Experiment #2
So here’s dyes on untreated canvas. Trish and I stretched the canvas ourselves. I had to get a lesson from the super-helpful woman at Dick Blick on 13th and Chestnut, because I literally missed that day in school.
I can’t really explain what’s happening here. It was a very weird experience painting this way, I think I’ll do it again, but it’s certainly not a replacement for the Illustration boards I’ve been using. Last week’s experiment went well, so that’s promising. Next week is oils.
I really struggled with this, it behaved differently than anything I’ve ever worked with and I had no frame of reference. While it was completely disorienting, it was very exciting. The water stayed put when I painted it, except when it didn’t. For example, the dark purple in the middle? It started at the right edge of the figure. But I took a wet one-inch brush and dragged on the outside of the right of the figure and the water from that seeped into the dark purple. As time went on (not much time, maybe 20 minutes) the dark purple slowly migrated to the center, where you see it in the picture. That’s messed up. Without knowing any of this, Trish said that the painting looked like a ghost of my other paintings. Little did she know the dyes were haunted. Funnily enough the effect that’s in the picture (who knows what I’ll see tomorrow morning …) is one I’ve tried ot achieve for years and years. So even if I don’t use this medium again, it’s reignited my desire to create that effect.
I have some ideas on some small touches I can put on it to finish it off. I’m also tempted to try it again because I think there’s a real loose, free kind of style that I can use here. You’ll see later this year if I get to it.
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