Ornamental Tree Mixed Media Stuff

We were doing some work on an object from home. I chose this ornamental tree (mainly because it is small and easy to carry).

I got it at London Zoo with some friends, so it may be nothing much but I like it.

Anyway I created some stuff based on looking at it:

These are roughly  in the order I finished them (some I started really early on them finished at the end when I had a new idea, and some of the first ones I made were so atrocious they got recycled as collage for other ones).

I wasn't too happy with this one because it was quick, messy and boring. The colour field is a bit meh. The inky scribbles were something I liked though.

 

This one was also quick, but its simplicity is quite nice. I did it with shoe polish and thread. I decided to leave it as it was because it was just a generally nice image.

 

You cannot tell with this one because I realise now it was not made for photography. It is a bucket load of paint with the image scratched into it. It is also simple and nice to look at (and quite nice to feel) . Just not good for photography.

Apart from the tape (which was a misjudgement) I think this  one looks nice. The 3D aspects of the leaves work well, and the angular use of the ink is effective.

I proceeded to see what Mark was doing next to me; a riot of colour and splashy stuff. Therefore (with his permission) I copied his idea, sticking with an orange colour field to suit my object. It certainly makes the image dynamic and was fun to create. The leaves could have worked better if I had been more careful with the negative shapes.

 

This is another colourful one. The big yellow patch is a mistake, I accidentally threw a milk bottle of ink at my paper, the wall, the floor, the cupboards (I could go on and on). It was dun to do, but hell to clean up. The splashy drippy effect is interesting at least.

After my first calm white background, I tried making a backing, covering it in white paint and scratching into it. Unfortunately it didn't occur to me that the paint would bleach the ink, so we got a barely visible print. I tried to rectify this by filling the negative space with an inky drawing I didn't like to much. I think it makes it work better, because you can see what's there, but it is still a bit dull.

Although I am quite critical, I actually am proud of my set and had loads of fun flinging paint and ink everywhere (including all over me). I enjoyed the self directed study as I had a chance to explore what I wanted to do, without having to stop after 15 minutes to go onto the next task.