Thank You Singapore-for my New Dawn

Seeing that my scheme of applying a mask, as if I was working with Photoshop, to my painting could transform my work drastically, I told myself, "Game on, baby!"

I discussed my mischievous intentions with a friend of mine and he accused me of cheating.  

Really?  This had not crossed my mind at all.  Perhaps I had accepted Photoshop as an acceptable post-production in the workflow of taking pictures, and I had embraced the concept of layers and masking.  Perhaps to a purist, this is considered cheating.  I wonder if this is a by-product and necessary evil of digital photography.  Anyways, my conscience is clear.  Novel, perhaps; cheating, no.

My "test subject" is now ready for the experiment.  I am using the same home cooked starch that I use for mounting on paper for this attempt.  I use a soft brush to brush on my rising sun "mask" due to the thin and delicate nature of the cicada skin Xuan.  I really don't want to tear it.

The cicada skin Xuan now sits on top of the starched original painting that was mounted on cement board.  Careful and swift brushing ensures a flat and wrinkle free application.

Newspaper is used to cover the newly starched work and a brush with stiff bristles is pounded on top of the newspaper.  This serves to force a tight bonding of the cicada skin Xuan to the painting underneath and the newspaper also helps to absorb moisture from the wet starch that seeps through the Xuan paper.

This is now allowed to dry at ambient room temperature.  The saturation and transparency will diminish as the drying process continues.

Liquitex gloss medium and varnish is now applied to the dried painting.  The Liquitex helps to restore the brilliancy for the color and acts as a protective coating.  This is especially critical since I will be displaying the work without a glass covering.  I am allowing the liquid to sit on selected spots a while longer before dispersing it to surrounding areas.  The liquid seems to have helped bring out the transparency for the selected areas.

 One can see here how Liquitex brings back the saturation and transparency.

I get the following result after some minor touchups.  This is now allowed to dry.

With matting now,

In the interest of documenting this transformation, I created the following composite,

Nobody likes my newborn baby.  Everybody prefers the third iteration.  They think that is a "real painting" and that it is "prettier".

I, on the other hand, do like the last version very much.  In fact, I would go as far to call that a metamorphosis.  The literal details of the original are distilled to almost a tactile experience.  The sorghum  has fermented.  It is now crude and raw and in your face.  I can feel the sun and its halo of colors.  Or is it my cataract that is clouding up my vision.  I can no longer call my piece a Huangshan sunrise because any discernable landmark is no longer.  It can be universal, wherever trees populate.  Had I not taken the trip to Singapore, I would not have such a revelation. 

So, Thank You Singapore, for my New Dawn.

Presenting my dragonflies (Summer Pond)

Perhaps it's due to the complexity of my coloring scheme, or my child-like mischief, I want to do something unconventional to my mounted painting on Xuan before I frame it.  

I want to varnish it.

I remember reading somewhere that oil paintings get their vividness by virtue of light being refracted through the oil in which the pigments are suspended.  I figure my displays of blue and green and yellow could benefit from a coating of oil or varnish.  I suppose the traditionalists would protest vehemently of my sabotaging paintings done on Xuan paper.  Well, no pains, no gains is my answer.

The mounted painting is now dry and taut and is ready for harvest at this point, normally, that is.

I am using Liquitex gloss medium as my varnish.  To demonstrate the effect of my experiment, I am varnishing half of my painting to begin with.

Needless to say, the effect is dramatic.  There is an immediate reveal of depth and details are made more vivid.  I get the wet look back!  Obviously it would be ludicrous to varnish only half the painting.  I did it to prove a point.

I choose to lap on the varnish while the painting is still taut and fixed to the hard board.  This is to prevent any warping of the paper due to the uneven coating of the varnish.

The following photo shows the before and after the application of the gloss medium on my painting.

After the gloss medium varnish is dried the painting is now harvested from the hard board.

The shine on the lower left corner is the light reflection off the dry surface of the now varnished painting.  This is where the argument is valid from the traditionalists; that the quaint and understated feel/taste of the Xuan paper is totally annihilated.  My painting now reminds me of a printed poster with the sheen and all that.  I suppose I am lucky that this is not a traditional Chinese painting on Xuan.

Or, better yet, maybe I can try using a matte medium next time.  Food for thought.

