My textile adventure: Part One: Project 1

Wednesday 1st September cont - making marks........... other ways to make marks,

Having worked my way through the 'words', I have all the things I need in front of me for this exercise on creating marks using even more techniques.

This exercise seems a little easier than the last one, all the instructions are there to follow - just a little imagination and some time to play with all the materials is all that will be required.

Although with this much help from my cat.....it may be more difficult!

My cat drinking the painting water

I worked my way through the list of 10 activities, making notes on what was produced and how it was produced - again a good visual diary.

Work in progress

Rubbings: Put a textured surface under the paper and rub over it with a coloured crayon.

Rubbings 1: wax crayon rubbed over the coarse side of a grater.

Rubbings 1

Rubbings 2: Wax crayon rubbed over the fine side of a grater

Rubbings 2

Rubbings 3: Wax crayon rubbed over a sieve.

Rubbing 3

I like the rubbings. I used newsprint paper so that the texture would show up well.

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Wax resist: Make marks with wax crayons and wash over them with watercolour or ink.

Wax resist 1: Using black crayon over white paper. Yellow ink wash applied over the top.
The black crayon 'resisted' the ink.

Wax resist 1

Wax resist 2: Yellow ink applied to paper, candle wax scribbled on top, finally orange ink washed over the top. This may have been more dramatic if I had used a red ink to wash over the top. Although I like the effect this one made.

Wax resist 2

Wax resist 3: White paper, white crayon - green ink washed over the top. This one shows up the technique well.

Wax resist 3

There is lots of scope for using this technique - especially if using clear candle wax over different coloured layers of paint.
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Bleach: Use undiluted bleach on coloured tissue paper - try ink and felt tips as well.

Bleach 1: Bleach applied to blue tissue paper. This left traces of a yellow colour where the bleach was used.

Bleach 1

Bleach 2: Calligraphy ink on blue tissue paper - bleach sprayed over the top.
Grey and yellow areas were left where the bleach was sprayed.

Bleach 2

Bleach 3: Bleach applied to calligraphy ink. This left a sepia colour behind.

Bleach 3

Bleach 4: Bleach applied to black felt tip pen.
This was the best result - areas of white were left when alot of bleach was used. Areas of purple where less bleach was used.

Bleach 4

The bleach removed colour from ink, paint and paper. New colours appeared where the old one was removed. A nice technique.
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Block printing: Experiment with combs, bottle tops, etc. Brush paints or inks on their surfaces and print on the paper.

Block printing 1: Brown acrylic paint applied to the edge of a bottle top. The printing produced a nice repeat pattern of circles - as the paint dried out the print got fainter.

Block printing 1

Block printing 2: Brown acrylic paint applied to the side of a bottle top. Again, the print got fainter as the paint dried out. But the print resembled tree trunks - unexpected result.

Block printing 2

Block printing 3: Brown acrylic paint applied to the lid of the paint tube. This produced an interesting pattern.

Block printing 3

I liked the unexpected results from this technique - it seems to be a more spontaneous way to recreate a texture.
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Fixative transfer: Fixative was sprayed onto a newspaper image, it was then placed face down on a white paper, then rubbed on the back with a pencil. I had limited success with this technique - although it could make an interesting background.

Fixative transfer

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Stencils: Cut out simple shapes in card and experiment with different marks - stippling, spraying, sponging.

Stencil 1: Watercolour paint sponged over the stencil. The colours build-up and change where they overlap.

Stencil 1

Stencil 2: Red gouache paint splattered over the stencil. The colour became darker where the stencil overlapped.

Stencil 2

This was a good technique. Could be used to make repeat images and interesting patterns. -------------------------------------

Crayon scratch: Build up different colour layers with crayons. Scratch through the layers with a sharp tool to reveal underlying colours.

Crayon scratch 1: Multi colours of crayon layered on top of each other. This was then scratched into. This didn't really work.

Crayon scratch 1

Crayon scratch 2: Black crayon coloured over purple crayon and scratched into. Again, this had a limited success.

Crayon scratch 2

This might have worked better with better quality crayons. It did create interesting textures though.
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Combing: Paint on a layer of gouache quickly and try scratching marks or shapes into it while it is still wet.
A thick layer of blue paint was scratched into with the back of a paint brush. This created an interesting texture.

Combing

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Rubbing away: Using a soft pencil, scribble freely over the page. Lift out marks and shapes with a rubber.
I used a 9B pencil and after covering the area of paper - I used a stencil and an eraser.

Rubbing away

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Collage: Making marks by using scraps of torn or cut papers glued on to a surface.

Collage 1: Using torn strips of lining paper. A nice base to draw on.

Collage 1

Collage 2: Using torn strips of envelope. Nice surface, words appear at random.

Collage 2

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I enjoyed the creativity and freedom of this exercise, and also enjoyed the results in most cases.

My least favourite activities were the fixative transfer and scratching through the layers of crayon. I felt I didn't really achieve the full potential of these methods. Maybe the crayons weren't of high enough quality? Maybe I didn't rub the newsprint at the right time? I will try and use these methods within a future exercise and give them a second chance.

I enjoyed the others much more, and consequently enjoyed their results.
I liked the wax resist technique, next time I may use wax rubbings as the resist to discover new textures.
I had also forgotten how much I enjoy printing - for this exercise I only produced results from a bottle top with acrylic paint - already I could see textures for producing interesting tree bark using this method.

I'm now looking at the creative mess infront of me - I moved into the kitchen to complete this exercise. The table is full, the floor is full and the cats are being 'helpful'. Time to clear away for Stage 3.

'Help' - when you least need it!

Conclusion for today, it's alot easier to create all the mess in one session, less clearing up to do and you don't have to keep getting out ALL the equipment. I think it lead to a much more creative and enjoyable session.

The finished pages: