Layers and Transparencies

As the second stage of my Exploratory Project plan, my intention was to continue to work rapidly but experiment with using layered and transparent images to create composites and play with composition. These pieces have largely been made as development from stage one, evolving collage or photos and combining surfaces. Obviously, as exploratory work I wasn't clear at the planning stage how I would approach these pieces but they are what I feel is a natural progression from the earlier pieces while still addressing similar themes. I am keen to move my work back in the direction of painting so have lapsed from my rules slightly by beginning one painting on canvas - a development from the day of making.

Painting in acrylic from collage with ink line drawing overlay from photos

Two sizes of figure on acetate over magazine collage

Collage and photos on acetate layered on OHP. Photo of projection on canvas.

Double acetate image combining two viewpoints

Collage and hanging photo layered

Images exploring photos mimicking posture or distorting scale of limbs

Reflection

These pieces were a really good way of very quickly exploring composition or manipulating already existing elements. I don't think the line drawing over the painting works visually although it did make me think about the Janus images I have looked at. I like the ambiguity which is added by the layers in the images as some areas are obscured and recede and others emerge. However, the found images and my photographs jar so I think that these only really work as compositional explorations, not outcomes. 

Reflection

These pieces are all OHP projections of combinations of my photos which I have printed onto acetate. I love the way these look really ghostly although I dislike the lack of colour as this is an element which is particularly important in my work. When I was playing with the composition, I tried again to make some areas more prominent and so less so. I imagine these figures as the shadows of paintings, although I'm not sure how or if this could exist alongside paintings, or whether they are just a trace of the process.

Oil on canvas (initial stages) details below - experiment with layering on one surface instead of multiple

A2 ink on watercolour paper from viewpoint photo - details below

Acrylic paint on top of original collage enlargement - sepia pen on details below

Reflection

These pieces are what I feel is a natural progression from previous works, although they are still quick pieces and unfinished. I wanted to take one of the figures from the day of making into oil - I like the rapidity of acrylic on paper but you achieve a completely different surface effect to when you build up oil over time. This painting is in the very early stages and I have included some details to evidence how I have started to build up the paint. In this version I have included the whole figure (the previous one has her head cropped) to see if this changed the power balance. I don't think it does, although the cropping forced the figure's face into the top section of the paper which may be seen as more confrontational. 

I chose ink for the second piece to experiment with something different. I found it really difficult to work with, particularly on the face which has taken on a terrible tango glow but enjoy the way the fabric and shoes look. This is largely due to its link with the oil paint surface. Compositionally, this works for me as the who body is included and the viewer is placed low down in the image which manipulated their perspective.

In the third piece I have painted on top of one of my collages, using the bodies but not the (squirrel) heads which I had placed on them. I roughly took the faces from my own photos to make the figures look similar, although they are dressed differently so less clone-like than the others. I was really unsure as to what to do with the background so I blocked out the goat but left some of the envelope visible. I like the way the figures relate to each other and how the one on the left look like she is leading the other away while directly meeting the gaze of the viewer. This image has potential to be enlarged in paint on canvas, but I would need to think carefully about the background. Between the two they create their own relationship and context so it could be possible to leave the background plain.