The final four

After doing a lot of thinking, researching and taking photos, I found my final four. 

I had done experiments on all of these photos so was really happy with how they turned out. Truthfully, I wasn't too sure on whether I'd be able to achieve my "layers revealing layers" but I think I have effectively captured exactly what I wanted to represent. These photos were all taken with the macro lense, therefore are all small parts of a whole detailed page. I feel that using the macro lense helped me see how much textured was actually in my work and what textured I wanted to capture. Some of it didn't show what I wanted it too and this is what I struggled with. However I feel that I have overcome this and achieved the best photos that could have taken. I really adore the texture captured within these photos, so to conclude I feel  I have properly come to the end of my layers project with this final outcome. 

Fixing deserted pages

After feeling as if I was coming to the end of my journey for this topic, I looked back through my sketchbook and was shocked to find about four to five pages that were completely deserted. Some had previous projects on that I had obviously given up on and other were just blank, I 'm still not sure why they were blank but I fixed them. 

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this page before it's improvements, which has left me extremely annoyed with myself because I feel that it is a big improvement. The page did have a newspaper stuck down and torn away to try to reveal some pictures. However it just looked ridiculous, nothing went to together well, half the photos were ripped up and it was just not acceptable. Therefore I decided to use what I have learnt now from my experiments to refine and fix it. I mixed together white paint and glue, painted a thin layers on top of the newspaper and left it to dry. I wanted to use newspaper because I knew it would look really effective when I began to peel the paint back. I didn't feel that the white looked good enough therefore I decided to add some red paint. This added colour to the pasty white and gave it a pleasing overall look. As mentioned before, I did want to just peel it back, because I know that it would have worked well with newspaper. However when I tried it, only the top layer of newspaper was torn off. Therefore I decided to use a palette knife to push back the paint. Overall I am happy with how this turned out, I feel that it links to my theme of layers revealing layers. The texture created on this piece was amazing, so I will consider taking pictures of it using my macro lense.

Thankfully I remembered to photograph this piece before hand. I despise this piece, it looks awful. It was originally orange and yellow inks in which I created expressive marks with. I didn't really like how the piece turned out anyway, it drew attention away from a piece I did like on the page next to it, therefore I decided to paint over it. I originally used white emulsion paint, however when painting it onto the piece, the water from the paint brush made the ink run again. The ink was obviously dry but wet paint brush made it begin to run. Therefore painting it over in white made it worse. I must have got very annoyed and left it to dry then just moved onto my other pieces because this was the state that I found it in. So what could I even do with this? I decided to try paint over it again, since it already had a thick layers of emulsion over it, I decided that it would just try to paint over it again. I mean, it couldn't really get any worse.  The second layer of paint worked fine. It managed to cover up the smudge ink and leave me a reasonable surface to work on. I decided to stick newspaper down onto it. I feel that using the newspaper helps create a nice surface to work upon. Therefore I covered it in newspaper, and then added white paint layered upon the newspaper. This overall looked ok, but thats the thing, it only looked ok. So I decided to add some red paint to it, I feel that this worked well, it emphasized the texture within the newspaper and white paint. I then decided to pull back some parts of the newspaper, to reveal hidden layers underneath. However this did not turn out too well as it ripped up the two protecting layers of paint I had created. This allowed patches of the coloured ink to show through, which I feel looked tacky. I think that this ruined the overall look of the piece, because it is covered with strange blotches of different coloured ink. To conclude, I don't think I refined this, I made it more textured but also added more colour to it whilst doing it, which wasn't what I originally wanted. 

Developing photography

My final piece idea was to originally recreate my favourite textures from my experiments, then adding them together to create a composition. However, after looking at many of my experiments throughout my book and blog, I could clearly see that using the material hessian wouldn't properly work. It wouldn't hold the paint properly and allow me to create texture within it and upon it. Therefore I had to start thinking about how I could integrate my best textures that represent layers revealing layers into my final outcome. After looking back throughout my blog, I noticed in my recent pieces, I used a macro lense to take pictures of the textures that I fell in love with. Now, theres many textures throughout my sketchbook that I've created that I do adore. Therefore I decided to start creating some experiments on looking at different textures throughout my book, using a macro lense to take them. I chose my three favorite experiments and with the macro lense and took close up pictures of the textures I cherished. I did this a multiple amount of times with three different pages. 

I am happy with the results of these pictures, however am annoyed with how dark they look. The last picture taken is a lot lighter than the others, I'm not sure why because I had used a solid bright light for all pictures. The pictures overall really represent what I want them too, "layers revealing layers" stands out amazingly here. Each picture shows an immense amount of detail, you can see the paint literally unpeeling to revealing the bright red and white paint lying beneath it. 

I am pleased with how these photos turned out, the coppery colour that layers the cling film makes the texture a lot more affective. The first photo looks awful, it really didn't turn out well, I haven't focused the camera properly therefore it has not focused on the detail. However on a positive side, I got the focus for the next five photos. Although the colour is discoloured, I really like how these photos have turned out. I feel that the colour highlights the burnt parts of the cling film, therefore you can really see the "layers revealing layers".  

