Ernie was giving me a bit of a hard time...and it's possible that in the heat of the wrangling, I may have forgotten to photograph a couple of steps. Will you forgive me?
Thank you.
So, from where we left off, it was clear Ernie needed to be a little more distinct. No problem - with the endless supply of black pigment markers in the arsenal, I had unlimited options for enhancing his darkness! There needed to be a little more interest in the piece, so a walnut ink stamp that looks like cracked, dried earth was applied to the bottom of the piece, and a couple of stamps of black Xpandaprint (dimensional paint that puffs up when it's heated) were applied to the bottom left hand corner and up the height of the extreme right hand side (this might be one of the steps that missed having it's photo taken! But, you can see the little square of triangle shapes, and on the right hand side, you can make out the lines and blobs, which have all had a little gold wax rubbed over them to highlight the texture).
So, from where we left off, it was clear Ernie needed to be a little more distinct. No problem - with the endless supply of black pigment markers in the arsenal, I had unlimited options for enhancing his darkness! There needed to be a little more interest in the piece, so a walnut ink stamp that looks like cracked, dried earth was applied to the bottom of the piece, and a couple of stamps of black Xpandaprint (dimensional paint that puffs up when it's heated) were applied to the bottom left hand corner and up the height of the extreme right hand side (this might be one of the steps that missed having it's photo taken! But, you can see the little square of triangle shapes, and on the right hand side, you can make out the lines and blobs, which have all had a little gold wax rubbed over them to highlight the texture).
At this stage, the background was giving me hives and I had the bright idea that some tribal inspired lines and circles would be the go.
They might have been.
But they weren't.
And, frustrated and cussing, I forgot to pick up the camera once more! You can see them lurking under the yellow paint I attempted to tone them down with though!
Happy with the foreground, and Ernie himself, I was now doing battle with that wretched background...the 'lines' were echoing Ernie's shape nicely, and kind of suggesting Uluru, which was working for the overall direction...but that 'sky'??!! Careful dabs of ochre and white
...many layers, many times, each ever so slightly altering the look of it made things a little happier.
Ernie Obliterates Uluru View 13cm x 18cm
©2010 Tracey Hewitt
However, the point where foreground and background met was less than ideal to my eye...I spied the green Golden acrylic bottle and thought "I wonder...?" Careful sponging to Ernie's left and right seemed to do the trick. Another touch up with the black pigment marker and I declared Ernie finished.
Do you remember in the first post about this that I expected the writing at the bottom of all this to be mostly obliterated? I think that worked!
For some reason known only to Blogger (and possibly the great creator) it's not possible to load more than 4 photos to a post (unless I'm missing something painfully obvious...which is possible!). AND when I tried to remove this one to do a separate post about the second piece, I had no luck with that either! So, this is a sneak preview of Sing Me Your Story, which I'll tell you all about in the next post.
7 comments:
Hi Tracey, it's been great seeing some of your work here.
Just a note about blogger. Maybe you are using the old editor like I was, not realising that blogger have a new editor (have had it for a while now) which is a big improvement on the old one!
If you go to the "Settings" tab (next to the "Posting" tab) where you can change the setup of your blog, and almost at the bottom of that there is "Global Settings", "Select Post Editor" and if you click on "Updated editor" rather than "Old Editor" you should then be able to post using the new editor they have, which is a bit more flexible, useable and reliable. You can then select your photos and put them into your blog much more easily where you want them and you won't be limited to four. You can add more than four to your post in the old editor... you just have to go back and keep selecting in lots of four.
Anyway, hope this helps!
Hey Tracey,
I love where Ernie ended up-great balance of fore and background. The second collage at the bottom of the post is also quite evocative of the red desert rocks and makes me want to touch it!
Question: What is walnut ink? And, what kind of gold wax do you use that you can rub it into the canvas?
Thanks!
I love Ernie, the colours have so much depth now. I shall look forwardto seeing what you will do with Sing me your story as well. Cheers,
Robin
Both of these pieces are amazing. you did a great job with darkening Ernie, and I do like the background much better. The other has a wonderful mystical tribal feeling- great!
Lovin' the sneak preview...I'll be back ;-)
and Ernie is elegant (if Emu and elegant can go together)...the color range is very tasty and the layering must be wonderful to see up close...
yeah...what is Walnut ink?
Of course an emu can be elegant (says someone who's never had to actually deal with one...). And if it's Tracey's emu, he's charming too -- thanks for sharing the process!
Wow...I have some catching up to do here....
Janelle, Thanks so much for the 'techie' tips! That's really helpful! I have to confess to not having had time to check it out just yet, but soon, soon...
Hannah (and Iona) Walnut ink is a watery ink that works a bit like a stain, ageing papers, fabrics atc. I realise what I actually used for that stamping was a distress ink - which has similar qualities, but is in a stamp pad (A "Ranger" brand one to be precise!) The gold wax is sold as a 'gilding wax'. It's a creamy acrylic substance - a little like the consistency of lipstick I guess. Really fun to gently rub over textured surfaces to highlight.
Robin... good to hear from you! the next installment is not too far away!
Sharmon - thank you...I was really pleased with the mystical/tribal feel of 'Sing Me Your Story'. I'm excited to know someone else senses that feel too!
And Iona and Lynn - I can't say elegant is the first word that would pop into my head when thinking of an emu...but they do have a certain grace about them - unitl they begin to run, and then grace goes to custard, and they're quite the most awkward looking things!
Thanks to each and every one of you for your lovely comments - I'm so chuffed you're finding this interesting!
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