Interesting ways of mark making

[Samuel Gray]

Hi everyone,

I have been experimenting with various kinds of mark making and the process of chance but sometimes with intentionality dropped in as well. I would like to start this thread in hope for new ideas to be shared and materials that you use on a regular basis that might be unusual to a paint brush or pencil.

Some examples that I have been having some fun with:

I drop ink from a bottle on my surface and use a spray bottle on it which creates a very cool effect.

I shave charcoal and let the shavings fall on my surface and spray it with a water bottle and then use a squeegee to pull the charcoal.

I put down medium gel in random lines and let it sit for a minute or so, then I drop ink on top of the surface where the gel is and then spray it with a bottle and then use a squeegee creating a very cool effect that leaves a blank white area where the gel was able to set in and then the effects of the spray bottle and ink surrounding it.

Please share your ideas!

Here are some pictures of what I have been messing around with. Please share your ideas!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/samsonite0077/DSC_0015.jpg

[jpacer]

Really cool stuff, Samuel! I need to play around more like this myself. Have you tried putting ink, or even really diluted watercolor, in the spray bottle?

[kev ferrara]

I like the way you think, man.

Illaekae might know more about these kinds of effects than I. But anyway...

Give a tooth brush and a sponge a go. You can draw with both, of course. You can flick ink or paint with the toothbrush from various heights and angles to get effects. The closer to the surface, the more you can direct the spray coming off the toothbrush (Use a razor blade to gently pull the bristles back towards you, and then release in a hurry to get the spring of the bristles to fling the pigment.)

Dip a 10 inch long wire in ink and than spin it over the paper in various ways.

Combine water and clear oil (which don't mix) and use that as a medium for paint or ink. You might lay down a surface of oil first, and then use the water to spread the ink. Make sure you're using thick enough paper, and smooth.
You can pull up stuff using all sorts of tape, from scotch to duct tape.

You can create a cracked surface in various ways... putting quick drying media over slow drying. Like ink over egg yolk.

[Samuel Gray]

Cool stuff! Ya i have been trying to do a bunch of things lately. Jpacer, ya man! I have put ink and acrylic in my varied spray bottles and they are a bunch of fun...

Kev, thanks for sharing all of that. Great stuff. The different mediums you are talking about sounds like some real fun.


As for more ideas, I have left paper by my door step in the rainy season to let random footprints come about. I have used a paper for coffee glasses. these are more of a long process.

As for more things I have been testing out, i have used string covered in ink and just randomly thrown around the paper. Dipped my exacto knife in ink and rolled in on paper, sponges and the sorts, used air blower cans and straws to blow the ink around, and all bunches of stuff.

Today I have been experimenting with laying down a plastic garbage bag and then laying down ink and water and salt or whatever i can find in just random areas and then laying my paper down onto it and pushing down to pick up everything. I started doing just random stuff and then i tried picking and choosing where to have some intentionality in it.

Here is a cool test pic i took earlier. http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs025.snc3/11233_1196198418239_1026810290_30576339_8297685_n. jpg


Also, One fun activity to do is to do mark making without using your hands or actually connecting the paper to your hands. An example would be to blow, drop, throw, hurl things at your paper or let gravity take over. This really causes some really cool effects without trying to come up with interesting compositions.

[Spirit]

These are very good experiments! We have had to do many of these for our projects in my art classes in college. A lot of them you have already done, and I love experiemntling like this!
One I can suggest is used with fabric, as it doesnt really work as well on paper. What you do is dampen your piece of fabric (basic cotton is best) and then lay it flat on your surface, you then cover it in drawing inks of various colours, and then you place random blobs of bleach onto the fabric. The bleach then literally "eats" away the ink, creating very nice effects! A little word of warning though - I would recommend doing this in a VERY well ventilated area, or even outside if you can, as using bleach this way gives of a lot of fumes... as my art class found out :P
I'm definitely going to try out some of these, thank you!

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to ask, which method did you use to create the effects in the third picture in your first post? It looks awesome!