Mixed Media Challenge for January 2009

[Sonia]

Cyndi suggested I might set a challenge using the INK RESIST or "WASH-OFF" technique. So here we go .....

The challenge for the first month of the New Year – an image or design using the ink resist technique. The technique can be used for any subject matter – buildings, landscapes, figures, flowers, etc. - and as you can see from my example below, it is even possible to try it out on a fairly small scale. Let's see what variety you can come up with.

Use "Mixed Media Challenge January" in the title of your thread.

Full details are given in my Ink Resist Article http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/17097/662/

However, this is a simple example on A4 (letter size) Arches 140 lb stretched watercolour paper which I hope will give you a quick overview.




Materials: Sturdy stretched watercolour paper; watercolours; white gouache; waterproof Indian ink (slightly diluted with a few drops of water) and decanted into a dish wide enough to take, say, a 2” flat brush; stiff household paint brush for scrubbing back to your final image; paints or pencils to complete your painting.


Drawing with initial watercolour washes (No. 1)




White gouache painted over the image, leaving gaps where you want your black lines or dark areas to be (No. 2)




Allow to dry thoroughly before washing over with a slightly diluted Indian ink wash using a wide brush. This needs to be done quickly in one layer to avoid lifting your gouache underpainting (No. 3)




Allow to dry again then, using a stiff brush, wash off under running water to remove all excess ink (No. 4)




The painting can then be strengthened with further colour washes (watercolour, gouache, pencil, acrylic etc.) (No. 5)



Have fun.

[Cyndi L]

This looks great, Sonia! I hope that everyone will set aside some time to try it out. I've never worked with gouache before, and it seems a bit intimidating, but I'm game!

[Mary Woodul]

Sonia and Cyndi and the members of the forum, Happy New Year!

I like this challenge and although I have said before I'll join in and fail to, I really hope and will try to make this one.

[Cyndi L]

OK, so I still haven't gotten any gouache! I decided to try changing the method slightly so that I could at least give it a go with what I've got. I don't paint like Sonia does (I'd be embarrassed to even show you a house and a tree), so I stuck with geometrics. I'm even slightly challenged with them as you'll see!

Here's what I did:
I used student grade oil pastels and rubbed them into my surface is a sort of spotty manner, so that the diamonds weren't completely solid.


It made a very bright - and unattractive - pattern. Then I sponged black India Ink all over it. The pastels act as a resist, but because I didn't apply them really heavily, the ink soaked into a lot of spots.


Before the ink had a chance to dry completely, I rinsed it off and patted the piece dry with some paper towels. I think I'll have to spray it with an acrylic or varnish to keep the pastels from rubbing off, but it looks a lot better to me. This certainly isn't a "finished" piece, but as a sample, I'm pretty happy with the effect!


Thanks Sonia!

[Sonia]

Cyndi, congratulations for being the first to respond to this challenge. The effect of the ink over the oil pastels is quite dramatic. It certainly makes for a richer finish. I expect scratching into the oil pastel with a scalpel would also provide some additional texture. Is it possible to polish the surface with a soft cloth or wad of paper towel - as you can with wax crayons?

[Cyndi L]

It really makes the colors pop, that's for sure...you really don't get the full effect from my photo (as usual!). Yes, scratching in would be really neat to try too. I didn't cover the diamonds heavily, and you can see lots of areas where the ink "stuck". I didn't think about buffing them up! Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'll try it since this is just a practice piece

[gakinme]

Hi, Cyndi. Thank you for the steps but I don't have gouache and so I didn't do it your way.

So here is my piece of atrocity here. I used this $1 pack of water soluable crayon that doesn't do much other than smudge when you apply water in it. Drew an onmyoji (like a sorcerer who predicted fortunes and a ghostbuster or did incantations to appease spirits back in ancient Japan), and I put india ink all over it and then wash it under the tap to give it a black overall feel without using photoshop. ROFL.

Here's the result. The crayon got washed out too.

[Cyndi L]

This is Sonia's tutorial, not mine Sandra I actually did it in a way more similar to yours, using oil pastels.

[Sonia]

Sandra, another interesting variation on the technique. I think it worked quite well - gives a "ghostly" feel to the subject.

[gakinme]

Ah, excuse me. It is Sonia's indeed. My apologies.

Thank you, Cyndi for the comment.

Thank you, Sonia, for the challenge.

[Cyndi L]

I agree with Sonia...I really like the way the figure is looming up out of the darkness!

[gakinme]

Thank you, Cyndi.

Here is another experiment of mine. I'm continuing to test on computer paper on how much water it could take. Look at this. (I got the three girls from Wall Street Journal today and put them inside a building instead of open fields.)

It's applied with Pentel and Cray Pas Junior Oil Pastels and then I applied a layer of Crayola washable black paint on it since I thought it would wash off quicker than india ink. I sponged the black on with a wet tissue. The black turned out washed out bluish tint in the end. But amazingly, the computer paper did not tear at all under the tap. And it looks pretty flat to me at this moment compared to rice paper.





And here is a photoshopped version with fresco filter, my favorite for rendering indoor light.

[Sonia]

This challenge certainly seems to have thrown up some varying possibilities. Another ingenious experiment Sandra.

[Cyndi L]

Wow!! What a change Sandra. My favorite way of working by far is to combine physical and digital methods, and your final "fresco" version is stunning

[gakinme]

Thank you, Cyndi, Sonia.

I really enjoy doing these. I agree, Cyndi. Sometimes, photoshop really just give the piece a tiny push and make it just perfect...hehe...