The camera takes a look around the studio...
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| Top row: a layer of yellow paint (inspired by Cy Twombley's Lepanto); lot of biro marks make the paper ripple; snips of fabric (too small for anything else) knotted and strung Bottom row: ink and water make a notebook ripple; discharge paste screened onto cotton velvet; pressed flowers bondawebbed under organza |
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| Top row: colour catchers; an inky accident in a Hungarian felt bag; threads - paper, silk, cotton, linen Bottom row: writing implements, and others, recently used; cutting implements; fabric sorted in drawers by colour |
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| Top row: more fabric behind glass; prints and drawings piled in chronological order; dyeing materials Bottom row: unused small sketchbooks; pads and loose papers; neglected pens |
The "neglected pens" that got this train of thought going are, or rather were, gathering dust in a corner of a cupboard. Thinking to throw out the felt pens - surely they'd be dried out by now, I've had them for 20 years - I also mused that they were not a drawing implement I ever choose to use ... why? because of the dull, flat line they make, and the unwanted darkening of colour when they overlap. But had I explored their mark-making possibilities - of course not.
A few minutes with a pad of scrap paper found that most of the pens were still alive -
That was fun, and I really liked the "loose" marks and parallel lines, but I still can't imagine wanting to use felt-tip pens for a project. Hmm, never say never...
(This post is linked to Off The Wall Fridays.)
You can also use felt pens to make paint, apparently - hang on I'll find the link
ReplyDeleteI can't vouch for the quality of the paint but it looks like fun http://happyhooligans.ca/vibrant-homemade-liquid-watercolor-paint/
ReplyDeleteWhat a great and inspirational subject for a blog post!!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved your post. And I love Cy Twombly's work. We have a Twombly museum in Houston. Have you been there? It's wonderful -- the number and scale of the paintings is amazing.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you need ideas for why you might want to do felt tips?
ReplyDeleteWell, somewhere I read about putting rubbing alcohol on and it spreads the marks into something interesting.
and thought number 2. you could do some marks every day like the paint thing!
As you know, I generally have no shortage of ideas, it is time that I lack. But for a realistic answer, I use felt tip pens like Triplus Fineliner to get small details into work or to highlight anomalies in a hand dyed fabric and turn it into a picture or something. Sometimes a fabric is nearly but not quite right, so I use felt tips to draw over it in such a way as to turn it into something that works better.
Sandy