I adore the texture throughout these photos, as you can see, I had so many different parts of texture and detail to actually take pictures off therefore theres more photos than I had previously taken of the cling film work. I'm not happy with the two photos showing the white  paper blankley underneath. Although it does show "layers revealing layers", I feel that it's too obvious. I would rather my work subtly show my theme instead of it shouting it out at you. I feel that those pictures would just make my work irrelevant, if you don't have to look in detail at my work, then you can't see all the different types of textures created on a page. Therefore my theme of 'layers revealing layers" would just be pointless. Overall I am happy with how this set of photos turned out, I feel that it shows exactly what I wanted them too. So, I will be definitely be considering using a selection or one of these photos for my final outcome.

Mixing with glue (Part 5)

 This was the final part of my experiment. I really wasn't happy with the results of this. I felt that after the red paint, I didn't need to try out anymore colours, I'd found my faultless colour to go effortlessly with glue. So I decided to use a different type of material, this time I decided to use charcoal. I painted the page with glue, and dried it, it was hard not to burn the paper, the paint seemed to protect the paper, create a barrier like form over the paper. However without paint it burnt a lot easier, this created horrible yellow burnt marks over the page. So using the charcoal I started to highlight the different marks created by the glue. Using charcoal on dry glue created a really nice surface to draw on. However I do not like how this piece turned out at all, I feel that the charcoal isn't dark enough, even if I tried to put pressure on the charcoal, it didn't make the page any darker, it just broke the charcoal. In addition to the pointless grey created on the page, the overall all piece just looked extremely contrived. It looks like I've controlled every bit of this piece, there is no freedom within and thats the main reason why I don't like it. 


                                                                                             

Mixing with glue (Part 4)

I used red acrylic paint to create this part of my experiment. If you've read my posts before, I'm sure you'll know I really enjoy using red paint. It makes a statement and I cherish that, you can look at a piece and feel a million different emotions by just seeing the colour red. I really liked the texture that I had created previously using water, therefore I wanted to try it out with the red paint. I used the same process of adding water to separate the block colour of red, I then dried it and looked at the texture that had been revealed. Whilst doing the previous experiments I noticed that the heated glue created the same texture that the sheets of plastic do when burnt. Alberto Burri's "Rosso Plastica" was created using plastic sheets and red acrylic paint burnt together in which he tries to create the look of flesh that has been torn, ripped  apart by bullet wounds. After finishing this piece I began to look at it in more detail, I feel that this piece relates well to Burri's "Rosso Plastica" piece. I have been trying to re-create the astonishing texture that Burri creates throughout this piece for a long time in my experiments, and now I feel that I have finally achieved it. I have created layers of glue and paint, however I feel that they look similar to plastic sheets being melting upon each other. Overall I am happy with this experiment, the texture that has been created is striking, I feel that the color really brings out and highlights each individual piece of texture. The experiment also relates really well to Burri's work, I have tried to create similar texture created in "Rosso Plastica" but with cling film and paint. I feel that this really works well overall. I feel that just looking at texture through my own eyes doesn't get across the point I wanted to make enough. I can see the tiny bits of texture that have been created but someone looking through my sketchbook may overlook it. Therefore I decided to use a macro lense take a close up picture of the piece of texture that I literally fell in love with. I feel this picture represents everything I wanted to create on this page. This has led me to thinking about using photography in or for my final piece. 

Mixing with glue (Part 3)

I returned to black paint. I adore the way it reveals new layers when it breaks a part so I couldn't resist but to go back to it. However I did not just use black paint, I mixed parts of it with water to create a really light black tone, I did this to separate the jet black colours. This piece took longer than the others, I had to add the paint and glue layer by layer, some with water, some without. The water really affected the way the paint dried and how it created texture. I parts with water are clear to see, they are obviously lighter and look like they have been created using water colours. I did try it out with water colours but it wouldn't allow the glue to react so I returned to using black acrylic paint. I like the dark to light contrast expressed within this piece. I am happy layers were revealed within this piece, you look at the jet black slowly turning lighter, then it reveals the white page underneath. I feel that it makes you stop to study it more, you get caught up within all the textures that have been created throughout it. The glue really changes the way the page is presented, it would just be a black tonel page, however the glue allows it to be filled with all different types of interesting structures creating a brand new consistency every time it is created. To conclude, I am happy with how this piece turned out, all of my experiments have completely changed the way the texture has been unveiled. 

Mixing with glue (Part 2)

Continuing with my experiment I wanted to try it out with a mix of tones. Therefore I chose black and white acrylic paint to mix with glue. I didn't want to try a solid grey colour, I wanted to see how the texture would be affected with the change from the dark to light tones. After drying the piece, I could clearly see how the dark tones revealed the cracks created in this piece. The darkness of the paint had cracked to reveal the white page underneath, it shone through. I really liked this particular aspect of the dark tones. The lighter tones unveiled the shattered pieces of paint, the paint that had started to chip off because of the heat off the heat gun. There is such a vary of toneand texture on this page, some of it is delicate and other is brutal. The tones change the way the texture is looked at. The dark pieces brutally show the contrast from dark to light. Whereas the light toned parts subtly show paint breaking away, falling apart to reveal a new layer. I  feel that this is revealed all over the page, the tone constantly changes throughout it and so does the texture. Overall I am really happy with this piece, the way the texture has been affected by the change of tone astonishes me. I would definitely like to involve this piece within my final outcome somehow. 

