Experimentation

Artistic experimentation; something I didn't have much experience with before this semester. For the majority of Tutorials 1 and my project in general, I have been using different materials such as honey, wax, melting paint, etc on canvas. For someone who is incredibly indecisive and fearful of change, I surprised myself with how much I enjoy experimenting in art. Professor Hagan's advice for the remainder of the semester was to go back to the experimentation phase--figure out what I can use considering I have scarce art supplies at hand.

So, for the past week I have been thinking of materials that I can use to create new work.

Something that came to mind was using makeup, purely for the pigmentation. I used computer paper, a makeup brush, and some eyeshadow. I used the brush and moved my wrist in a circular motion. It has a cloud like essence to me, I don't know. I liked that I was able to create some sort of pattern/texture with the use of the brush but I'm not sure how I feel about the colors. More experimentation to be done I guess.

I utilized eyeshadow again for my second experimentation, but I cut a piece of the un-stretched canvas instead. I thought the texture of the canvas would produce a contrasting design opposed to the flat computer paper. This piece has much darker tones than the first, and I used my finger to smear the pigment on the canvas paper instead of using a brush. After looking at the finished piece, I wish I had kept the pigmentation a bit more separate to create a wider range in color.

Third... same materials present. I combined the methods I used from the first and second experimentation. I began with eyeshadow and a brush to create the base layer on the paper. From there, I took a small piece of the canvas paper and applied darker tones. Once I had the two separate pieces, I began rubbing the dark eyeshadow canvas paper against the lighter toned computer paper.

The last thing I did this week was experiment with a completely different material. I have a fireplace in my house so there is a fire constantly burning. I went into the fireplace and started crumbling the burnt wood chips and ashes, figured it was worth a shot to see what it would look like/where it would take me. I ended up liking the way it turned out more than I initially thought I would.

I am going to continue with the experimentation process this week and try using outside resources such as dirt/leaves. This is definitely a challenge, but I was pleasantly surprised with the ideas I came up with.