Today I tried to do some self exploration on the marks I can create with some of the mediums at home, bearing in mind with the suggested solutions I came up with in my previous post! So I began my journey into mark making with an open mind with no expectations of myself, except to just have fun with mark making first! 🙂
Image 1: My tools and mediums used: Acrylic paint, Watercolor paint, Poster color paint, cotton mesh, straw, an old tooth brush, a tea spoon of salt, nail varnish, Q-tips, a rock, nail polish remover, different sizes of paintbrushes, cloth, eyeliner, plastic teaspoon, scrunched up cling wrap, beads and scrunched up aluminum foil.
Image 2: Because I didn’t have a roller like the mono-printing post previously, I used a kitchen towel cardboard tube as a… low-budget roller. Hope that it works just as well.
I was very interested in knowing how each unconventional medium would react with the other. For instance, mixing acrylic paint with nail varnish / mixing watercolor paint with nail polish remover. Hoping that upon my experimentation I would discover a texture or pattern the 2 mediums could produce. Will they be miscible? Or no reaction will be observed?
<< Image 3: I tried mixing watercolor paint with nail polish remover and to my surprise and excitement, the 2 mediums are not completely miscible! Black paint coagulations were found at the bottom of the palette.
Image 4: After vigorously mixing the mediums in image 3, I swung my wet paintbrush onto the newsprint paper, creating far-ranged splatter patterns.
My first attempt at doing mark making without much visual aesthetic thoughts was considered pretty successful. I was intrigued at how far the splatter could go and the intensity of each splash as I channeled my inner Jackson Pollock. Soon I realized that this is a rather fun and cathartic activity!
I felt more carefree while being more bold in my strokes and actions (as I have already placed a lot of newspaper around me to prevent unwanted marks on my furniture at home) and I felt less restricted and more daring in my choice of mediums than before.
Then I went on to try out using nail varnish and nail polish remover!
Image 5: I cut open a tube of white nail varnish and poured it over the newsprint, and then adding a few drops of black nail varnish onto the white.
Image 6: I then used the plastic teaspoon to pour nail polish remover over the white nail varnish, and then using a Q-tip (with the cotton portion cut off) to swirl the mixture; creating another pattern that is a result of 2 immiscible mediums!
Then I began trying out using a very fluid medium like black watercolor paint, and then using a straw to blow at the paint. Creating an unpredictable pattern that goes in different directions according to the dispersion of wind emitted from the straw.
Image 7: Blowing air out from a straw onto an A2 newsprint with fluid black watercolor paint.
The distance of the paint travelled varies, depending on the amount of air I exhaled from my weak lung capacity. Distance of paint travelled decreases with time as the ink has already been spread, and I was very out of breath…
Then I was inspired to recreate an artwork I did as a child! The one whereby my kindergarten teacher gave us marbles coated with different colored paint, and a clean A4 sized paper in a paper box cover. She told us to place the marbles in the box cover with the paper and shake it. Resulting an unpredicted abstract pattern created by the colored marbles rolling in the box!
Image 8: I didn’t have marbles so I used beads and coated them in dense poster color paint.
Image 9: I tilted the paper in an angle and allowed the beads to roll downwards, creating a linear rolling pattern that goes in different direction.
Afterwards I tried to recreate what I have learnt in mono-printing class, but didn’t do so well as my choice of medium was not thick enough.
Image 10 and 11: I resulted in painting one size of my scrunched up aluminum foil and then rolling it across the newsprint paper with my kitchen towel cardboard tube.
Image 12: I also used a scrunched up cling wrap dipped in paint to dab it all over my newsprint. Creating a blotchy and detailed patterns as the pain began to dry a little.
Image 13: Incorporating a tooth brush, I created tiny splattered patterns . The blotchy watercolor paint drip was created by accident. So I decided to add some salt crystals onto it, hoping to achieve a water color to gather the water pigments. But the experimentation has failed as the paper absorbed the water color more efficiently than the salt could.
These are just some of the mark making process I have documented! In conclusion for my first self exploration of mono-printing, I think the results were rather successful ! Though I took videos of how the process of each mark making attempt was done, sadly, I couldn’t upload the video as the file is too big and the format of the video is incompatible. 🙁
But still! The results of the final products were rather fine and I liked how each mark has its own feeling and different textures and patterns to it. :)4
Until next time~
Cheers,
Yi Ling.
