Project 1 Exercise 2: Applying paint without brushes

After a few days of enforced disruption I put out the oil paints again and instead of brushes, a collection of toothbrushes, plastic cards, palette knives, sponges, tissue paper, rags, cardboard and surgical gloves.

Toothbrushes: good for tough scrtchy marks, dry brush effect when dragged as in the textured arch with an interesting build up of yellow ochre paint over the dark blue. Thick broken textured area built up with lemon yellow, cadnium red, ultramarine and crimson on upper portion with dense paint.
Cards and palette knives: with their smooth edge it was easy tobuild up ridges. I began on one edge and dragging the knife, moving it back and foth like a windscreeen wiper - gives the appearance of motion. Wher e the paint dries out towards the end of stroke it has the same effect, especially with angles or curves.
COLOUR EFFECTS:  When one colour is used over another in still wet paint they do not blend together much. This is more difficult to avoid if doing the same with a brush. Interesting two tone, even multi tonal effects materialise when two or more colours are used at once on a knife of card.

Side edge of card or palette knife produces accurate straight lines  when dragged or dabbed over one another.
Stencil brush: ideal for rough circles. I can see the potential for water ie. waves, ripples and weather effectss ie. wind and rain. Also pebbles and bumpay surfaces.

Although I'm more used to using brushes - albeit marginally - I would like to make use of these tools much more for oil painting or indeed acrylics. They seem to be more fun and certainly easier to clean than brushes used for oil paint, which is fantastic news! I'm now seriously thinking of reserving most of my brushes for acrylics, or water mixable oils, when I build up my collection further that is..we'll see..

 Next was the turn of the sponges - literally, as they were rollers. Used thin and medium paint I twisted the rollers in circles and layer the paint with one band rolled over another while the under layer was still wet. Less blending again here than would be the case with brushes.

Kitchen sponges: their versatility surprised me. Stamping the scourer side, quickly dabbing, twisting and lifting, gave a textured grainy look. Using concave wedges in the same way I obtained a solid circle surrounded by an open circle.When dragged along - sleek and smooth parallel lines or a wave like effect. Easily makes fascinating finely textured spiraled circles. When it was pulled through a wet under layer in the opposite direction gave the look of a moving image ie. camera blur.
I'ms sure it would be as easy to obtain some effect with a brush, but it was certainly easier for me to make spirals and circles than with brushes. I can see how with sponges, layers depth could quickly be built up.
Cardboard - corrugated card edge dragged -  simultaneously produce multiple parallel lines either dabbed or dragged.
The ripped edge of a piece of mountboard produced interesting irregular lines. These would be very appropriate for expressive landscapes.
Fingers/rags: Using just the finger or wearing surgical glove - dabs of red with fingertips - I can detect faces in them and also reminiscent of roses. Also dragged blue and purple medium, then thin paint horizontally and flicked upwards - like grass or surf. In centre - with rag - thick to dry paint, blended lines into one solid mass of red blended with yellow towards edge to form orange in middle. Burnt Umber added on left, thick linear ridges of yellow over, Circles of Cerulean Blue thick to thin. Scrunched rag - thined paint, dabbed on ceruleum, crimson puched and blended a bit into the blue then u/marine. Wiped thinned u/marine over area to upper right over streacks of red and blue - which were dry.  Was pleased with effect of vivid blue background. Also worth bearing in mind that this modifies the red - handy if desired. Think it was a fortunate accident . If had used earth colour, whit or black the same effect would have occured...................
Using finger without glove, circles smoother and more controllable ie. pounced on and twirly twists. Painting with fingers, or even wearing thin glove, felt calming and quite therapeutic.
Paper: scrunched tissue paper dabbed on and dragged dry - on left. finger of yellow paint dabbed over. Thick paint in red, blue and yellow spread with paper and finger. Yellow dabbed in concentric circles - lower left.

Project 1: Basic Paint Application Exercise 1 - Getting to Know your Brushes

Oil paints were used throughout this exercise.
a. Acrylic paper, brushes - a mix of  bristle size 8 round, filbert and flats, a 1" flat and paint pushers.
Using different speeds I tried out straight and wavy lines,  dots and dabs, sometimes  twisted, stipples, from light to heavy pressure. In some I used a scrubbing action in others using the edge on the end or the side at various angles. The paint consistency ranges from opaque to transparent, sometimes on well loaded brush, others - a quite dry brush.  Increasing amounts of turps were added until the paint was transparent. Acrylic paper seems okay for oils, some oil soon soaks through to the other side but, as I was later to discover,  this also happens with oil sketching paper.




Primed canvas roll was used for the next three experiments. b. This was again more combinations of techniques, various brushes including synthetic and a fan brush.







c. More experiments with paint pushers here and  synthetic brushes. The hit and miss effect of the paint pusher, I find quite appealing.





d. Varied dilutions of green - warm and cool, mixed from other shades and colours

I couldn't say I preferred any particular effect I tried over another. They would all have their own uses depending on the intended effect.

