Ever since gathering my artist research and Ideas, I have started making progress in my sketchbook by experimenting with various media, colours, textures and artist styles.
For the first pages I decided to focus on a Joseph M.W. Turner, and his technique of watercolour painting. For these two pages the media I used was: watercolours, hairspray, pen, pencil, tea stain.
Which were inspired by two of his paintings called 'The Burning of the Houses of Parliament' and 'An Italian Castle above a River'. The main purpose for the first page was to use watercolour in a blurry and unclear way, yet still show the subject matter. For both of the pages I used pictures I have taken in Lithuania to observe and draw. I found out that painting and drawing naturalistic scenery was easier than man made buildings, as trees and other plants allowed me to paint and draw more free hand allowing my watercolour paintings to flow organically.
For the first pages I decided to focus on a Joseph M.W. Turner, and his technique of watercolour painting. For these two pages the media I used was: watercolours, hairspray, pen, pencil, tea stain.
Which were inspired by two of his paintings called 'The Burning of the Houses of Parliament' and 'An Italian Castle above a River'. The main purpose for the first page was to use watercolour in a blurry and unclear way, yet still show the subject matter. For both of the pages I used pictures I have taken in Lithuania to observe and draw. I found out that painting and drawing naturalistic scenery was easier than man made buildings, as trees and other plants allowed me to paint and draw more free hand allowing my watercolour paintings to flow organically.
(On the left Joseph Mallord William Turner 'The Burning of the Houses of Parliament' Watercolour and gouache on paper, c.1834–5 (5) On the right Joseph Mallord William Turner 'An Italian Castle above a River' (6)
I then began looking at Scott Naismith's style and techniques (Sketchbook images bellow). I though the best idea would be to go straight for the media he uses the most, which is oil paint. I wanted to understand more clearly what it is like to layer paint over each other, hence I for inspiration I focused on Naismith's painting called 'Diminuendo Shore'. However there was a down side to this as oil paint takes long to dry hence the paint started to smudge and the colours were not clean, as they began mixing together, due to this I painted over some of the oil paint with white acrylic paint to tone down the page and make it less intense and bright. Another down side was that instead of using a canvas, I used oil paint on paper, which meant that the oil paint started coming through to the other side of the page(image on the right) . At first It didn't look appealing, however I then discovered that Naismith has a painting called 'Optimism Scotland' which is a painting of a map of Scotland, which also resembled a photograph I have taken from an airplane during my holidays. Hence by taking some ideas from Naismith's work and my own photographs I started going round the outline of the oil paint with a pen and spraying it with hairspray in order make the page stand out quite boldly. This gave me an idea of two sided paintings. Where one side of the page can be deceiving to the other.
(Scott Naismith 'Optimism Scotland' Oil on linen , 80 x 120 cm (2)
I then repeated the technique again focusing on my own photograph of a sandy beach
(Images bellow). However this time instead of applying small patches of different colours of paint, I mainly used blue, purple and white oil paint, which I blended out on the page smoothly and I tinted the paint to create different tones to represent the sky (image on the left and the middle). I then tried to paint the sand in Naismith's style of layering patches of paint, however it didn't turn out right, hence I covered the paint with white acrylic paint, which created a rougher and more bumpy texture which in a way represents the sand quite well , and then I applied some tea stain to create a sandy tone. The picture on the right side, shows the outcome of the oil paint once again coming through on the other side of the page. It is interesting how originally the colours I used are purple and blue, but on the other side they come through as yellow and green. This time due to smoothing the colours out, the colours on the other side appear quite subtle. I then again went over them with some biro and hairspray, to make the page stand out a little bit more. I did discover that the image on the right resembles Joseph M.W. Turner's painting called 'Fire at the Grand Storehouse of the Tower of London'. This has taught me of an interesting and unique way of combining two artist styles together to represent landscapes, in a quite indirect way.
(Media used for work above; Oil paint, tea stain, acrylic paint, biro pen, hairspray on paper)
(Media used for work above; acrylic paint, biro pen, hairspray on paper)
Since trying out oil paint, I decided it would be best to also try acrylic paint, which is another media Naismith uses. For this page I focused on the colours of his painting called 'Cumulus Light 2' which is full of deep and lively mixture of colours that portrait the sky during sunset. This experiment clearly proved to me, that acrylic paint unlike oil paint, has the property to dry very quickly, which had allowed me to layer paint onto the page, without the colours smudging or mixing together. However unlike oil paint, the acrylic paint I used did not show through on the other side of the page, although this is a good thing for some work, I personally liked the see through effect that oil paint created, as it allowed my work to represent two perspectives of landscapes. Oil paint is also much more creamy and thick than acrylic paint, hence it can be applied onto media so that there is a bumpy or uneven texture to the artwork which makes it more interesting, whereas with acrylic paint most of the time when I applied the paint it would be quite flat and smooth surfaced, unless applied in larger amounts or more layers.
