making a painting - (part 3)

Now I have swathes of colour and a tracery of cuts and lines in front of me and the history of the piece is shaping up through numerous layers.
Making the painting now will be to work over the earlier applications of colour and inevitably I end up using a large amount of white...




But it feels like I have barely begun.

This is a good place to acknowledge the know-how of artists Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin and their book “Cold Wax Medium - Techniques, Concepts and Conversations”.
It’s been really instructional.

Their technical input along with my urge to explore ideas and dabble curiously, (ok, what can I do with cold wax medium?), has given me fresh direction and means of expression.
Thank you Rebecca and Jerry!



I have spoken about the mark marking process itself but a lot is determined by how wet or how dry the paint is.
When cold wax medium is mixed with oils, the drying process is speeded up a bit.
Some of the most subtle effects can be made when the surface is semi-dry after a day or two, depending on how heavily the paint has been applied.

At this point when I really want to develop the abstract narrative, I will draw on more techniques, mainly involving a printer’s brayer and tissue paper.

I scrumple up the tissue and use it to cover part of the surface. A vigorous pressing and rolling of the brayer across the paper will spread the paint to the fineness of a misty veil.
In addition it will transfer the creased texture of the paper onto the painting in a most satisfying way.
This can be done over and over again.

I never tire of the surprise I get when I lift off the paper!

More colour, more marks.

Splashing the paint around a bit or dripping or squirting it from a syringe is good fun.
It reminds me that control can be overrated sometimes.


(detail)

Mmm…”happed in sky” is getting there...