Mixing with glue

In my previous experiments, I had been looking at glue mixed with paint and how it creates different textures on different materials. I really adore the texture that has been created by using glue with paint, therefore I wanted to try it out on a bigger scale. I also wanted to look at how different colours change the way the texture is revealed. So, I started with a acrylic black paint, I like to use this tone to create large scale pieces because I feel that it makes you stop to look at the piece in more detail. In addition to that, the light reflects off the black paint, which highlights the different textures created by heating it up. I would definitely use this colour to mix with glue again, although it is one colour it creates subtle tone throughout the page which I relish. I feel that using a whole page instead of small sections has really helped, loads of differents indentations and marks were created on one single page. Therefore I would rather use a page then just a strip across the page, I think that just using small strips of different colours would allow the page to just be overlooked and isn't what I desire to happen when people look through my sketchbook. Overall, I am pleased with how this turned out, all the individual, independent textures that have been created amaze me. I am looking forward creating more results of using different colours mixed with glue. 

Exposing photos

Leading on from my previous post, I felt that one page of photography wasn't enough. Therefore I did some more. This picture was off a wall, in which broken cement covered all over it. I decided that the picture should be in black and white because I knew I would be using a brown paper to cover it. Instead of revealing the whole picture, this time I wanted to reveal different parts of the picture. Making the people looking through my sketchbook stop and really focus on this, trying to figure out what they are looking at. I used a thin light brown paper, it easily ripped which was really helpful because it meant that I could create lots of different holes throughout the piece. I started by glueing the picture down, then adding the brown paper on top, I then added dabs of water, and with my sander I started to rub away contrasting parts of the brown paper. Although the picture was revealed I wasn't pleased with the paper. I used a thin, brown type of paper, so when I added the picture underneath it, the bright white photo paper showed up. However I had only noticed this once I had stuck the paper down. It took the attention away from the unveiling picture. In addition to the paper being basically see through, the paper created a bizarre texture when sticking it down with glue. I normally adore texture, but I did not adore this. It created a childish looking ripples around the edges of the paper. Overall, I feel on the fence about how this piece turned out, I was happy with the way the picture was revealed but felt disheartened by odd texture created. If I was to re-create this later on in my sketchbook with different photos, I would definitely use better paper.  

Unveiling layers

For one of my smart targets I was told to try to add more photography within my work. From doing my experiments of revealing photos within my work, it helped me on how I should present it. I felt that I wasn't suck on how to reveal them  in the theme of layers. I wanted to unveil these photos using paper that has been worn away. Layers revealing layers. I feel that this fits into what I was trying to achieve perfectly. I started by using a mix of white and a minute amount of black. Together they created a grey colour, it is extremely similar to the colour Cold Grey. I painted it across the page but didn't want to fully cover it because I felt it would emphasise the colour a lot more. To create the falling away layers, I got a sanding block, wet the page and began to rub away the paint and paper. This worked really well, the page fell away revealing the blank white underlay. I then chose my two photos that I wanted to place underneath it. I had recently been taking photos of layers revealing layers. I discovered beautiful place within my college where my theme of layers came to life. It was plain wall but looking up I was amazed to see layers literally peeling away from each other. The whitey, yellow coloured paint of the wall had began to peel, revealing a dark brown wall, with strips of orange, yellow and red running throughout it. I found it hard to take close up picture of the layers, they layer high up on a wall therefore I had to stand on stairs to even focus the cameras. A part from my struggle, I was really happy with how the photos turned out. I chose my two favourite photos, that I felt represented layers revealing layers in the best way. After choosing them I stuck the two photos underneath that worn away holes that I had created in my page.

Overall I am pleased with how this piece has turned out, I have involved more photography within my work. I also feel that the pictures I have taken really linked with my artist. Burri used lots of resources from industrial sites to create his striking pieces. I feel that the setting of my pictures don't look like a wall in a college hallway but a old house where the walls are wearing away slowly to reveal the hidden, unseen layers. Therefore it relates to the way Burri presents his work, it looks tired but has a subtle beauty about it. You can't help but look at the deteriorating layers falling away. However you are also struck by the new layers that are revealed within the process of the old ones peeling off. 

