Combining my textural work with my other techniques using acrylic paint and soft pastel

I decided to combine the techniques that I have been using in my experimental sketchbooks, for example, the soak-stain technique, soft pastels and textural work to form mixed media compositions. I experimented doing this on board and am going to explain the process that I went through to get to the end result.

First of all, I prepared the board with emulsion paint in Wednesday's session so that I could work onto it on Friday. I then stuck down three pieces of newspaper to the background so it added more tone to the background. I arranged these pieces of newspaper in a way that would direct the marks that I would make with the paint in the next step.

After this, I poured watered-down acrylic onto the board, I did this so that the blue spanned across most of the bottom half and only used a limited amount of orange to capture a quick contrast against the blue.

I went onto adding masking tape over the top, laying it in a vertical fashion. This then leads the eye downwards towards the piece of greaseproof paper that I scrunched up before sticking it flat to the surface.

After this I made a blue chalk mark to emphasise the blue that is in the background and rubbed charcoal over the top of the masking tape and greaseproof paper so that it picked up their textures. Furthermore, I felt that the edges of the board looked bare so I added two orange marks with watered-down acrylic paint to the top left and bottom right corners. This almost frames the centre of the composition with a vivid contrast to the blue used.

Finally, I made the charcoal darker over the masking tape and greaseproof paper and also added two marks that followed the direction of the orange paint that I added before. This meant that the charcoal branched out towards the outskirts of the composition more.

London - 5 October

On Thursday I went to the Tate Modern in London. I found that instead of sketching sculptures and parts of painting that interested me, I was more drawn to sketching people viewing the artwork there. I did this because I didn’t see anything in terms of art that particularly grabbed my attention.
In the sketch below I have drawn people viewing Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream speech'. the bench in front of the TV screen was packed full of people, with no spaces in between one another. Usually you find that people are quite aware of their personal space when being in the company of strangers, but the unity that I felt watching them watch the speech was quite intense. I wanted to capture this specific emotions that I felt when seeing people of all cultures come together to respect a big movement that has happened in our recent history - black Rights. This made me realise how in many ways we are all the same and how we experience things much the same. It made me think about how Kafkaesque states can differ culturally as well as individually. Someone who lives in England will experience a Kafkaesque state that relates to something completely different to someone who lives in the Eastern side of the world. Point is, we all experience the same emotions and are all susceptible to mental illnesses like depression.

I took a lot of pictures whilst on the way from Tate Modern to The Photographer's Gallery of the buildings and places that offered interesting colour themes. In Waterloo, we passed a place where there was an aray of restaurants that had bright marketing colours. There was a food truck (pictured below) that had a raspberry pink on it which I caught my attention, along with vibrant yellow benches where customers could eat. Whilst I walked past, a man with a hi-vis jacket walked up to the stand and so I waited for him to get into the frame of my picture as his jacket was part of the colour palette. Throughout this picture there is now a illuminous green/yellow colour that can be seen at the top, middle and bottom and so there is a balance in this photograph. As these colours aren’t typical eatery colours, like red - associated with food a lot for example restaurants like Frankie and Benny’s, Nando’s  and KFC - this makes the food truck catch the buyers eye. This juicy, refreshing colour palette links to how an individual uses escapism to revitalise their life to try and overcome things like depression. These colours seem to offer an avenue of rejuvenation and happiness which definitely fits in with my theme that is running through my personal investigation.

I also took a photograph of some graffiti on a wall which linked to current affairs, for example, Donald Trump's presidency. The graffiti on this wall reminded me of Mark Tobey's work due to the angular marks that are made and also how a bright red is used. To study Mark Tobey in more depth I think I should look at graffiti and creating textures that appear weathered, like on a wall. I could do this by tearing materials and layering them onto a surface. These sharp marks reflect a depressed individual’s frustration in a situation that they are dealing with. The importance of mark making is evident as it provides an angry mood to the wall.

Using soft pastel to make marks

I have began experimenting with using soft pastels as one of my compositions that I previously completed on board looked like I had used them. So, I have chosen to explore this medium in the style of Helen Frankenthaler. I have used the soft pastels on their side so that a thicker marks is made, it also adds a rougher texture than if I was to use it on its end. Using it on its side also allows me to cover a larger area quicker and still use big,fast movements that I had previously been doing with watered-down acrylic paint. The colours are more vivid in these studies than when I have used paint as I have not diluted the colours in any way, this means the composition is more striking. When layering the pastels, I found that if I put a lighter colour over the top of my composition, it made it look softer. In the picture below the colours look quite fragmented, and I think this portrays how an individual can have conflicting thoughts on an issue. I have made orange the centre colour, this provides a bright mood which is sandwiched between two cold colours. This represents how a depressed individual uses escapism to try and push away the cold, dark thoughts that they dwell on all day. I have used orange as the centre colour to emphasise that this vibrant place is the individual’s objective. Keeping the marks interlocked means that I have portrayed how an individual can sit inside their own bubble going through their thoughts and trying to figure out a way to overcome this. The orange mark slightly overlaps the purple one and so I am trying to show how using escapism to overcome depression can be an avenue that someone takes as it takes over the negative thoughts. I have therefore tried to provide a sense of hope with the orange focal point representing happiness prevailing in the centre. Also I have placed the cold colours mainly near the bottom so show a slow progression upwards from a depressed state to overcoming the mental illness through escapism. I have therefore added a lot of blue and purple at the bottom to portray the suppression of negative thoughts.

