Part One: Project 1 - Stage 2: Exercise 3 cont... words

Wednesday 1st September - making marks continued.... and now to use words!

I wrote a list of the words that I was going to use and the best technique to portray them last night.

A fresh day and I think a fresh eye for completing this section.

Having laid out all the materials I need - there is barely space to experiment - good job there is floor space too!

Fast: Smooth cartridge paper, red felt pen.

Fast

The pen was moved quickly over the paper, speeding the movements up as the pen moved down the page.

Slow: Waercolour paper, soft pastel.

Slow

The repeat application of soft pastel, followed by blending with fingers, produced a slow, gentle graduation of colours, from yellow to red.

Happy: Smooth cartridge paper, pink soft pastel.

Happy

The pastel was applied to wet paper, this allowed the pastel to move freely across the page in happy squiggles.

Sad: Smooth cartridge paper, fine stick of charcoal.

Sad

The charcoal was applied heavily at the top of the square and smudged down.

Sensuous: Watercolour paper, thick stick of charcoal.

Sensuous

Soft, curving lines were drawn on the paper, these were smoothed with a finger afterwards.

Hard: Smooth cartridge paper, black felt tip pen.

Hard

The page was covered in layers of black pen. This produced a flat black area.

Soft: Smooth cartridge paper, paynes grey watercolour paint.

Soft

After wetting the paper. Dilute paynes grey watercolour was dabbed onto the surface. This produced a soft, mottled background.

Delicate: Smooth cartridge paper, watercolour paint.

Delicate

The paint was applied with a natural sponge. The colours mixed with each other on the paper producing a soft, delicate effect.

Sharp: Smooth cartridge paper, black calligraphy ink.

Sharp

A sharpened stick was dipped into the ink and it was flicked across the surface of the paper. This produced sharp, spiky lines.

Smooth: Smoth cartridge paper, pencil crayons.

Smooth

A smooth finish was produced by using even strokes of the pencil, cross-hatching and blending with fingers.

Bumpy: Cartridge paper, undiluted watercolour paint.

Bumpy

A blunt stick was used to apply the paint to the paper. This produced a bumpy, blobby page.
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Some of the techniques that had produced beautiful results the night before lost their 'immediacy' when trying to re-create them - my sponging became blotchy rather than delicate. I had to re-try some of the techniques out on different papers - sometimes a lower quality paper worked better, at least it did when I was using wet paper and pastels.

But.... with time, trial and error I completed the task - and yes some of my ideas had changed along the way. The 'sharp' exercise I had intended to use a medium stick of charcoal on cartridge paper, this changed on the day to smooth cartridge paper, black calligraphy ink applied with a stick. A fresh eye meant a fresh idea.

Conversely some ideas I stayed with. The 'fast' exercise I intended and used felt tips and smooth paper, it was the best use of materials for the word.

I feel good that I have completed this exercise and not left part of it to finish later - would I have ever come back to it?

I think I spent a long time on this section, so it feels like it has been hard work.

Conclusion - hard work over, can now look forward to completing the next part!

The finished pages of this exercise:

Sensuous, soft, smooth, happy and sad

Bumpy, sharp, slow, hard, fast and delicate.