"The Secret Place" (draft 4)

(draft 4)

The piece is now inching its way over and up. Today I will begin to adhere a few of the pieces to the support. It is so much like putting a puzzle together which is probably why this technique appeals to me. The abstract representation of boulders reminds me today of the importance of fathers as the "rock" of the home. So a huge Happy Father's Day to all of you men who happen to be fathers.

Another name for this entire process is color blocking. It is much like putting a quilt together. Instead of selecting fabric, you paint and texturize paper. This could also be done with mono printed papers by adhering them to watercolor paper first and then reassembling them into a piece. You could also use found papers, a variety of different sized text pages, sheet music, or any other subject matter where you are assembling imagery or textured papers that feature a particular subject, texture, or color. It's an addictive and "user friendly way to work.

The entire process teaches the principle of repetition (also called "echoes"), how to arrange color according to percentages (how much space it will occupy), practice a particular technique over and over again, and the effectiveness of contrast of size and little detail vs. a lot of detail.

My particular focus in this piece was to play around with the sgraffito technique by using different colors of undercoating with different topcoats. This is a technique worth learning for any type of mixed media or a painting in oils or acrylics. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.