Using hessian

Hessian is the prominent material used by both Alberto Burri and Sandra Blow. In a previous post on my blog I show how I tried to replicate this material, by dieing a white cloth to recreate the material and how it would fall across a page. Now I actually had hessian, I didn't need the coffee dye. I wanted to recreate my two favorite experiments so far on the material of hessian to help my towards what I could do for my final outcome. I was considering using the material hessian to create a composition but first I need to look at how it would react with paint, glue and a heat gun. I first started by recreating my "layers falling away". On paper, I usually just add the dark colour first, then add the layers of white paint. However this material is very dense but has the texture of it being weaved together, by this I mean that theres lots of small holes throughout the material that allows the to paint easily seep through. So, I decided to add a thick layer of emulsion paint as the base of the layers, I knew that this would create a thick barrier like protection for the black paint that I would be adding to the top. To dry the paint I used the heat gun, I say this because I've never used a heat gun with this type of material before, it's hard to dry this material without setting it on fire, which could  present as a problem when trying to make the glue and white paint bubble. Anyways, I added the black upon the white and dried it. Then added two layer of emulsion paint, I'd normally add about four but I didn't think that it was necessary because the paint seemed to keep it's density on the material. Once all layers were completely dry, I began to move the different materials around to encourage some of the white pieces of paint to fall off. In terms of getting the paint to chip off, this material was a lot easier to work with. Paper will leave the creases you create whilst trying to chip the material off but hessian just bounces back. It leaves no creases at all. However, it just doesn't create the same texture effect that using paper does. This disappointed me greatly. I really believed that hessian would give me more texture because of the prominent textured structure it already gave out, but it did not. The paint still chipped off well but you couldn't see the small cracks that the paper allowed it to show up. Therefore it just didn't work as well. Now, I thought things would get better when using the glue with the material. It didn't. I first mixed together glue and white paint, I then added it to the material, they worked really well together. The thickness of the glue prevented too much off it to fall through the material. Once I began to dry the mix, I couldn't put the heat gun to close to the material because of a serious fire hazard. This gave me the same dilemma that I was presented with when I tried to use black tissue paper. Therefore I had to let it dry naturally. You can clearly see some burn marks on the material from when I tried to heat the glue up enough for it to react. I did consider the glue might still look affective when dry, it could have created a new texture that I have never worked with before so I gave it a chance. I ended up with a thick, pointless line of glue across a piece of hessian. 

Overall I am happy that I have conducted this experiment. I feel that is has helped me towards my final outcome and what I can and can't work with.

Experimenting with glue

I had recently discovered that mixing together white paint and glue creates an intriguing texture. When heating it up to dry it with the heat gun, the glue begins to bubble, eventually popping and leaving tiny burnt holes around the edges of it. I first tried this out on cardboard and really liked the texture so I decided to do a experiment on it. I used three different types of material with all very contrasting types of textures. I used cardboard, black tissue paper and board. I the reason why I wanted to use different materials was because I was really happy with the texture that was created on the cardboard so I wanted to try it out on lots of different materials. Although I would have chosen more, I didn't want to make my sketchbook look repetitive with one experiment taking up too many pages, to me that would be boring.  So, I started by mixing together the white paint and glue and painting small strips along the different materials. Using the heat gun, I dried them each, placing the heat gun very close to the materials so the glue would start to bubble. The cardboard allowed the texture of the paint and glue to show up easily on the cardboard. It showed up the exact texture I wanted to produce from this piece, a broken layers revealing a new one underneath. The second material used was black tissue paper, it gave a extremely structured base for the tissue paper, I could manipulate the material to create different lines and textures. Once I added the mix of paint and glue, it fell within the different lines I had created throughout it. Although when the material was wet, it look really textured, as I began to dry it some of the material began to burn if I put the heat gun to close to it. However if I didn't put the heat gun very close to the material the glue wouldn't burn enough to create bubbles therefore it wouldn't create the texture that I desired. This created a dilemma do I burn the material, maybe setting fire to it, which could burn my whole sketchbook or do I just let it dry without a heat gun? Well, I chose to let it dry without the heat gun, I didn't really want to risk seeing my sketchbook go up in flames. Once dried, the material looked like it had shine on it, something I did not particularly long for. Overall I don't think that this material works well with the glue and paint mix, you can't use enough heat to dry it properly so you end up with a shiny line of glue along some black tissue paper. The final material I decided to use was hardboard. A thick material with a smooth side and a textured, knitted like back. I decided to use the back of the hardboard because of the obvious interesting texture it acquired. When first painting the mix on it seemed to mix well with the structure of the hardboard. However when drying it, nothing happened. I mean nothing. It simply dried the glue, slightly burnt it a bit on some parts too. I think that the texture of the hardboard it very dense therefore it would have soaked up some of the glue and paint. I was disappointed with the way this turned out, I was hoping for some intricate layers to reveal themselves when dry but no, it left me with some dry glue on a sheet of hardboard. The best material by far to use was the cardboard, as mentioned before it allowed the textured of the glue and paint to show up really well on the cardboard. 

I am happy with this experiment, I achieved what I set out to do and I feel that this has helped me with my final outcome ideas. 

Unearthing layers

 