This experiment has led me to think that to achieve the best results it may be best to use both oil and acrylic paint together, as each has good qualities that the other one may not. However I most importantly discovered that working in acrylic paint is more convenient and practical, as well as less time consuming.
(Above, Scott Naismith 'Cumulus light 2' oil on linen, 80 x 120 cm (3)
For the two pages bellow (both with the green and the pink backgrounds) I decided to take all of the understating and techniques I have discovered from my previous work into consideration and refine it, to make it even more personal. My theme is 'Abstract Landscapes' however for me It was vital to firstly understand ways of creating effective backgrounds that consist of textures before beginning to properly making my focus points natural and landscapes.
For Both experiments my inspiration was Naismith's painting called 'A Different Perspective'. However unlike the artist, I decided to make my work brighter and more colourful through out the page.
(Above, Scott Naismith 'A Different Perspective' oil on linen, 80 x 80 cm (4)
Here is what my first experiment turned out as bellow. I used acrylic paint, PVA glue, biro pen and hairspray on paper.
Originally this page was suppose to be slightly different, as I did try gluing down plastic bags with PVA glue onto the paper, which I then would have painted over with acrylic paint. However it did not stick down as desired, hence I removed the plastic bags, however the PVA glue remained hence why the bottom left side of the page is quite cracked and uneven, however this added an interesting and unique texture to the surface of the paper. I then continued by applying some green paint which I tried to apply with a gradual shade of tone from light to dark green, this was also inspired by the painting of Lee Ufan ‘From Line’ which I viewed in London Tate Museum, Ufan makes his painting appear gradually decreasing in colour and paint, which is what I in a way tried to achieve with my background. However unlike Ufan who made long downward lines on a canvas until the paint on the paintbrush would be used up, I did not do that, but did make it appear as if that was the case, however it didn't look as effective. I then continued to work in Scott Naismith's style, by layering acrylic paint onto the page. I didn't cover the whole page because the previous page that I had pained had showed me that a page covered completely in patched of paint may be overwhelming. Whereas balancing out both a visible background and some layered paint in sections of the page is more effective. Because the background turned out to be quite a dark green, I decided that the colours of the layered paint should also be slightly darker, with more grey and brown tones. To finish the painting off, I went over the cracks in the paper with a biro pen and then sprayed hairspray over it to add some detail and depth and make the cracks stand out. Later on I also noticed that some of the acrylic paint has chipped of the page, revealing white paper, I actually find this quite interesting as it reveals the original surface of the background.
Here is the second experiment in the same style. I used acrylic paint, PVA glue, biro pen and hairspray on paper.
Unlike the other experiment, for this one it was much easier to apply the pink paint to create the background, firstly because the surface of the paper was clean with no glue or other media already on it, also I found out that making a gradual colour change background with lighter colours such as a baby pink, was much easier to achieve than with darker green paint. I did have some problems with the green paint smudging from the other page onto the pink background, however I covered it up when I was layering the paint. For this experiment i tried layering a smaller section of the page. However I don't believe it looks as interesting or effective as the other experiment does, this could be due to more empty space remaining, making the page look quite plain and incomplete. I then tried to create a texture with PVA glue however on top of acrylic paint rather than under the PVA looks quite messy and unappealing. Overall this painting lacks of detail and will have to be improved.
Since beginning my experiments I have already gained a lot of knowledge as to how media can be presented in my work to match my theme, I will take what I have already learnt and keep improving it as well as combining it with new techniques I am still to discover, which will help me later on when planing my final piece.
References;
1) Scott Naismith 'Diminuendo Shore' http://scottnaismith.com/diminuendo-shore-40cm/
2) Scott Naismith 'Optimism Scotland' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-120cm-optimism-scotland/
3) Scott Naismith 'Cumulus light 2' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-120cm-cumulus-light-2/
4) Scott Naismith 'A Different Perspective' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-80cm-a-different-perspective/
References;
1) Scott Naismith 'Diminuendo Shore' http://scottnaismith.com/diminuendo-shore-40cm/
2) Scott Naismith 'Optimism Scotland' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-120cm-optimism-scotland/
3) Scott Naismith 'Cumulus light 2' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-120cm-cumulus-light-2/
4) Scott Naismith 'A Different Perspective' http://scottnaismith.com/80-x-80cm-a-different-perspective/
5) Joseph Mallord William Turner 'The Burning of the Houses of Parliament' http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-burning-of-the-houses-of-parliament-d36235
6) Joseph Mallord William Turner 'An Italian Castle above a River' http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-an-italian-castle-above-a-river-tw1675
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