Project 1 - Stage 2: Exercise 4

This exercise was really enjoyable.  I tried to do a selection of ideas from each section of the supplied list.

Rubbings:  Using a variety of household impliments - a cake slice, a plastic doilly, a grater, a stencil, a plastic lid, some sequin waste, some sticky lace tape.  I used a crayon to make the rubbings.

These are all images made from things I found outside - a grid, a clock, cement rendering and a rough plaster wall.

Wax Resist: Marks made with a pale wax crayon, then washed over with watery block paints.

Block Printing: This was a really fun - using all sorts of found objects to print with.  I used acrylic paint with a credit card, old wooden blocks, various lids, the end of a paintbrush and some old game pieces.  I then tried painting a block of colour and scratching into it with a comb and using the paint on the comb to make a pattern.

Stencils: These are all made using stencils.  I used a sponge and acrylic paint.  Some of the trials were not as successful as others.  I used a plastic doilly and a paper doilly, both of these were successful and made lovely clear patterns.  The sequin waste also made a nice pattern.  The circle of cardboard and the christmas tree ornament were not successful - OK for the shape but no detail on the ornament.  I think the acrylic paint was too thick.

Bleach: I painted bleach onto tissue paper, and a variety of other papers.  The bleach took the colour out of the tissue paper really well.  It didn't work quite so well on the other papers and some of the papers I tried it didn't work at all.  The sugar paper and the handmade paper both produced good results but the paper bag and the brown paper only produced faint marks.

Combing: I painted blocks of colour and scratched into the wet paint with a comb.  I also tried once they were dry using bleach over the top.

Transfer / Crayon Scratch / Rubbing Away / Collage: I didn't have any fixative so I made a transfer using nail varnish remover and an ink-jet print of a photograph.  I made two prints from this, the first one is good - dark colour lots of the detail transferred (I will try using a spoon to rub the image next time (I only used the end of a Pritt stick this time), the second print (from the same image) is pale and grainy but interesting.

The crayon scratch I didn't think I was going to enjoy, I found it quite hard work to get the black crayon to cover the other colours, but once I started scratching into it I liked the result.

I didn't think that the rubbing away would be as successful as it was.  I like the results, very subtle and I think I might try this in a drawing.