Next, I thought about adding colour in the background. I have put short marks of colour onto the background and rubbed them with a tissue so that the pastel spreads to create a more even wash of colour that provides a subtle, muted background. Doing this with the orange pastel, means that a softer orange is then shown which gives a warm feel, as it looks like burning sand. This vibe reminds me of being on holiday in the summer. In the foreground, I added orange, blue and purple marks which is the same colour palette that I had been using in my paint experiments. The one solid stroke of purple that goes vertically down the centre is a focal point that accentuates the other directions of the marks made. I haven’t added any colour in the centre of the blue marks to show how an individual can feel trappe amongst their depressive thoughts, even though they are surrounded by warmth and support. I have tried to highlight the importance of the individual realising they can overcome their illness by using what is around them to help them, for example family and friends.

Furthermore, I did experiments using my other colour palette, one that is colder than my other one as green replaces the orange, giving an instant isolated feel to the composition.  I started by laying down a light green background, onto which I layered curving marks, beginning with the blue. The blue mark is most striking on the page and draws the most attention and so I then emphasised this by adding a thick purple mark in the tightest bend near the bottom and defined the split between the purple and blue with a singular green line. Here, I haven't allowed the colours to blend together to demonstrate the sharp contrast between the cold emotions. If I had allowed the colours to blend then this would've given a turquoise colour which would've reminded me of my holiday in Barcelona. To prevent this composition from reminding me of my holiday, I have to separate the colour turquoise down into blue and green so that I could create a disjointed feel rather than a content one. I think that this technique has been effective as I have been able to take my own positive experience and reflect it in a way that is more negative so that it fits with my theme of depression. There is a sense of space in this composition due to the marks only filling part of the page, this then forms a void in which represents an empty space that an individual feels encompassed by. At the top of the blue mark I have also used a tissue to drag the pastel away from the main focus of the composition, this created several thinner and softer marks which give a delicate feel to the piece. Doing this has allowed me to show a contrast between a soft texture and the dense marks that are in the centre, I think this allows the viewer to see the confusion in the composition which reflects the confused state of a depressed individual.

Adding textures to my experiments influenced by Mark Tobey

Following using charcoal,biro and watercolour in my experiments, I found that my studies weren't being extended in a way that I wanted them to. To combat this, I tried using orange watercolour paint, as well as the blue to contrast each other and to make the compositions more interesting. I sealed the charcoal with hairspray so that when I applied the watercolour, they didn't mix, this therefore made the orange and blue appear brighter and more vivid. Additionally, I didn't add the biro marks that I had previously been making as I felt that there would be too much dark tone in the composition if I did this. I have varied the amount of tone in this composition by layering the charcoal less/more in different areas. I have used the charcoal on its side as this means that I can cover a larger surface area, meaning the marks become textured. Plus, I have used the charcoal on its end to add line to the experiment, I have made the lines short and angular to represent a depressed individuals decision making, sometimes rash and 'off-the-cuff'. The marks at the top of the composition look like letters and so this represents how someone has dark thoughts. Furthermore, using the charcoal in two different ways allows for there to be more tonal representation and also provides different textures, for example, soft and texture versus hard and solid. This therefore portrays the contrast between an individual's confused mind and how they revel with ideas. Furthermore, I have made the marks I have made slightly curved so that when they are built up, a cylindrical shape is formed. I have done this to represent how an individual can become lost in a whirlwind of their negative thoughts and to show how it is difficult to get out of this state and ask for help. Additionally, I have tried to capture the individual's feeling of isolation which creates loneliness.

Next, I tore samples of wallpaper off the spare rolls that we have in our house. I used them by placing the wallpaper underneath the page I was working onto and rubbing charcoal over the top so that the charcoal only picked up the texture of it. Here, I have only done this in parts of the composition as I think it looks more interesting as the background has more variation in regards to texture. This also means that I can alter the texture to represent a rocky journey through depression. Whilst doing these experiments, I found that when I was applying the watercolour paint through my stencil, that the way the marks were directing on the page was becoming to look random. So, instead I looked at the direction of the marks that I had made with the charcoal and made the watercolour paint follow this, therefore making the composition have more unity. I then thought about varying the amount of tonal representation in my work, and so I have altered the density of the charcoal that I built up throughout my experiments. By altering the density I can portray how depression is caused by multiple of factors which are often unknown and so I have put used black charcoal to represent this.

