board. I twisted an long bandage and glued that on to my board, again in a wave motion. I think this will be the most raised part on my textured ground. I have tried to add different 3d heights to the ground, to make it interesting.

    I have now waited for it to dry bit and added more materials such as crumbs and began to paint again, on top of these new items. I really want to capture the waves on the shore.

After another application of paint to my text to ground I can say my painting is finished:

     I think I have captured the theme rather well. The bubble wrap makes good texture for the bubbles. I've ended up splattering white paint on to the overall painting, to create a splashy effect. I like how the hay is mixed in to the ground and painted green, which creates a seaweed texture. The pasta swirls help to create that wave theme.

    After a few days of painting this I realised it was not drying as fast as I thought. I then realised once I did my based of my ground texture, I started painting on it right away, instead of applying a layer of Gesso all over it. Perhaps this would of helped it dry quicker. I have now left it on a shelf in my boiler room, as it it is warm in there. So hopefully it will help to dry it faster. I just need to remember next time, to add a layer of Gesso over the textured ground, before applying the paint. 

   Overall I enjoyed this new opening idea of creating grounds for my paintings. I feel like I can create an interesting scene and textures. I think I might prefer this then just painting an actual for painting. It makes it more interesting for myself and I actually enjoy putting it all together to see what I can create.

Mixing Materials into Paint

     This next exercise was about finding materials that you can mix into paint, to then apply in to a painting.This helps to create even more texture in my art and I feel will help me furthermore with my paintings. If you look in my sketchbook, I went round house and gathered different types of material to mix into my pain. I found items such as coal dust, grass, bark, crumbs, herbs and seeds. 

     To start off with, I got my canvas and covered it with Gesso. I then got a plate and drawed around it into the guesso, with a stick. I drawed around it a lot, until the surface was covered with Circles overlapping. This created different shapes in the circles in which I hoped to create an abstract painting showing different shapes that form circles with different textures in the paint. As you can see, I have already started with three colours red, green and yellow. Each colour represents a different material that I have added into my paint, eg dark Green was mixed in with parsley and so on. I have done samples in my sketch book next to each material, so I can use this as reference and go back to look at the textures to help with future paintings.

    Few more attempts at the painting and I have now finished here are some close-ups of my painting above.

     You can see the materials I picked, created lots of texture in my painting. I like the texture of coal dust. It really gives a good rough textured effect, which is great for man-made or natural items. I also liked the parsley areas as has created good texture for trees and bushes. 

     One of the textures I need to talk about as it failed, is the breadcrumbs in the mustard yellow areas in my painting. 

      I let the painting dry and I accidentally tapped the painting and all the crumbs fell off in flat solid peace it was all stick together because of the paint and glue, but it did not stick onto the canvas. So to change this, I am going to find another material to use to put in it's place and apply that on to the areas where it has come off. 

    I have now change the material and redone the areas where the crumbs were. I think this will be better and I don't this any other parts will fall off. 

    I really liked doing this painting experiment and it showed me that not only can you paint, but you can also add texture by adding materials into paint. It creates textures to help you with your painting and create 3d effects. I think that this has been a good eye opener and I do enjoy this type of painting more than just painting flat on to a surface.

Overall

    Overall these two exercises have shown me that there is now other ways to create art. I feel like my eyes have been opened and now I want to experiment with these new ways of painting by adding 3D textures to my canvas and paint. I feel that this may be more my type of painting voice, then just painting flatly. I want to experiment with these and see what I can come up with in my future work.