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Cosmetics as art materials
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Message
Posted
Well I just totally ruined a painting of some autumn berries when I tried to put in a very dark background. Short of washing it off which will take off all the berries too, I don't see that any of the suggestions would work. Thinking maybe to go over the background in watered down acrylic. I just cannot get really dark, almost black backgrounds to work in washes without going blotchy and far too pale.
Posted
Doubtless we've all had this problem, I certainly have: there are things you can do, washing out, lifting out, using sandpaper, opaque white gouache or acrylic, working into the paint with watercolour pencils, using a putty rubber on dark paint to lighten it and/or mould it, even scraping away at the surface with a pen-knife, but.... if you can't wash or lift out the paint, or scrape it away, and the only alternative is to use opaque white and paint over that, it never looks right. Better to tear it up and start a new painting.
On the dark backgrounds question, the two ways I can think of are a) to mask out your subject, then apply a very strong wash of dark colour over the whole paper - not a thing I'd do, as I hate masking fluid, or b) establish your background around the subject, and strengthen it later with extreme care. But as to what you do if it's all gone wrong and you have dark colour which is neither one thing nor the other, either too blotchy and unattractive or too dark and overpowering, and you've sloshed over your subject anyway - well, life is too short to fight with a painting! If you know in your heart of hearts that you're not going to win this one, it can be very satisfying just to indulge in a new words, and rip the thing from stem to stern. We're all entitled to fail now and then.
Posted
Hee hee.... I've had that experience too and very nearly lost a sale; I'd misunderstood what a customer wanted; they came to see me and I was looking through the canvases for the one I thought they wanted: uncovered one and said "oh that's rather twee, you won't want that..."; and it was just what they did want. Happily they seemed not to have heard me properly so didn't ask "why? What's wrong with it?"
We can't always be the best judges of our own work; and can't predict what will appeal (or not appeal) to others. Or at least, Harry and I obviously can't!
Posted
Yes Robert I think this one is finally destined for the bin. I actually started with the background wash but it was far too light. It was when I tried to darken it that things went wrong. I've tried cropping it and it still doesn't work. I shall try watered down acrylic but don't have much hope.. Shame because the actual subject was good. Can't win 'em all! It's not the first dark background I've messed up.
Posted
Hi Artwayze thanks for that...I like Arches and Saunders Waterford usually 300gpm but buying the blocks is a bit expensive so I buy big sheets and cut to size and stretch it...it's one of the things I didn't forget I love stretching paper it really gives me a sense of satisfaction...when I bought my first sheet of paper I bought a big roll of gummed paper...I'm now on my second...I always seem to go for a rough tooth and find myself running my fingers over the paper to feel the tooth before I even look to see what it is...as to the painting running before I can walk...I thought I could just pick up where I left off 20 years ago...dosn't happen that way does it...back to class on Monday in a fresher state of mind instead of trying to turn out a masterpiece I'm just going to kick back and enjoy it
Posted
It seems not to be a new idea, but it is a bit unusual - drawing with makeup.
I did my usual self portrait to explore the idea (actually, there have been four attempts since the idea popped into my head while on holiday this summer, but the most recent is the best executed, I think).
Lipstick and concealer are comparable to oil pastel; eyeliner in pencil form is a joy to draw with; mascara, applied with its wand, is wayward but effective, and eyeshadow is a bloomin' pain.
It might not be a low cost option, but I reckon it might be possible to get people-who-use-makeup to "donate" the old, out of date, out of fashion stuff.
Bit more on the blog:
http://amanda-bates-artist.blogspot.com/2013/11/drawing-in-makeup.html
Anybody else tried this, or am I a lone eccentric?
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