After this, I have added collage to the page to build up the amount of textures in my work. I have torn sections of newspaper and stuck them in the background and worked over the top of it with charcoal and still using the wallpaper rubbing technique. Adding collage to the page means that here is more tonal representation. In these compositions I have thought about the colour on the newspaper, and selected sections that are part of my colour palette of blue and orange. In the experiment below I have selected an orange area, this one horizontal mark adds minimalistic colour to the composition. I then went onto using coloured soft pastels over the top of the collage, as well as the charcoal. Using soft pastel allows me to add colour along with still having the same properties as charcoal, for example, it being a soft medium. In the experiment below, I have selected a section of newspaper that has blue in it and used a blue pastel to add colour to the composition and so a harmony is created between the two. I have also layered the charcoal and pastel so that the blue pastel doesn't appear too dominating as it is quite bright. By layering the charcoal, there is a unity created between this medium and the black text in the newspaper. I have used contrasting colours to show the juxtaposition between a negative and positive mood. I want to show the reality of a depressed individual through using a cold blue and contrast this with what people expect someone to be, warm and happy by using orange.

Experimenting with the soak-stain technique

I have been experimenting with the soak-stain technique that is widely seen in Helen Frankenthaler's work. I began with doing smaller experiments in an A6 book to familiarise myself with this technique and then I started to work in larger sketchbooks. I have poured watered-down acrylic onto the page in all of the following studies. I have completed these experiments on three different scales to gage what scale works best in terms of pouring the paint onto the page and to see what effects different scales gave. I found that working onto A6 meant that the composition is easily focussed on due to its small size. I have also worked onto A4 which allows for there to be some movement in the compositions, but this was definitely easier on A3 as I didn't have to be too careful with how much paint I was pouring onto the page. Working on A3 has allowed me to apply a lot of paint to the page and given me enough space to experiment with movement. furthermore, I have used these three different scales to reflect a progression in an individual's abilities to escape their depression and commit this negative energy into something more positive. I have been able to show how a person starts of by performing small acts of escapism and reflect the growing their growing confidence when overcoming the mental illness by increasing the scale that I have worked on.

In this experiment I have used blue and yellow, which I then mixed together to make green. Therefore these colours are harmonious to each other as they appear next to each other on the colour wheel. I have blotted areas with a paper towel where there was too much water on the page which has created outlined shapes. This outline gives the idea of someone being confused, for example, if block colours represent stability, the outline portrays how someone's emotion is quick to change. Alternatively, this outline could relate to the theme of the individual feeling isolated by their emotions and not feeling like they can seek help. As I used too much paint in this composition, I have dried my work with a heat gun, which when I used it on faster speed, made the paint run in different directions, creating small amounts of movement in the experiment.

As I had previously created movement, I thought of ways to portray this further, which meant I needed a way to manipulate the paint on the page. I decided to use string as Frankenthaler uses more obscure objects to do so in her artwork. Using string to move the paint allowed for finer marks to be made as the string only touched parts of the page. I lay down areas of orange and purple in the background which contrasts and is harmonious to the blue in the foreground. I let the majority of this dry before adding the blue over the top where I created a cylindrical shape. By creating a cylindrical shape with layers of different colours, I have represented how a series of events can lead to an uncontrollable whirlwind of emotion that an individual may struggle to cope with when in a Kafkaesque state. Towards the bottom of the composition I have made the same circular marks with all of the colours and these have bled into one another slightly. I think the soft purple in the background gives the composition a more childlike feel as it reminds me of dolly mixtures and candyfloss. This childlike feel reflects how depression can stem from childhood which I have found out through research, where I found that one in four young people will experience depression before the age of nineteen.

This is one of my experiments that was completed in an A3 sketchbook. Instead of making marks that form a uniform direction like in the experiment above, I have made marks in various directions that are still curved as I think curved lines give a calmer feel to the piece. I have poured a large quantity of paint onto the top of the page and used string to drag in down the page. As I got nearer to the bottom, I pressed on more lightly with the string and made quick curved motions to create the wavy marks at the bottom. As the marks made are delicate and swooping, I think the bottom of this composition almost looks likes fine hair. To make these fine marks I had to wait for the majority of the paint in the top section to dry so that when I manipulated the paint with the string, there was only a small amount of paint on the string. I then added blue over the top of the purple on the left so that I could add some more defined marks and then I further accentuated the shape of the subject by adding orange to the right side which pops against the purple.