Arts 342: Painting II

So this weekend I went home and blowtorched some canvases. That was fun. Here are the finished results:

The destroyed canvases are a big part of my piece’s intent. They are my way of subverting the traditional framing system. But of course, there’s more! In each canvas there will be a free-standing figure, painted, cut out, and then glued to the back of the frame so that the wall each canvas is hung on becomes the back of the picture. I’m working with ideas of beauty still, specifically beauty, attractiveness, and power throughout the ages and how our perceptions have changed. There will be a mix of historical figures as well as modern ones which, in their time (then or now), would be considered attractive for reasons of beauty or wealth. When paired with the imagery inside the frames, the presence of the destroyed frames makes questions of permanence inevitable.

There will be six figures total, three modern, three historically-based. Here is one of the modern ones, not yet cut from the illustration board or placed within the canvas. I used a picture of New York’s top female model as a reference – and I may balance it with another nude a la Rubens or some other classical artist to emphasize the difference in beauty standards between then and now.

Out of all the paintings thus far, and I think all of all of the paintings of the semester, I like this third painting the best. I suppose it’s evident to anyone in the class that my painting process is a looooong process and an painstakinging one at that. I don’t try to make it this way. As I see it, a painting is like a record of all the decisions a person can make wrought out in a physical, visual form. One wrong move can “make or break” the piece. And as I am more incline to watercolor-like processes, this is made all the more crucial. Oddly enough I feel this painting went along rather quickly, though it really should not have felt so: After outlining the layout on newsprint paper (so to keep the white gessoed canvas white) I tried using the lightbox and then natural sunlight from a window to trace the image–both didn’t work. I ended up having to punch holes in the newsprint rough and  rubbing dry umber pigment through the holes, then tracing results like a giant connect-the-dots puzzle (so THAT’S why we did them when we were all little!)

I really did use watercolor on this piece and it’s surprising how well it works on a gessoed surface too–it’s just as good as paper and the best part is that it doesn’t warp! With the watercolor (the cadmium yellow part, i.e. most of the face) was modeled by layer on the watercolor pigment then “relief-ing” it later with a wet paper towel–lovely texture. When finished, it was sealed with multiple layers of acrylic coating spray, which is a standby for me now (it seals dry drawings like conte crayon too). But after I masked off areas I wanted to keep came the real deal and attraction, the splatter.

Really, spatter is like another way to apply the paint to the surface with out ever touching it (except accidentally). And not needing to get the brush stroke right was wonderful: the aim was buildup, very much like glazing, yet creating a unique type of mark that I had little control over–I could “erase” a dot or whatever if the wet mark I was erasing was on top of a dry substructure. It became a sort of guessing game of physics, thinking about how I could predict the viscosity of the paint would effect the droplet shape which would then effect how the paint arrived on the canvas. CSI was considered even.

I do want to continue working with this technique and shall, I think, look at Pollock’s work for pointers. It certainly works with my current concern in painting, which is something along the lines of “unreal vs. real”, focusing on rendering the human (or, in this case, humanoid) figure and abstract vs. realistic element, as I have in this painting with the human parts among the luminous spatter.

A detail of the hands, which are (thus far) also the sealed watercolor. This is also an example of where, despite my massive masking tape efforts, the acrylic paint from the splatter nevertheless got in. Also see: the original graphite line.

Detail of the left arm, face and hair. The hair is another effect of layer and removing paint, this time with sgraffito with the wood end of my brush and a gentle wet brush. The white line is my attempt to mask an original graphite line.

A detail of the texture of the splatter, hand, antler and edge of head. This "background"--if I l may be so bold--became an exercise of color theory. Most of the greens are moderations of Hooker's Green + light cadmium yellow with how much white I wanted to add. There are only two blue shades and there of different derivatives: a tint of cobalt blue and acrylic gloss-diluted ultramarine, both used sparingly.

If you look closely along the nose you can see where I edited out a graphite line following the same process as on the arm with the white line.

Clean-up: All of your work, materials, supplies, personal items, etc. must be removed and your flat files, and lockers cleared out completely no later than 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27. Failure to do so will negatively impact your final grade.

These images show the final layering technique I will incorporate into my painting. This last layer of oil paints has aided my painting in it’s overall message of clarity and translucency. I believe they tie my painting together through the color relation in the layers. These layers show their clarity through their solidness and their juxtaposition on the various layers.

This piece is meant to comment on the unpleasant history and meanings of common nursery rhymes. I decided to make the piece an interactive piece so that it would encourage the viewer to come face to face with the detailed images. The sliders are painted with matte medium and acrylic paint overtop of torn book pages. This is meant to symbolize the fact that most nursery rhymes are printed in children’s books, we know them as mother goose nursery rhyme books. The white panels are made with a mixture of silicon, crackle medium, and acrylic paint. This textured plane is meant to give the image an elegant grunge affect; to show the grim side of these toile inspired images. The toile inspired images are monotoned except for the selective addition of red in the piece, to highlight the blood (gore) in each work. Through the origins of these nursery rhymes we discover the true meanings of these grim tales.

With this painting, I wanted to continue my experimentation with acrylic paint on raw canvas. I chose to work with a wider color palette and push my use of color farther than I had in my “Over the Edge” painting. Inspired by formations of coral reefs and other aspects of nature, I have chosen a non-objective approach again. Working on a larger scale, I have been able to loosen up and work with many various techniques and color combinations across the canvas. I’m enjoying the results so far but can’t wait to get more layers and another technique on my canvas to push it father (without killing it).

My idea is to play with the relationship of the real and unreal.  To create this contrast, I am rendering the two figures realistically (attempt to..)  and have this outrageous, fantastical ooze come out of the figures.

The original plan was to simply draw these two figures in graphite and charcoal, spray fixative, then paint the ooze with vibrant colors.  Alas, ideas changed.  Although I wanted to keep it simple, I do want to apply more paint on this piece.  After all, this is Painting II.  After I complete the under drawing, I will glaze on top of it, with more muted, dull colors.  Unfortunately, I’m afraid I will lose a lot of detail from the under drawing.  Then I plan to paint an opaque gradation of colors, suggesting landscape by painting with the wood grain.
This piece is playing on layers of transparency and opaqueness.  The ooze will still have the vibrant color, contrasting the dull and muteness of the layers behind it.
Looking at this photo now, I realize I need to do some tweaking.  (awkward arm).

Edit

Added color.  Now to go on with painting with the grain.. it almost feels like paint by number.  Thanks for the feedback!

I am continuing to investigate the characteristics, properties, and qualities of acrylic paint on raw canvas (with the help of water, denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and bleach). These are studies in both color and creating a chaotic atmosphere compose of numerous layers and techniques of paint application. Any feedback from anyone will be much appreciated! Thanks!