Process of painting
Throughout my process of making paintings I experimented a lot with coffee within the piece. I allowed the materials to have freedom to move around the canvas, creating texture and surfaces. With the coffee I mixed into different strengths to create different tones of brown throughout the painting. When I began painting I would pour the coffee over the surface and allow it to move around and dry as it pleased.
I had no control or idea how the pieces would look once the coffee had dried. The coffee would create glossy textures where the painting was strongest. The dark rich tones were beautiful to come into contact, it would bleed from rich dark brown to a lighter more sandy brown. The different tones and textures that the coffee was making seemed to reflect the landscape that the belemnite fossils where found in.
Still using the medium of coffee, belemnite fossils where then painted onto the surface. This process reflected the act of belemnite hunting as when the coffee dried the belemnite would sink into the surface of the painting. Different strengths of coffee were mixed to define the shadows that were on the belemnite fossil as I was painting it. Some areas of the belemnite dried with the glossy dark tones, which was pushed forward on top of the sandy tones underneath.
This was something I was beginning to develop on as I as creating. What I realised was that I wanted to reflect the act of belemnite hunting within my pieces. So when the belemnite fossil within the painting began to push itself forward with its dark tones, I realised I wanted to bury them. There was almost a process of fossilisation that came when creating the pieces I started to bury the belemnite and surface underneath layers of materials.
However, what I realised with the paintings was that I was being too controlling with the materials, rather than letting it have complete freedom to move around the piece and bury the belemnite. Instead it created a frame around the belemnite rather than burying it under the surfaces.
I decided I needed to be less controlling with my paintings and be more experimental with my process of making.
Development
To begin creating new paintings I wanted to create the textured surface that I had created as a frame from the previous pieces. Using gesso paint and coffee, I started to create thick layers of textures. When the coffee and the paint mixed together there was a grainy texture that dried. I applied these mediums to the piece, moving the coffee and gesso around to create different tones and textures. Some areas of the piece had large thick textures, whilst others had been smoothed off by the motion of pushing around the materials. I tried to not think too much whilst pushing the materials around, I wanted to just create a surface that came through the process of movement.
Once the gesso and coffee surface had dried I poured a light mixture of coffee over the surface and left the coffee to bleed throughout the surface. The coffee would bleed it's way through all the little bumps and cracks within the piece, highlighting the textured surface underneath.
Once the textured surface had dried I painted the belemnite surface on top of it. I hoped that the coffee belemnite would blend into the surface that it had done on previous paintings. I applied the same method of painting the belemnite, mixing different tones of coffee to create layers with the belemnite.
Reflection
However, what I had noticed was that the surface I had created was too pale for the piece and the belemnite didn't sink into the surface. Instead the light background ended up pushing the belemnite forward still. The primed surface of the canvas distorted the tones of the coffee, making them paler than the deeper colours I had discovered throughout my sketchbook. This meant that the belemnite that I had painted onto the surface was being push forward rather than looking as though it was buried within the landscape.
I poured more coffee onto the surface, letting it bleed throughout the piece, to try and bury the belemnite within the landscape. Although this was effective I still felt as though the surface was too light and the belemnite still sat forward within the painting.
This is something I need to develop and experiment with.
I had no control or idea how the pieces would look once the coffee had dried. The coffee would create glossy textures where the painting was strongest. The dark rich tones were beautiful to come into contact, it would bleed from rich dark brown to a lighter more sandy brown. The different tones and textures that the coffee was making seemed to reflect the landscape that the belemnite fossils where found in.
Still using the medium of coffee, belemnite fossils where then painted onto the surface. This process reflected the act of belemnite hunting as when the coffee dried the belemnite would sink into the surface of the painting. Different strengths of coffee were mixed to define the shadows that were on the belemnite fossil as I was painting it. Some areas of the belemnite dried with the glossy dark tones, which was pushed forward on top of the sandy tones underneath.
This was something I was beginning to develop on as I as creating. What I realised was that I wanted to reflect the act of belemnite hunting within my pieces. So when the belemnite fossil within the painting began to push itself forward with its dark tones, I realised I wanted to bury them. There was almost a process of fossilisation that came when creating the pieces I started to bury the belemnite and surface underneath layers of materials.
However, what I realised with the paintings was that I was being too controlling with the materials, rather than letting it have complete freedom to move around the piece and bury the belemnite. Instead it created a frame around the belemnite rather than burying it under the surfaces.
I decided I needed to be less controlling with my paintings and be more experimental with my process of making.
Development
To begin creating new paintings I wanted to create the textured surface that I had created as a frame from the previous pieces. Using gesso paint and coffee, I started to create thick layers of textures. When the coffee and the paint mixed together there was a grainy texture that dried. I applied these mediums to the piece, moving the coffee and gesso around to create different tones and textures. Some areas of the piece had large thick textures, whilst others had been smoothed off by the motion of pushing around the materials. I tried to not think too much whilst pushing the materials around, I wanted to just create a surface that came through the process of movement.
Once the gesso and coffee surface had dried I poured a light mixture of coffee over the surface and left the coffee to bleed throughout the surface. The coffee would bleed it's way through all the little bumps and cracks within the piece, highlighting the textured surface underneath.
Once the textured surface had dried I painted the belemnite surface on top of it. I hoped that the coffee belemnite would blend into the surface that it had done on previous paintings. I applied the same method of painting the belemnite, mixing different tones of coffee to create layers with the belemnite.
Reflection
However, what I had noticed was that the surface I had created was too pale for the piece and the belemnite didn't sink into the surface. Instead the light background ended up pushing the belemnite forward still. The primed surface of the canvas distorted the tones of the coffee, making them paler than the deeper colours I had discovered throughout my sketchbook. This meant that the belemnite that I had painted onto the surface was being push forward rather than looking as though it was buried within the landscape.
I poured more coffee onto the surface, letting it bleed throughout the piece, to try and bury the belemnite within the landscape. Although this was effective I still felt as though the surface was too light and the belemnite still sat forward within the painting.
This is something I need to develop and experiment with.