Painting

Back on the ole paper shapes grind.

Audible sighs.

It's tricky, really.  Everybody seems to have been galvanised by the move to working from found objects, and the step back has been demoralising to the class.  I understand, both sides of the group working from the same source means everyone has a comparable base to examine.  But everyone is done, mentally, with those shapes now. 

So anyway.  Painting is a bit misleading as a title, as this was more an 'Ink Washing' sort of exercise.  Very tricky to get my head around to begin with.  It's been a long time since I worked a wash, (less so ink, of course) and the white on white of the paper pieces was another challenge, even more so given my images are very flat.  Not much room to get into the creases and crumples when there isn't any.  First four images didn't work too well, but I was starting to get a handle on the ink at least, and I was annoyed with myself that I rushed the last one, and got some nasty bleed.

After a quick break we returned and really seemed as a group to get tuned into the medium. Speaking for myself, I learned a bit of patience and not to rush the work.  Delicate work isn't my forte, and so I was pleased with how the next couple came out, the first one back certainly had a very painterly quality. 

But it all seemed to be lost again after lunch.  Adding white paint to the mix, to try and pull back some areas that had maybe gone dark.  Something had changed though, and although the first one of the new set wasn't too bad, after that the works tailed off.  The end of day couldn't really come quick enough, and the mood in the room fell off pretty quick.