After the revival of Burri within my blog and sketchbook, I had a set idea of what I wanted to do and how Burri could support it. For this piece of work I wanted to create layers peeling away to created new layers, I had previously tried this out with the rust idea but I wasn't happy with results of it. Therefore I decided that I would look at paint peeling away, to do this I wanted a darker underlay of colour, then topped it with layers of white paint. I would then peel back parts of it to reveal the unseen colour that lay underneath the white paint. So, I started by painting half of my page black, I dried it, using a hairdryer because I didn't have a heat gun at my house, after that I topped the black paint with white paint, dried it then repeated the process by adding more white paint. I did this about three times, making sure that I put the hairdryer very close to the paint so it would create cracks within the layers of the white paint. After all three layers were done, I began to bend the page in different ways, this made more cracks within the paint. Although it seemed to be going well, when I tried to pull the white paint up, the black paint had stuck to it underneath therefore it pulled up the paper. In addition to that you couldn't see the black paint underneath the white paint because it had turned grey. I obviously hadn't had dried the black paint properly because it had mixed with the white creating the grey colour in which I really didn't desire. So I decided to change the colour of the underneath colour. In addition to that I had to make sure that I properly dried the paint this time. The main inspiration for this was to create layers that have fallen away. To research this I looked through my photos that I had previously been taking, and found some of things that had began to peel away such as paint from a wall or paint being chipped off wood. I decided to use these three photos to refer too when looking at the paint peeling away. I didn't want to exactly copy them but more too use them as support if I got stuck on how it should look and the texture it should give off by just looking at it. After studying through these photos I felt ready to re-attempt my idea. Since black mixed with the white to create a grey colour, I wanted too choose a colour that would clearly stand out once the white had fallen away. Well, as I have mentioned before, Burri was alive and kicking again through out my work and blog so this was the first piece the I could use his work as a inspiration too. After gazing at my favourite piece again, "Rosso Plastica" I knew I wanted to incorporate the blood red with my work, therefore I chose it as my underneath colour. So, I began with the square red block, dried it properly and painted over it with white, this time I let the first white layer dry over night rather than drying it with a hair dryer. After double checking it was completely dry, I added the next three layers of white paint, then began drying them. Finally I began too bend the page in different directions creating cracks in different places throughout the square. Overall I think that it turned out well, although I would have liked more of the red paint to fall off, I would have it give it time and allow it to fall in moderation. I'm happy with the way the paint has clearly cracked revealing the red underneath they almost look like red veins steaming through the page, giving it darker contrast to the overall look of the page. 

Therefore I would defiantly consider using this type of effect towards my final piece, maybe to try to incorporate it within it. 

Print making and marking

For this particular page I learnt how to make prints. To start with, I was given a foam like sheet, it easily broke and felt very brittle. I was then given the option to draw into it with a pen or pencil or use the objects around me to create  the prints. Instantly I knew that using object sounded way more interesting than drawing something out onto the foam, in addition to that it was my first time using this type of material so I wanted to "go steady", try it out first then do more intricate drawings when I was use to working on the material. Therefore I looked around the work surface for objects. I found, a pine cone, an old rusted metal square and a shell. I started off by pushing the metal square straight down into the middle of the foam, this created a sheet of little in prints onto my foam square. I then placed the pine cone in the palm of my hand and rolled it around the square, I really liked the effects of the pine cone on my piece. It made subtle marks around it, all having different shapes and sizes. Although the two patterns didn't exactly match, I still really wanted to try the effects of the shell. So I did. I used the outside of the shell and pushed it down onto the foam, and it left different imprints of lines along the page. To conclude I like the effect created by the shell, it created faint indirect lines along the foam. Finally I needed to started printing the ink, to do this I covered the printed side of the foam with black ink. I then turned it over to face the paper, then using a roller I pushed down onto the back of it. After doing this for about three minutes, I peeled the foam board and paper a part, this left a print of the black ink on the paper. The white parts left from the print were where the patterns that I had made from using different objects. The first  print was successful, this was the first time that I had worked with this type of material so I was pleased with how it turned out, I feel that the different patterns made blended really well with each other on the page. For the second print, I decided not to add any extra ink, I wanted to look at the effects created off not using as much ink. The print was lighter basically, it wasn't something unusual, I could have predicted that this would happen, the less ink, the lighter the print. To conclude I like this method of creating layers, I think that using prints as background to my work would not only add interest and layers but also add texture to my page. 

Billboards

After my rust incident for the second time, I wanted to do something simple but effective. Therefore I choose to look at my idea of layers being revealing through things like bill boards. Now as a bill boards gets changed time and time again, there always a part in the corner, a part where it's lifted revealing all the other adverts underneath it. Now, this is what I wanted to created, I wanted to created something that shows lots of layers built upon each but also an unseen layer subtly being shown. So, to do this I started by ripping strips of newspaper, adverts and mostly my own photos. I then layered them upon each other with glue. After I had done that, it looked like I was trying to paper mache my sketchbook, therefore I needed to create some texture on it, I need to make it look like it had been worn down because so many things had been layered upon it, the basis of it was being to deteriorate. To do this I grabbed corners of the paper and ripped them up quickly. I like the effect that was created by doing this, certain words were left visible whilst the others had disappeared. In addition to that sections of my photos were clearly shown which I liked because it was a new way of presenting my photography within my work. However the piece looked a bit to faded, it needed some raw colour added to it so I chose black and white. Although these colours are the ultimate opposites when using them separately to add colour to a page, I knew I could use them effectively. To the pieces of the work that were too dark such as adverts that used a lot of black or blue, I would add the white. So, to the pieces of paper I thought were to faded or light, I would add the black. Overall I think this piece went well, basically it showed exactly what I wanted it too and I can't really say anymore than that. 