Whether I could replicate these with acrylic paint
is uncertain unless I try it. The most important thing, I think, would be
to work fast and blend the paint  before the paint dries, especially for wet in
wet techniques. An advantage of acrylic would be the relatively short wait before the
paint dries to paint another layer on top without disturbing the previous paint layer.
Experimental painting in acrylic and inktense blocks.  I did this at a drawing/painting workshop and it was precursor to this first exercise. It was perfect timing for me - just the day before.

The darker shades for these two landscapes evolved from mixtures of blues and earth colours, lightening them with chrome and lemon yellow. A pale gray with white was also used later on the clouds and a touch in the foreground of the first landscape. The second attempt looks fairly unfinished especially in the foreground, where I don't think there's enough contrast, so I intend to go back and sort this out  later. Certain techniques such as pulling and dabbing pale opaque paint over darker shades were amongst some that I managed to bring mind from those above, which I had tried out for the first time. It seemed to work quite well as long as I didn't use too much pressure, otherwise the paint would tend to mix  and muddy with the still wet layer below. I waited for some of the paint in the foreground to dry before adding most highlights as I found if it wasn't dry, that it was sinking into the darker adjacent paint so looking rather non-descript to me. Even now, the trees and bushes are rather too uniformly globular looking.


In this second landscape (right) I used a turpsy rag to blend and remove parts of the sky, and fingers to blend and spread the paint around the back and middleground. I found the side of the tip of a round brush very effective if I pushed it a fraction upwards along the edges of the distant hills to do away with a dark rim previously on the edges. I couldn't help noticing that I began resorting to picking up other colour mixtures off the palette along with the one I had already on the brush. I'm not sure if it's a good  habit. Perhaps it is, providing  mud isn't the result, so I was careful not to over mix on the canvas surface, and it isn't done willy nilly, but rather for a specific purpose. On both paintings, as I progressed towards the foreground I gradually added thicker and warmer shades and hues of paint, yet as I mentioned above, the this one needs further work. Used fast sweeping horizontal strokes across foreground spread across wide.
Being able to continue manipulating the paint, for days sometimes, depending on the colours and mediums used and the atmosphere, is one of the great advantages of oil paint and I was able to wipe off some paint from parts of distant hills without any problem, even when paint was going quite tacky.
Later the same day that I'd painted this  I found it a little disturbing to see a landscape very similar to this connected with a murder investigation on the TV news. This may sound silly, but in some strange way, because of its effect on me I don't want to leave it go unmentioned.
Colours used included mostly: sky - cerulean/cobalt blue and white, distant hills - raw umber/blue, pine trees rhs - viridian/cobalt blue/burnt umber, foreground grasses etc - burnt umber, yellowy green?


The fruit - a nectarine proved more difficult than expected. First I applied a transparent wash of chrome yellow for the ground, then a thicker grey mix from cadmium red, cobalt blue and a little crimson. Using a lighter thicker mix with white I tried to lighten some areas while the underlying paint was still wet but it blended with and darkened the lighter paint.

Exhibition - Bauhaus: Art As Life, Barbican, London

This was the first time I'd visited the venue, and it wasn't long before I became conscious of how the modernist ethos of the Bauhaus movement, even though from a slightly earlier time seemed well matched to the 1960s brutalist architecture of the Barbican building.  The Art as Life exhibition was displayed on two floors, the entrance corridor to the gallery being on the lower floor, which was flanked by dark walls giving a closed in feeling. This led up the staircase to the first part on the upper floor. The upper floor was set out on a mezzanine type circulation area - a balcony overlooking the ground floor exhibition area, backed by objects on display arranged in several alcoves behind. The low ceilings gave off a cosy atmosphere, while the lighting (I think) was directional, as everything appeared well lit, while the surrounding area was dark, echoing the walls, bringing the exhibits more into focus. Downstairs the high lofty ceilings were divided up again by several alcoved areas.

A huge black and white photo of a group of tutors and students took over a wall situated between the upper and lower levels and which was visible  to both. One needed to look down to view it from the upper level and to look up when on the lower floor. I think this photo really encapsulated the community ethos of the movement - something which was illustrated in many of the photographic works downstairs showing social gatherings, parties and theatrical performances. 
There was so much to see in this exhibition, such a comprehensive overview (over 400 works) including painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, furniture, theatre, architecture, film, photography, graphics and product design ie. metalware. I felt quite overwhelmed at first as almost everything on display had its own fascination and I felt I just could not miss the opportunity to check everything out. Fortunately a small grain of sense prevailed and I made notes about only those I considered to be most noteworthy, however, combined with viewing the works, this was sufficient to take up at least two hours..

