POINTILLISM

EXPERIMENTING AT HOME

Strengths & Weaknesses of Tools

FISH AS OFTEN USED RITUALISTIC AND RELIGIOUS SYMBOL

I sawed off the end of a paintbrush to create a flat surface to used as a pointillism tool. I liked how it held a fair amount of paint and made defined round stamps.

I was surprised how well the fish turned out as I’d been disappointed at my previous attempts using a brush. As I started to apply the paint, I noticed that using that using this technique created a texture that could resemble fish scales. This made me start to see the possibilities using this kind of technique of painting.

I could see how using a tool created for this particular application gave me much more control and uniformity leading to a better outcome.

Experiments with fine brush tip

CONNECTION BETWEEN ANCIENT TATTOOING AND POINTILLISM

Continuing on our theme of Ritual, I chose a tattoo symbol that had been found on ancient Egyptian female mummies. I wanted to explore the connection between pointillism and this ancient way of tattooing which is to use a sharp pointed stick, dipping it in soot. This is then repeatedly applied to the skin, piercing it every time to allow the soot-ink to stain the dermis. I used the tip of a fine brush which wasn’t very effective as I found it hard to control the amount of paint and also the size of the dots. I used the same technique on the moon with similarly disappointing results. I was not unhappy with the serpent or the moon but if the exercise was to create tools and paint using pointillism technique, I think the fish is more successful.

MARK-MAKING WITH IMPROVISED TOOLS

Having felt rather skeptical about this task and half deciding that I might end up with nursery school style paint stampings, I was proved entirely wrong and I loved this task!

I enjoyed the energy in the studio with everyone foraging around looking for bits and bobs to make interesting marks. I collected various things and found that the materials I was most satisfied with collecting, definitely didn’t make the best marks. My favorite tool was the kitchen sponge/scourer. I applied both pink and green paint to the rough side and pressed it down quite firmly and turned it full circle and it created fantastic results which look like an astral vortex. I also liked the strange, creature-like images that were made using frayed rope and ink.

PATTERNS MADE BY VARIOUS TOOLS