Multimedia experiments on paper

     When considering the material I want to work on when creating 'Gehenna', I know I want it to be a surface that is compatible with a multimedia style of working. It is essential that the surface takes well to pencil, acrylic paint, oil paint, acrylic ink, indian ink, oil pastel, chalk, spray paint and whatever else I see fit to achieve the visuals I've planned in my thumbnail. I'm aware that pencils don't work to achieve a realistic figurative drawing on canvas, at least not with out the drawing being incredibly grainy; which isn't what I want. Therefore it makes sense to seek out a high quality paper that is  compatible with both wet and dry mediums, where the paper won't buckle under the weight of a heavy paint pour and that will also be smooth enough on the surface to ensure any pencil drawn areas aren't grainy. After much research and experimentation with paint pouring in the first year of uni, I came across a paper that ticked both these boxes, a heavy weight 400gsm paper. Now that I've found a paper that will allow me to work in multiple mediums within one piece, it's important to me to practise my drawing skills on a smaller scale and to conduct a series of experiments that embody the surrealist, otherworldy aesthetic that I plan to bring to fruition in my planned larger paintings such as Gehenna. I drew a variety of different imagined scenes where I was able to experiment with colour, shading, capturing the human form, surrealism and masking all on paper before committing to the final piece. I think these exercises were a great opportunity for me to broaden my experience with working on paper and I certainly learned a lot in regards to the mediums I was dabbling with. Although the visuals in these sketches aren't exactly what I'm hoping to render in my paintings, I think they will still inform my practise and the way I approach my more defined pieces.

Experimenting with sculpture

 On a walk one day a house mate of mine and I stumbled across a ‘Free Shop’ that had been set up by the local community. The purpose of the shop is for people within the area to leave behind things they no longer need or want, for other people to pick up and give a new lease of life, and vice versa. I found a broken mirror at the shop and decided to experiment by customising it with spray paint. I found this process really fun as there was no pressure to obtain a certain end result, it was spontaneous and therefore relaxed. I’d also not used spray paint much before this so it was exciting to throw myself into using a medium I wasn’t all too familiar with.

 

     As part of another mini project alongside my painting, I made a sculpture from found objects (again obtained from the free shop) as a reponse piece to the local community I live in, to represent the discord between the opposing social groups within the area. The sculpture consisted of wood, metal and chains that were painted with spray paint and juxtaposed against a clay sculpture I made using 'Das' clay. I found the process really liberating and I found it really interesting working with mediums that required such a different approach to figurative or fluid painting. Working with found objects and sculpture is extremely flexible as you can play around with the composition so freely with out committing to any decisions permanently, you can always cut some wood or unscrew some nails, whereas with painting each stroke and mark made is a decision that stains the surface for good. Working in this way was really enjoyable and felt like a lot less pressure, however using tools such as hammers, screw drivers and drills was something that really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I'd definitely like to continue experimenting with three dimensional work in the future and I found the exercise expanded my horizons creatively.