Returning to rust

This piece was a continuation piece from  looking at rust. I wanted to use really intense orange and red colours, last time I had to cover my work with white because of the horrible purple that I created on it. Now this piece didn't take me long because as I had mentioned before I am carrying out experiments therefore they need to be quick, to get more done, so I can have an idea on what my final piece could be. I don't think this piece looks like rust at all, the colours don't correspond with the colours of rust at all, so that was dissapointing. However, I think this piece shows how gravel works with the different colours, I now know that the colour brown doesn't show up texture of the gravel but the colour red and white shows up the gravel in a really nice way. It highlights each piece of  gravel ,really showing up the texture of it. Although this piece doesn't look like what I wanted it too, its not completely useless and disappoiting. In addition to it showing the best colours to use with gravel, it also clearly shows layers, each brush stroke of gravely paint layers upon each other, therefore creating an overall effect of layering. 

Alberto Burri

Although I have studied Alberto Burri's work before, I wanted to revisit him as I am getting closer to my final piece. I feel that his works gives me inspiration, whereas the other artist had not helped me as much. I don't mean to be rude by saying that they haven't helped me as much, they helped me greatly at the stage I was at during a certain piece of my coursework. However I feel that as I am coming closer to the deadline for my coursework, I needed to find an artist that corresponded with the photographs that I had recently been taking. After searching for a artist that would work well with my ideas, I came across Alberto Burri again. The last time I looked at his work, I mainly looked at the obvious layers he was creating, but now I was looking layers that were breaking, peeling away to reveal the new layers unseen layers underneath. I feel that Alberto Burri's work shows layers throughout it constantly, he uses paint and interesting materials to build up his work layer by layer. For example within his work, "Plasticia" Burri uses layers of plastic to stack upon each other, he then burns the top layer of the plastic which creates an effect of it deteriorating, and revealing a the new layer underneath. As well as looking at revealing new layers I wanted to return to looking at using different materials to create different textures, Burri inspired me to use cling film within my sketchbook to create layers in a different way and, now I feel that Burri can help me to
re-incorporate the use of different materials into my sketchbook. Since I am re-studying Burri within my work, I feel that I should look into his life in more depth than I did before. Really look at the reasons why he used the materials and colours he did and how his life experience affected the work he produced. Burri,  first began his career not as an artist but as a medical doctor, he earned a medical degree, which specialized in military medicine. He worked in Africa before being taken a prisoner to an army camp in Hereford, Texas. This were Burri first began to paint. As well as painting, Burri began to make his art out of the strange materials that surrounded him. I believe this is first where Burri starts to show he strange use of materials. Burri found discarded burlap potatoes stacks within a kitchen. You can clearly see throughout Burri's work that he never stopped using this material, when I look at this material featured in his work, I feel that it is used to create layers. Burri uses the material to create depth within his work. In addition to that this material is obviously significant to Burri. Why would he carry on using it once he was released from the prison army camp? Once released Burri continued to make compositions out of this material. This was the first type of material that gave Burri an interest into art, he could have left is behind when he was released and carried on with his medical career but Burri held on to it, featuring it in many pieces of his art work. Similar to Burri's work, Sandra Blow uses the material hessian. After studying Blow's work, I found that her and Burri saw each other, in simpler terms dated, I could see the influence that he had upon her in many pieces of her work down to the colours and materials that she used. Once the war had finished, Burri was given the chance to work with other materials. There was no longer a need for the industrial materials therefore materials such a plastic sheets, metal and common building supplies were open to his use. You can see that he took this opportunity, using it in many piece of his work. I really adore the way Burri use common known materials within his work, he doesn't just shove the material onto the canvas, he subtly places them so they create a real affect on you when you look at them. I didn't know until I looked at Burri in more depth that he used industrial materials to create his pieces. Burri gives them a whole new meaning, you don't think of them as something that he found to involve in his work but you think of them as something he made to added to make a certain depth to his work. After looking at the materials Burri used to created his work, I thought I should look at the colour he use within his work. The most colourful piece of Burri's work would have to be "Rosso Plastica". I find that this is Burri's most unexpected piece of work, in my opinion. He uses a solid block of colour, not blended with any colours. The colours he uses is similar to the colour Scarlet Lake Extra. This colour is an intense red, normally when using it in a piece I would blend it together with another colour to make it look less intense. However I'm not Burri. Burri uses this colour in all it's glory, upon the stacked pieces of plastic that he has melted. Without using any of the research that I had done on this piece, I knew this piece would relate to Burris time within the army. You can't not look at this piece and see bullet hole wounds. The bright, intense use of colours in this piece are astonishing. You stop to study it. After trying to re-searching Burri's "Rosso Plastica", I found that Burri produced most of his work as a metaphor. His background of being a medical surgeon gave him the skills to sew up his work, which is said to have represented the sewing up of bleeding flesh or the tearing of it. Therefore "Rosso Plastica", will have been a metaphor for Burri's experiences throughout the war. To conclude, I feel that studying Burri's lifestyle and work has helped me with progressing onwards, eventually heading towards my final piece. 

