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.