The exhibition began from its foundation in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by architect Walter Gropius.  After World War 1 Germany was in turmoil. His vision was to teach freedom and craftsmanship to students there and return to the socialist ideals of the  art and crafts movement. Downstairs the exhibition then went on to map out its progress after moving from there to Dessau in 1925, then onto Berlin where in 1933,  due to pressure from the Nazis who considered it subversive, eventual closure.

Though it was very much a modernist movement, Johannes Itten, who ran its preliminary courses encouraged individual personal expression.  He was replaced in 1923 by a new teacher Laszlo Moholy-Nagy with opposing views, who, combined with pressures from its main funders, the Thuringian state government,  brought about a change in direction  to one more geared towards mass production.

The frontispiece of the Bauhaus manifesto is a  Lyonel Feininger woodcut.  The idea of the cathedral represented an aesthetic ideal and social harmony of William Morris's arts and craft movement. 

One of the first exhibits was an oil painting by Lyonel Feininger also  - The Studio Window 1919. As can be seen he was greatly influenced by Cubism and Expressionism  It was described as 'an architectonic manifestation of the artist's workplace with illuminated window embodying Gropius's vision for the school', much of which was about putting into action the radical ideas of his generation (see also  above). The notes I took at the exhibition about this particular painting is the only snippet of information I've been able to find about this painting so far.

http://www.artesmagazine.com/2012/05/harvard-universitys-a-m-sackler-museum-features-rarely-seen-collection-of-lyonel-feininger-photographs-drawings/dscn6709-2/ - The Studio Window 1919

Moving on to 1923 and a major exhibition in Dessau, showcasing new directions of the school toward industrial design:

Three posters shown here, one designed by Paul Klee and the other two by Oskar Schlemmer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy  represent two opposing ideals within the school. Paul Klee's leaned towards expressionism and is hand drawn and no attempt is made to be precisely geometric. The rather tottery looking tower leading up to a door or entrance is believed to represent the high ideals of the institution.

http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/all-articles/Bauhaus%20Barbican%20Catherine%20Ince -Die Bauhausmeister auf dem Dach des Bauhauses in Dessau /Masters on the roof of the Bauhaus building, c.1926/1998, courtesy Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin/Centre Pompidou, Paris. Paul Klee, Postcard for the 1923 exhibition, c.1923, courtesy Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau.

 In contrast Oskar Schlemmer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's posters reflect their constructivist ideals using intricately measured geometric shapes and on Oskar Schlemmer's, suggestions of men as machines. There is something de-humanizing I think about these which hint at men as automatons. 

 http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5219&page_number=15&template_id=1&sort_order=1 -Postcard for the 1923 Bauhaus exhibition.

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/57114/8359485/in/album/19388 - Laszlo Moholy-Nagy postcard for the 1923 exhibition

The puppets were definitely also one of the highlights. These are yet another good example of members widely opposing views. For instance Oskar Schlemmar had ideas of super-human perfection resonating through his puppets and costumes designed for performances like the Triadic Ballet, while Paul Klee saw his as organic creations and seeing imperfections as a positive features accentuating their characters and identities. It's no surprise to find that he was very interested in children's art. Lyonel Feininger also made puppets and toys along similar lines. 

 A large amount of photography was displayed downstairs. I didn't expect it to appeal to me, but on closer inspection I found many of them to be some of the most fascinating aspects. Many were taken from unusual angles - which put a different slant on things for me, and others were put together as photo montages or photo collages. Particularly compelling, I thought, was being able to see clearly the joins where the cut and pasted parts of different photographs were stuck on over one another, giving them in actuality, a rich physical texture not visible on a computer screen
An article on  about a book on Paul Klee's puppets showing some fascinating images of them:
http://eachlittleworld.typepad.com/each_little_world/2008/10/lloween-is-an--occasion-devoted-to-creatures-both-silly-and-scary-you-can-see-some-of-each-in--a-new-book-that-showcases.html

There are such a multitude of fascinating elements about Bauhaus, all deserving of attention, but alas, I could only hope to scratch the surface here.

Some further reading, especially about the Triadic Ballet:
http://theatreoffashion.co.uk/2012/05/14/exhibitionism-bauhaus-art-as-life-at-the-barbican/

First Steps

A new challenge and a pathway to help focus me in on the world of painting. Here goes - another beginning...... 

I some ways, I would prefer to be instructed to use either oil or acrylic paint rather than be given a choice. Surely it is a good thing to be given a choice of medium, I just found it difficult to decide. As it turned out, oil won the day, at least for now... The reason being: I haven't used oils for a few years and wanted to re-acquaint myself with them because I remember liking their buttery consistency, blendability and slight sheen when dry. Making a decision was the first hurdle out of the way! During this first exercise I quickly realised how rusty I had become.  I would be more accustomed to using acrylics in the recent past, but even so, only for 3 small landscape paintings during the past year.