1. My first experiment used acrylic paint – and I divided an A3 sheet of acrylic paper into four equal rectangles to which I applied washes of acrylic paint with a brush -
Top left: Grey Amsterdam Acrylic wet on wet
Bottom left: Iridescent Silver Winsor and Newton Acrylic – wet on wet
Top right: No wash
Bottom right: Grey Amsterdam Acrylic wet on dry
I then applied masking fluid in some areas of each rectangle in the hope of creating an impression of water, and when dry applied an additional layer of acrylic paint with various items; an old credit card, a toothbrush, a roller, a plastic knife and a fork -
The result:
My conclusions were that:
a. The masking fluid did not work well; it was difficult to remove and didn’t leave a neat area of the first wash exposed in the way that happens with watercolour for example
b. The masking fluid was particularly unsuccessful in the Iridescent Wash segment because when rubbing to remove the fluid from the masked areas the top acrylic layer came off some of the unmasked areas. This may not have been caused by the masking fluid, and could have been caused by poor adhesion between iridescent acrylic paint and standard acrylic paint if subjected to rubbing - and I will experiment further to check this
c. Interesting spiky effects can be created with the credit card the toothbrush and the fork for water reflections
2. My second experiment used water mixable oils (WMO) applied thick or thin with a toothbrush, a rag and a natural sea sponge
I also attempted to make a landscape based on a picture I took a few years ago in Turkey, which I thought would be appropriate for the types of marks I was making with the sponge, the toothbrush and the rag.
