Pushing a bit further

My tutor has encouraged me to continue working and see how much further I can take my work.

From a not very original idea of drawing a part of my garden I am now focusing on a very small part. I have taken the lower right corner of this image:

Geranium leaf print crop .....

.....turned through 90 degrees

I chose to turn it because it ceases to look so shrub like and takes a form of its own; it becomes more abstract.

On this course I haven't used technology for my images but I thought I might get some results with this if I did.  These are images I liked and that might offer some ideas.  I used Paint Net.

1. Effects - pencil sketch - pencil tip 4 - range default

2. Stylize - edge detect - angle 11.1 

3. Stylize - emboss - angle default

4. Stylize - outline - thickness 2 - intensity 73

I tried to print these images on various papers including tracing paper but it turned out blurred and I wasn't happy with it at all.  I spoke to a local printer who showed me a variety of papers that he could use with his graphic printer.  He printed my work and the outcome was quite remarkable.  The papers with texture gave an almost 3D effect and the shiny ones seemed to use the reflections in the same way.  The matt were least interesting.  Tinted paper introduced elements that seemed to alter the colour of the ink.  I found there was no "best" one, just a huge variety, each offering something different.  Sometimes it's hard to say exactly what the differences are; it's often revealed as a difference in atmosphere and feel.

This has thrown up one or two ideas.

First I'm going to try textures inspired by the manipulation of image 3.

This is what I did:

Texture with Kleenex tissue

I glued random splodges of Kleenex tissue on paper then coated the whole thing.  It looks quite soft and is very textured.

Drawing with ink

This is the veins and the spaces between them.  It's very arbitrary.

These next three are inspired by  manipulated image 1.

Wax as a resist ....

.... and with different colours

Mark making with hosta stems

Next I looked again at the geranium leaf crop and tried to recreate it another way.  I used two sorts of wire mesh to do rubbings on baking parchment.  I covered some copy paper with charcoal leaving just a couple of white spaces.  I stuck the parchment onto the paper.  It is clear where the white spaces are as they show through and it is also obvious where the leaf ends and the background begins.  It was an exercise but I'm not sure how useful it may be.

Charcoal on paper then glued baking parchment with
frottage of metal grid on it

I decided to use some wax as a resist for making the "veins" of the geranium leaf.  I used .5 fineliner pen, white and grey wax, half strength ink and full strength spray.

I drew the veins with my fineliner and waxed in.  I covered the watercolour paper with Quink ink and watched the colours of it separate.  I spoilt the effect by spraying with a stronger concentration of ink.

My next experiment was similar but without outlining the "veins" and using only white wax crayon and eighth strength ink.  The colours the ink split into were more marked than previously.

Unimpressed with not using colour I returned to the spraying I used earlier and tried some variation of strengths of my Procion dyes.

I selected some smooth A3 water colour paper, took my image and some of the ideas I had generated and made this:

Geranium leaf image (1)

I began by drawing the "veins" then waxing in the lines and shapes.  I sprayed up my paper and was alarmed at first that the dye seemed to penetrate the wax.  As it dried it became apparent that my fears were unfounded. At the top I used the baking parchment frottage with graphite lifted off with sellotape to give some extra texture and interest.  It didn't glue well and left texture of a sort I didn't like.

Although the two dyes had ten minutes between application they mixed rather a lot to create shades of green.  Not unpleasant but not what I had wanted.

I found the result rather bitty and insipid although I liked the composition.

I decided to have another try and darken my dyes.  Everything else remained pretty much the same:

Geranium leaf image (2)

This time the dyes seemed not to mix as much, Instead they create an optical effect where the colour appears to  move.  The photo doesn't show this at all.

It seems to work much better without the division of the edge of the leaf although I had a go and drew in an outline on a printed image.  I used ink but I think it's too harsh - graphite would be better.  I haven't put the division on my "real" piece.

Trying an outline

I plan to leave it here until my tutor has seen it.  I think it might benefit from cropping but I'll take advice.

Geranium leaf image (2) proposed crop

It's interesting to see that there is no right way up for this image now.

When I read my Artist's Statement now it seems a million miles from where I've ended up.   From my large garden I've taken the smallest sample and developed something a long way from what I had envisaged. However the title is still relevant.