Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Grant Project: The Paint Part II

Another round of paint experiments are finished, and this paint just made my week.  I tried Charvin Paris Extra Fine Oil in Mars Black and IT. ROCKED.

When I was trying out the different paper types, I used Windsor and Newton in Lamp Black, and that really became the bar for which all paints would be measured. My main issue with W&N was the required bleaching I felt I had to do to get the full range of tones in my images, even with different negative densities and curves. Charvin didn't require bleaching on most of my images. The prints that did get bleached, were selectively brush bleached usually on the second layer of paint. Four of the eight images didn't need a second layer, and three of those four didn't get bleached. It was amazing to rub off the paint and realize that a quick soak in some water and it would be good to go. All but one of my images were acceptable to me in terms of "success", and that one probably received a bit of a heavy hand with the bleach.

I used the entire tube because the textured papers are a bit more thirsty than the smooth papers and required quite a bit more of this paint. If this ends up being my favorite paint, I'm buying the largest tubes I can find and exclusively using it because it is just that good.

I scanned my four favorite images from this round, two smooth papers and two textured papers. These four did not get a second layer of paint, and only one was bleached. I also realized I may not have fully disclosed which papers are smoother and which ones are more textured, so I made sure to label which is which on the overall image of all of them. I also photographed the prints from the side, and with the Somerset Velvet you can really see the texture of the paper. I hope this helps clear up some confusion!!



Fabriano Acquarello Cold Press (Textured)
Fabriano Artistico Hot Press (Smooth)

Somserset Velvet (Textured) Note the different color of this
image from the other three. This is the only one of these four
that was bleached. It was a selective brush bleaching that results in
a cooler toned print. 
Fabriano Acquarello Hot Press (Smooth)