I've been meaning to try one of these swirling landscapes in ink rather than watercolour...So today I did :) I'd taken a few photos on the path down from Snowdon to Rhyd Ddu (Where there is a fantastic tea rooms that does wonderful Dutch coffee...) and this was composed from several of those. I've wanted to try ink as i thought i might be able to get an engraving/print(ish) effect...and to some extent, there is an element of that...though this is still very much a painting...One day, I must get myself a printing press...and somewhere to put it... :)
5 comments:
This is very powerful.
"somewhere to put it" being the key phrase.
I can see some these works painted onto a prepared canvas surface, using something like a thick layer of Gesso, into which the lines are scratched before the paint is applied. (But no doubt you've had a go at that?)
Thanks Lorna, it’s a pretty rugged, windy, wet, textured place. Both beautiful and harsh…hopefully the painting has a bit of that :)
I’ve not tried scratching into Gesso Ian, but that’s a very interesting idea… I’d certainly like to have a go at some bigger landscapes (current ones are all 55cm x 35cm) and I’d like to experiment with versions in oil…
The masking fluid gives me a VERY clean line which I’d like to retain…I’m assuming using it on canvas would cause me some problems with the tooth giving a rough edge…I’m also not sure what issues I’d have with the “strength” of the oil over the masking fluid ie, would I be able to get it off cleanly once the oil had dried.
Using a Gesso panel would solve the issue with the tooth of the canvas…I don’t think scratching the lines in before painting would work, the paint would just flow into the groves…though potentially if the gesso were thick enough, I could scratch/carve into it after the painting were done…
Some further experimentation is clearly required :)…and ideally somewhere to do it…I was very aware that the ink had the potential to make a VERY nasty mess on the living room carpet as I was doing it ;)
You're right about the lack of compatibility between masking fluid and canvas. At least in my experience.
I tried it on the windows of the Peggers Pub painting on my site, but the acrylic bult up too high at the edges, and it was hard to disguise later.
Buy I was thinking of a much bigger scale, and encouraging some rough edges; scratching into wet gesso / wet oils....
I’d like to hold onto the clean, crisp effect that the masking fluid gives…I like the contrast with the ‘sloshing’ on of the paint…though scratching into wet Gesso and Oil sounds like lots of messy fun :)
I’ve been thinking that it might be worth trying some liquid latex on the Gesso in the place of the masking fluid…this would be much stronger and therefore ‘possibly’ removable from under a few layers of oil…so long as they weren’t too thick…
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