I am quite happy with how this experiment turns out.  There is now a richness in the color that wasn't there before and the dragonflies look so vivid they are ready to fly off the paper.  It definitely delivers the effect I am looking for.  I am also happy about my use of sprayed alum solution.  I can see the clear margins around the multitudes of slight voids amongst the colors.  They look almost like divots on a golf course.  They help to portray the shimmering surface of the pond.  I am using them as subtle clues to augment our visual processing of the picture.  

I anguish over the matting of the painting.  Just a little bit.  My dilemma is that I have unequal heights in my upper and lower borders.  Typically a Chinese painting would have a wider upper margin because we designate that margin as the "Heaven", which trumps everything.  The example is most obvious in all the vertically hung scrolls.  But I am not dealing with a typical Chinese painting here, so I am not bound by that tradition.  I am going to cut my mat with unequal top and bottom margins and designate the bottom end as the one with the wider border. 

I am using a white mat with a black underside, thus the beveled edge shows up in black.  I really love the look of the thin black line between the painting and the white mat.  It bestows a bespoke feel to the whole setup.  

At last, my Summer Pond painting.

Born Free

My latest landscape painting with the Central Oregon theme has gone through a few tiny revisions here and there and I am resigned to accept it as being done.  I've been ruminating on how to mount this painting, if at all.  I am trying to not mount or frame every piece that I have completed ( the ones that speak to me anyways ) because I don't want to be hoarding all these pieces, collecting dust.  Anyways this is one of those works that pulls me to the wall now and then and I feel like that it deserves a stage.

My last landscape painting, Chibi Nostalgia is mounted on canvas; the method I coined Xuan-Boo (Xuan paper on cloth).  I like its presentation so much that I am going to make a companion for it.  It just happens that both paintings share the same 1:2 aspect ratios.  A lot of Xuan paper come in that native ratio, i.e. a 4 foot long piece would have a 2 foot width.  My Chibi measures 18 in x 36 in and this new piece is a little junior to that, at 15 in x 30 in.  I fashioned my canvas using a piece of canvas drop cloth wrapped around a wood frame and covered with gesso. 

Starch is used for the wet mounting process.

The over-hang margin is tucked under the wooden frame and secured with starch. The over-hang conceals the bare canvas, and gives the piece a more "finished" appearance. 

A dry broad stiff brush is used to pound on the surface, under the protection of a couple sheets of  newspaper.  This pounding process is my poor-man's press; it helps to form a good seal between the Xuan paper and the canvas.  The newspaper also helps to wick up excess moisture and helps with the drying process. 

The freshly pounded painting is left in a cool corner to dry.  A slow drying process is preferred, as it ensures even drying and thus tightening of the paper.  Quick, uneven drying can lead to warping of the frame with this mounting method.

The wet Xuan paper is extremely fragile and delicate at this stage, and any rough handling or even thumbing on the painting could cause a tear.  I have many procreative expletives for those occasions.  I learn my lesson the hard way.

The mounting is totally dried after a day and one can handle it with relative ease now.

I apply a coat of Liquitex gloss medium and varnish onto my finished mounting.  The medium helps to restore the "wet" look of the painting, as if the Xuan paper was still wet.  I can also look forward to it forming a physical protective film over my painting, defending an occasional errant fingerprint. 

I know it is rather difficult to discern the difference between the coated and the un-coated pieces from these photos, especially after they've been transferred and uploaded and are subjected to web constraints.  Hopefully one can see the bottom version ( coated ) looks richer, more vivid and reveals more detail about the brushstrokes.  It has more depth. 

Many will argue that this coating process destroys the "paper" ambience, especially when it relates to paintings done on Xuan.  The coating renders the painting more like an oil painting than a painting done on traditional Xuan, especially when I mount it on canvas instead of a scroll.  I know and I don't disagree.  God knows I've received tons of flak for my practice.  The trouble is, I do enjoy this variant and I think some of my paintings benefit from this presentation. I try to employ this method judiciously. 

Painted 1x3 boards are used for the frame.  A dado blade carves out a narrow channel around the inside edge, framing my canvas mounted painting and wearing a more polished look. 

I name this piece Born Free because of the 14 horses; being somewhat obscure notwithstanding.