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.