Looking at rust

The intentions of this piece were too recreate some rust within my book. Now this is a lot harder than I had previous thought it would be to create. I wanted to look at the close up picture of rust that  had taken, I liked the way in which there was a flare of all different colours within it. It ranged from a bright orange colour going back into a deep red. To start with I needed to think how I could create the texture of rust, it has a gritty texture to it, sort of like gravelly. So I decided to mix the colours Golden Barok Red and Transp Oxide-Red lake, this that this would create the darker colours you can see throughout the picture of the rust, however it just created a purpley mix. I carried on by mixing together a small amount of gravel that I had found. Now, since I think that rust has the bumpiness of gravel I thought that it would create the exact same texture with a more defined look. I was happy with how the gravel changed the paint, it made it thicker. Next I spread the paint in three different marks across the page, I didn't want to do the whole page as the picture of the rust, since I was just experimenting so I wanted to do quick marks across the page, and that I did. I wasn't happy with the colour of the paint. It definitely looked nothing like the rust I was painting or just rust in general, it looked silly. Therefore instead of starting again, I got a sponge, wet it and dragged it across the page. I like the effect this create on my page, it had create natural marks of expression, never to be made again. However I still had the horrible purple on my page, even when I look at it now, I dislike it a lot. So, what could I do? Well I had the option of just starting again, a fresh start on my painting, but I didn't want to do that. I had created these marks on my page that I really didn't want to ruin, therefore I decided to add white paint. I knew this would cover and blend the horrible un-rusty colour. I only wanted to add white to particular parts of my page, not to cover all of it. I still wanted to add gravel to the white paint, even though you can't see white paint on a white page, the gravel would show up giving the exact texture that I desired. After adding the white paint, I was reasonably pleased. 

The white ended up turning grey with the dust that the gravel added to it, the purple was covered up but my expressive marks weren't. So, to conclude I am happy with how this piece turned out, although it doesn't look exactly like the picture of the rust that I took it's still helped me to represent the texture and look of rust in my own way. 

Revealing layers (part two)

Although this piece doesn't look like much I feel that it shows a lot. Again, I was wanting to represent new layers being created, the previous piece I did using this idea didn't go well. In simpler terms I didn't like, it did not represent at all the idea that I had created in my head. Therefore, before trying to recreate it I wanted to start fresh, clear my head of my previous art work. I wanted to keep this piece simple. Therefore I have tried to keep all of the colours the same. I used a white paper bag and teared it up, using glue I stuck it down onto my page, I then pinched the layers of white paper bag together creating small ripples and different textures within the piece. I like how this looked, however the paper bag was slightly discoloured, it had a yellow colour. Therefore I decided to paint some parts of it in white paint. I chose the colour yellow white, because then the layers would still hold some of the yellowish tone that made it look aged, withering. I am really pleased with the way this piece turned out, it has this subtle beauty about it. It shows a old layer that has faded away and has started to reveal the new layer. The paper bag is old, and shriveled up, it's starting the peel away. This has revealed a new layer, a bright white layer unlike the discoloured layer of the paper bag. I feel that this portrays the idea that I wanted convey to people. Therefore I don't think there is a need to recreate the previous piece, this piece has shown everything I wanted it too. 

Revealing layers

As I have posted before I wanted to start looking at things wearing away creating and revealing new layers. Therefore I wanted to do a piece that would involve some parts being worn away from each other. I started by ripping pieces of newspaper and glueing the back of them, then sticking them straight down onto the page of my sketchbook. Whilst the glue was drying I covered the page with white paint, this emphasised the small ripples created by sticking layers of the newspaper down. I then began to peel the layers of newspaper back, this revealed a new print left onto the original page of my sketchbook. I was happy with how this looked, however I felt that it lacked something, it lacked a darker colour, by adding a darker colour it would make the new layers revealed look lighter therefore more noticeable. I chose to use graphite to add a darker colour to this piece. I thought that by lightly rubbing the charcoal over the ripples created in the page, it would highlight them as well as make the new layers created clearly stand out. To conclude truthfully, I dislike this piece. I feel that it doesn't show the layers enough that I wanted it to reveal. To improve this piece I could have used a dark background, then the newspapers would ripped back would have revealed untouched blackness, therefore creating a new layer. This would have worked much better than using a white background and I will definitely be recreating or trying out this piece again. 

Tranfering my own photos

For this piece I wanted to start to looking at transferring my own photos. In previous transfer techniques I used artist’s images instead of my own. I tended to do this because I’d never tired transfer techniques before so wanted to try with practice pictures. After I felt confident with doing a transfer technique, and experimented with it how I could present it in my sketchbook, I wanted to try with my own images. I choose a picture that I took of layers of moss and small leaves. I edited the picture for the transfers to black and white, I felt that there was so much contrast between the colours throughout the piece that black and white would fit it perfectly. Once I had my picture I was ready to transfer it. However, my transfer didn't turn out as expected. As soon as I it dipped into the water, the colour immediately changed from the black and white piece, to a electric blue colour with pieces of yellow running through it. Although it was unexpected, I was happy with the results of it. Then I had to figure out how to present the transfer in my sketchbook, I decided to split the transfer in half so it was visible to see both the cello taped side and the paper side. I really adored the way that the paper side of the transfer turned out, it created a sort wash, a wave like motion throughout the piece. I also like the cello tape side, it shows off a discoloured yellow, that highlights some of the small leaves and moss. For the background of this piece I decided to use ink, I wanted to use a colour similar to the blue so it would help the yellow cello tape stand out and the highlight the different waves of blue throughout it. Overall I feel that this piece went well, although it may have not turned out as the transfer that I had hoped for. I found out that the ink ran on this transfers instead of the others because I had used a different type of printer to print of this image, therefore it ran when the water hit the ink. As I have mentioned before I am happy with this piece, although I feel that this piece stands out in sketchbook, I think it relates well to my artist, John Well's. 

