Almost time for a Zodiac painting

It wasn't that long ago that I was fretting about painting the dragon.  I just couldn't form an image of what a dragon should look like in my head.  Now it is almost time for its successor to emerge.  The year of the snake is imminent.

I know a couple whose zodiac signs are dragon and snake.  Dragon is traditionally held at the highest regard. Ancient emperors donned robes embroidered with magnificent dragons and these emperors held an absolute monopoly to the rights of anything that had to do with the dragon.  The emperors claimed to embrace the virtues of the dragon, being kind and just on one hand but fierce and ruthless on the other.  As for the snake, I suppose most cultures do not  treat the snake with any fondness, which is unfortunate.  It is interesting none the less, to find the snake as a symbol of healing, both in biblical terms and in Greek mythology.  It is therefore employed as an emblem in the medical and pharmaceutical arena.  Thus this couple would always banter with each other, but wittingly agree that they are both serpents and the true difference lies in whether one has legs or not.    

Painting an animal that is associated with being sneaky, like a snake in the grass; or being evil like snake-eyes is difficult.  Very difficult.  Especially if the painting is to be used as good omen for the rest of the year.  I don't want to paint puny grass snakes.  They are not majestic symbols for me.  I don't want to paint a constrictor snake, they seem sneaky and sinister.  The King cobra is fierce alright, but that is all I can see.  Always angry and combative.  Not a virtue to embrace.  

I've tried playing around with snake painting years ago.  That never evolved into anything.  It was done on photo paper and purely for fun.

Recently I did a family zodiac painting and I modeled a snake in the shape of the alphabet L to give homage to the family name.

  

For the current exercise I chose to model a rattler.  

The rattle snake looks plump and wholesome (if one can call a snake wholesome) and it doesn't bother you unless you initiate the threat.  And it gives warning by making the rattling sound.  So it's not sneaky like the boa, not scrawny like the grass snake, not pissed off like the cobra.  I would say the rattle snake is the gentleman amongst snakes.  Enough said. 

I found a pose that I liked.  It was in the shape of the infinity symbol.  I suppose I could hype the painting by addressing the "hidden" meaning of the subject.  A true Zen master.  Wink.  Wink.

Filled in the body to see how the sketch would look;

Satisfied that this was what I wanted, I sketched the design onto a gold speckled Xuan.  I wanted to take advantage of the specks to help with the texture of the snake's skin.

I had some packing material laying around that I tried to exploit.  It had the same sort of scaly appearance of a snake. I was hoping that it could somehow allow me to "stamp" in the skin.

 

I decided against it as I realized it could be more effort than what was worth.  I would be spending so much time trying to align the "scales" in the correct orientation.  

So I sketched in my grid on the snake to help me visualize how the scales would line up when I needed to paint them in.  If I needed to paint them in that is.   Sketching in the grid was interesting. It reminded me of cutting out and gluing the ribs when building a balsa wood glider with my son when he was young. Fond memories.  

I also identified the spine of the animal to help me conceptualize the sides of the snake when it twisted and turned.

   

Waste Basket Diving

If I throw away my booboos before the painting is completed then I am really not honest with myself.  I am an amateur trying to explore the many intricacies of Chinese brush painting and I must capitalize on the opportunity to learn from my mistakes.  To assume that every piece I attempted is worthy of the wall  is a unrealistic fantasy.

I caused big holes to appear in my attempt to paint my "mosaic" piece.  I tried to avoid the mistake of rendering the paper too brittle by the use of alum solution yet I failed.  I think my mistakes could be attributed to the thinness of the paper and my stupid idea of ironing the paper.  Could I be using the wrong alum solution mixture?  I am told the ratio of gum to alum should be 2 to 1.  I seem to recall that my solution has more alum than gum.  I used animal skin gum by the way.  I've been using that on my double Xuan and so far I have not been penalized for using too much alum.  My frayed edges from the gold speckled paper was my first mishap and the first hint of any bad side-effects from my solution. I am convinced now that the more robust double Xuan saved my skin in the past.  

So instead of trashing my "mosaic" piece due to the holes, I am going to continue my project.  

I proceed to make the darker areas much darker than before, to contrast with the lighter areas.

Now I need to work on the ducks, to make them more appealing?  I also need to go over my many wriggly pieces that depict the shimmering water.  The Number 3 Blue Hue (176) is my first target.

