Working on a larger scale.

Acrylic experiments on a larger scale working with inspiration of Peter Brüning. 

After experimenting in my small sketchbook with the ways in which acrylic can be applied to the page to create an abstract style which was inspired by sections of Brüning's 'Onhe titel'. I applied the acrylic to the page with ripped pieces of cardboard, by doing this it allowed the paint to drag across the page in a rectangular manner. The rough texture of the cardboard removed some of the paint underneath and blended it with the colours being added to the surface, it also allowed for washes of colour to be added over the top of the work. As the cardboard became saturated with paint, colours began to merge and create new hues, this meant after a certain period of time using the same piece of cardboard you have to use a new section. This in effect means to create a larger scale image a lot of cardboard is used through the process, to create a similar effect a pallet knife could be used, as the edges of the knife mimic the nature of the cardboard. I completed a few of these smaller scale images, with the red image seen above turning out to be the most successful due to the high contrast between the darker brown shades and the vibrant red. 

The first stage of the stretch, size A1.
 

It was at this point I decided to complete an image on a larger scale. Firstly choosing to work A1 as this is the largest size available to me, this would also allow for a more expressive style of work. When making a stretch the paper must damped with a sponge and laid on the board. Working quickly damp gum tape must be added to each side of the paper applied with a lot of pressure to ensure a tight stretch. When the paper dries it should be tightly stretched onto the board making it easier to work onto paper that doesn't crease or move. I did find that when I was applying a layer of emulsion to the page as a base and to add texture the paper bubbled and when it dried there were slight creases, I put this down to a poor stretch as it was the first time id ever done this style of work. 

After letting the base of emulsion dry I started to work into the piece with acrylic and cardboard in the same style as in my smaller sketchbook. Working on a larger scale allowed the marks I made to be a lot more expressive as I had further to go on the page. Through working with different marks I learned different combinations of marks that I thought made  for a satisfying image. By dragging a thick amount of paint vertically across the image then taking the side of the cardboard across this made an almost tree like figure. Working with this as a main aspect of the piece I ended up developing a piece that had its main bulk at the centre of the page then these sharp spikes of colour extending the piece further from the middle. 

The final outcome of this image.

After completing the main two thirds of the image I decided that this image could relate to the theme of faded and traces with the transition of colours from mainly dark hues with a compact and dense composition. At the other end of the image a brighter and less dense area of paint. In this way the idea of a once strong memory fades into a less prominent memory which may get altered over time as you recount it, here shown with the changing of colours. When completing this image I feel I could have made this message stronger if I had added complementary colours which if I completed this style of image again I would add complementary colours to make a more vibrant image. I particularly like how this image mimics an explosion however I did feel that when the gum tape was removed from the board, the blank space left where the tape was made the piece look awkwardly placed on the page. To counter act this I took a scalpel and trimmed the edges of the page as close as I could to the areas of colour, this made the composition of the piece slightly better as the image seemed to fill the area of the paper. 

As the theme I was exploring before i looked at abstract expressionism was texture applying a base of emulsion to my stretch made for a vast amount of texture on the papers surface. By using cardboard rather than a brush to apply to paint it made areas of built up paint creating almost ripples in the paint. By taking a clay tool to areas of the paint when it had dried it allowed me to remove some of the paint creating a rough texture which contrasted with the smooth ripples created by thick acrylic. I was initially going to work back into this piece with glue and acetate like what i had been experimenting with previously in my sketchbook however I was happy with the way this piece looked without the addition of more texture. However I plan to complete another larger scale piece and work back into it with different mediums. 

Over the holidays I didn't have to ability to complete larger pieces on board and so i could only paint smaller paintings on A3 sketchbook paper. It was then I understood how much having the paper stretched to board helped. Painting onto paper that wasn't attached to anything made it difficult to get the same type of fluid motion without the paper ripping, using different paper also meant that my paper was saturated and became hard to work on. However I did explore the use of colour more in these pieces, using complementary colours such as purple and green, this made the image slightly more vibrant. The acrylic paints I used weren't as high quality as the ones I used at college which also took away from the colours used in the image. I do not think that this image was as successful as the previous image, however I do think the use of complementary colours aided the overall image even if outcome wasn't as successful. 

 

I plan to complete more larger scale images and plan to mix media to add to the overall texture of the images. I also want to make the images more personal to me as these two pieces weren't based on any particular emotion or memory and I feel that if I focused on a specific event it might aid the overall effect of the piece.