Continuation of, or better an aside to Both Sides Side By Side.
The panels on the right side of the images posted in that post were inkjet prints on a standard 98lb multipurpose paper glued with glue stick to 8 x 10 inch canvas board panels. I printed on the lightweight, cheap paper because it is cheap and I wanted to play around with materials on the copy in a way that I know I would not do if I had printed them on the 300lb hot press paper I prefer and had mounted them using the acrylic medium. I knew I wanted to experiment building up transparent and semi-transparent ground layers on the images on the panel using acrylic mediums that I have or rarely have used in my painting practice. I also knew I wanted to play with thicker layers of oil paints in combination with the acrylic layers. Because I had mounted a lightweight paper using standard glue stick to the panels I also knew as soon as I introduced a wet substance to the paper any areas that were not sufficiently glued … of which there were guaranteed to be many … would bubble up. The bubbles would create a texture on the surface that would catch the layers of paint I would apply to the panels, adding more shapes on top of the images printed on the paper, and I would have to figure out how to deal with these ‘blips’ in the process to resolve these not quite copies. Finally, I knew I wanted to heavily work both sides of the panels with paint and I still hadn’t (and still have not) figured out how these panels will be presented so that both sides are viewable. Unlike canvases and panels on stretchers or frames these panels are thin and the edges with the heavy, uneven clumping of paint not only needs to be seen but also gives very little material for a support to hold on to. I am hoping as I work through the painting issues the display issues will also be resolved.
Below are quick studio snaps of the panels to date. The first layers were a mixture of Golden acrylic tar gel mixed with a Golden heavy body acrylic pigment and/or Lukas fluid acrylic. Tar gel was chosen for the transparent, stringy qualities, its glossiness, and it is a medium I have never used before. The blues come from Franzi but are worked in almost the polar opposite manner of how he applies acrylic paint. On the side of the panels with the shapes in addition to the blues mixed with the tar gel I also applied thinner layers of slightly tinted matte acrylic medium, allowing it to collect in the ridges created by the tar gel. I also applied a thicker, brushier layer of blue on top of the areas Franzi had worked in the original version (and slightly beyond). After working with the acrylics in the basement I sanded panels with 150 grit paper and then I moved back into the greenhouse where I have begun adding areas of oil paint. The first layers were Caput Mortuum, Prussian Blue, and Zinc White thinned with Liquin and applied with a flat synthetic brush. And this is where I am at. The images of the panels are posted in the same order as in Both Sides Side By Side.