I then work on other colors.

Since I do have a fair amount of void space to begin with, the holes caused by the ironing mishap actually could pass under the radar.

I suppose I shall find out more about the appeal of these holes after the painting is mounted.  

I am just glad that I have fulfilled my New Year's resolution at least, by initiating and not giving up on  a tedious project.

Algae in the pond

We've had a string of days that are warmer than usual.  It is the succession of days of 90 plus degrees that tires a person, especially when that person has to rely on natural convection cooling.  The fan does help to move the air and create some evaporative cooling from the moist skin, so it helps somewhat, psychologically at least.

When the rainy season stopped the pond behind my house ceased to enjoy the flow it normally gets from the creek that feeds it.  The water level has dropped a couple of feet behind the weir and the pond has become stagnant, overgrown with algae.  The homeowner's association has spent good money seeking supposedly professional advice, planting shrubs and tall grass next to the bank to ostensibly lower the water temperature and therefore slow down algae growth.  To no avail.... I could have told them that.  Then some homeowners do not like the raggedy look of the plants and trimmed them down, as if they are ornamental hedges.  One homeowner even resorted to putting algaecide into the water, which is a violation of environmental protection laws.  It is a contentious issue, to say the least.

For lack of better ways to spend a hot day, I've been looking at this body of pea soup through my blinds.  There are still ducks around, lazily paddling their feet in the summer heat, feeding occasionally under the water.   They carve out channels amongst the algae, like an icebreaker creating passages through the artic ice.  I suppose I am visualizing ice subconsciously to squelch this suffocating heat. 

Now these patches of algae are forming an interesting floating mosaic.  They look more yellowish than green.  The sun still glimmers off the water in dancing flashes despite the lack of any perceptible wind. The thickness of the day is breached only by the ducks quacking.  This looks like painting material.  

I am looking at this as a challenge to myself, like every painting that I've attempted.   I am going to attempt to put that suffocating feeling onto paper and I am going to try something new in the process.

Normally Xuan paper is not conducive to heavy staining or repeat brushstrokes.  Chinese brush painting hinges on the artist making the right brushstroke the first time.  Whatever comes out of the brush is indelible and seals the fate.  What I am internalizing is not something that is airy or elegant.  It is musty and dense and confused.  I have to attempt to lay down as many brushstrokes as possible without wearing down a hole in the paper.  I am not going to adhere to the usual Chinese Brush preferences.  I decide to use the gold speckled Xuan that was gifted to me.  This paper is more substantial than the standard Xuan.  

The random gold speckles elicit the feeling of the shimmering surface of the pond.  I hope to enhance the appearance of patches of reflected surface with the help of alum solution.  Alum as you recall is used for sizing Xuan paper.  It makes the paper less absorbent.  I use a spray bottle to spray some saturated alum solution on the paper and allow that to dry.  The hope is that these droplets will block subsequent coloration and give off a painted surface with random voids in it.

AS long as I am experimenting why don't I mix the blue color into my saturated alum solution.  Hopefully the spray will help form the foundation of the water.

I do the same with the green color, for my algae.

There is only one way to find out if my theory works or not, and that is by doing it and let the result speak for itself.  One can see clear borders around the droplets, especially the small ones.  The large drops are overwhelming their neighbors and obfuscate the clear border.  So I am on the right track.

It is time to write numerous brushstrokes, each emulating a minute part of the water surface.  The surface of the gold speckled Xuan has gone through three sprayings containing saturated alum solution, thus these brushstrokes stay wet longer without going into the paper fiber quite as fast.

In other words, these markings are less indelible and more forgiving.  The gold speckled paper behaves more like a watercolor paper than Xuan.  It allows the color to float a bit.  

I am using a yellowish green as highlights on my algae patches since that's the way I perceive them.  I just hope that the color is not too overwhelming. Yellow is such a tricky color.

This is what I get after all the dust has settled. I am now writing the report for my experiment.

The droplets of alum solution can be traced to all the round void spaces. I think they are nicely juxtaposed with the rest of the brushstrokes, showing off the reflected sky and the algae in the water.  The gold speckles are not obvious at all in the photography but they are more noticeable in person.  One has to view the painting at a certain angle to see the sparkle.

Dense and garbled.  The way I saw it.