Building up layers of pigment, to create dynamic work

Making marks and preparing the ground

  • Big brushes can be used to splatter and throw pigment
  • Palette knives/credit cards for scraping and layering 
  • Paint markers to draw faint, bold or broken lines
  • Rags, news paper for Tonkin or smearing 
  • Spray bottles to create drips and runs
  • Jars in which to mix paint and throw at the surface
No studio, no problem, work outside.  Just make sure you leave the space as you found it - clean!

My abandoned first attempt, put one side for another day.

Second attempt, I spread a mixture of permanent rose and neon pink over the surface. Once dry I dripped orange ink on the ground and used a straw to blow the ink across the surface.

Finally the image of the ribwort was drawn and painted. It took 3 layers of paint to coat the surface, but the surface still looked drab. I found drawing with acrylic pens made the image brighter.

The background lacked tonal interest, so a glaze of permanent rose and orange was added to rectify it.



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