Photo experiments

I wanted to experiment with different ways of presenting photography within my sketchbook. I feel that just sticking the picture into my sketchbook won't make people focus on it enough, they wouldn't see it as an important part of my sketchbook. Therefore I used some old polaroid pictures and looked at different ways of presenting them. I decided that I would burn all of them, not because I am an arsonist, but because I really like the effect it creates on polaroid pictures, it almost gives them another layer, lifting the photo of the cardboard backing of it. After doing this I decided to look at different ways of adding to my photographs, to enhance the effectiveness of them, I also felt that it would add another layer which links within my project perfectly. One of the ways I decided to enhance my photographs was too completely peel the back the photo off, this revealed a pink burnt film in which was very thin with small burn marks throughout it. I really like how this turned out, you could still see my drawing behind the film but it gave a interesting pink film which kinda changed the way you looked at the piece, I would like to make this larger scale, maybe making it fill the page, and add a transfer underneath it. I could do this by using a large photo, printing photo paper which would enlarge the image making it easy to burn and to stick over the page. Then I would be able to add a drawing, or transfer one of my own images underneath it. This would again add to project of layers, creating a layered transfers in which a filter is placed on top of it. The second photo was already a faded out photo, so I just decided to burn it, I really like the way that this photo had turned out, by burning it the photo was given texture and another layer. I feel that changing the surface of this photo brings more interest to it, you look closer at it, to see what it is. However I didn't like the cardboard that stuck out at the bottom of the picture, I felt that it made it look really cheap.  For the third photo, it was just plain black, this photo burned straight through. This was really effective. It contrasted with the jet black, leaving brown burn marks and holes through out the photo. Overall I feel that this particular photo could have been improved by burning some large holes throughout it, the white strip at the bottom of the photo would have looked better by burning a small hole through it. The fourth photo was just plain white, this means I must have opened the back of my camera, when the sunlight hits undeveloped film its simply stops it from taking in colours and developing. I knew that I wanted to add wax to a photo and create marks on another one. However I felt that this would not work with the white background of this photo. Therefore I decided to cover it with small plastic bags. From looking at Alberto Burri's pieces, who I will be soon going back too, I have found that plastic creates a very intriguing look, especially when heated up or burnt. So, I decided too wrapped the photo in small plastic bags, the kind you can place sandwiches in to keep them fresh. I created four layers around the photo, heating one at a time to see the effect created on it. I feel that four was just enough, the photo was fully covered and a soft yet tough texture was created. Although I liked how this photo turned out I would have liked it if the photo looked a bit more burnt,  the actual photo hasn't been affected before therefore I feel that it's a bit pointless. The fifth photo was black, undeveloped like most of them, therefore I took the wax idea would work perfectly on it. I started off by burning some parts of the photo, then I started to melt a candle and let the wax drip onto the page created white marks. I was pleased with how this turned out, the was gave the photo a really interesting look, it blended well with the burnt parts so overall I was happy. Sadly when I came to attach the string through the photo most of the wax had fallen off, the surface of the photo was too smooth therefore the wax easily slipped off it. The only parts it stuck too were the burnt parts but I didn't want to burn the whole of my photo, so I accepted my defeat. The final photo was again plain black, I was excited to start this photo because I had a set idea on what I wanted to created with it. Instead of burning the underneath of this photo, I decided to just burn the top of it, letting the flame burn the black part. What it created was engrossing. The photo has lifted slightly from the backing but has developed a melted effect, whilst burning it, it started to bubble, I immediately stopped just incase it blew up or something. However I just imagined the bubbles would go down and leave the same burnt marks that had appeared on all of my other photos, but it didn't. It stayed. This gave a completely new texture to my photo which I really liked. I knew for this photo I wanted add some colour to it using graphite or a pencil. However neither of these would leave a strong enough mark on the photo for it to actually be noticeable. So I decided to use a wax crayon, although wax failed me on my last photo I thought that a wax crayon may work, and it did. I used the colours brown and yellow, although they aren't the nicest colours they stood out on the picture really well and blended together effectively. Overall I like this photo, I was happy the wax actually worked this time and like the effect it created on piece. To conclude, I feel that this piece was successful, the photo individually has helped me think of new ways to present photography throughout my sketchbook. As an experiment it worked well, as I mentioned before it's given me new photo ideas, in addition to that its helped me move forward towards my final piece, looking at whether I'd want to use photography in it or not. However to think about this experiment critically, I don't like the way I have set this out. I feel the drawing in the background should have been left alone, you hardly notice it when looking at the piece, therefore I could say that it's pointless being there. In addition to that this took a long time to do, although I feel it was worth it, it has taken time out of my other experiments that I have been conducting. So, if I did this experiment again, I would try to do it quick, ie, set myself a time limit for it to be completed. I would also leave the background, maybe lightly wash it with ink to create a subtle background for the photos ot rest on.