Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Wheat Paste Resist

I've been playing around with a new technique--wheat paste resist.  A friend has been doing it on fabric, and I loved the crackly effect she got, so I've been trying it on paper.

The white areas then come from making a gouache resist, like I was doing before.  It takes quite some bit of soaking and rubbing to get the wheat paste OFF again, but then it's ready for pen and ink.

I'm a little ridiculously pleased with these.  I really like the texture, and like all resist techniques, I like the chanciness of them.  This especially has some pretty random results, and I like having to work with that, and make the faces fit in with what happens with the wheat paste resist.

This one had the least amount of crackle of all (as in--zero), so I had to do almost all of it with cross-hatching, and I must say, that's way way way too much cross-hatching.

And then, there's the option of using ink washes.  So many possibilities.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, these look stunning and the technique sounds interesting, though I don't quite get, what you have done ;-)
    I like chanciness!

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  2. I like them a lot, Coreopsis! Nicely added structures ( I love to use all kind of "structures"in my work...) I always enjoy to visit your blog!

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  3. Lovely!! I really love these!!
    xxx Marianne

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  4. Well, these are all stunning and interesting. I have used gouache resist and ink for very simple images, but am breathless at the effects you get with your outstanding drawings.
    Now the wheat paste resist leaves me a little perplexed, but like Ilona I just can't think of how the technique is achieved to produce these crackled effects. Is it possible for you to give a little explanation, and perhaps we may be able to attempt it …. on a simple scale. Your artwork is always just a knock-out for me, and leaves me with nothing but admiration and the pleasure of seeing your work.

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