Experiment in oil washes, ink + bleach, charcoal and white pastel.
The colours I chose reflect the mood, atmosphere, feelings I had before and after I took the image, walking around the woods with a friend.
What worked well
Layering lots of mediums creates lots of texture and depth that works well on this scale.
Pink area in bottom right of finished piece is particularly successful. The dark pink fits the shadows in the image, and the white pastel sits brightly on top.
Scale and texture of paper work well.
What didn’t work so well
The oil washes covered too much of the paper, so there wasn’t enough room for the ink to sit and create depth.
The centre of the piece is very messy, muddy and overworked? Something isn’t right. I think it’s because there is too much colour. There needed to be less, and more room for ink washes.
The composition doesn’t provide a focus for the eye, or lead your eye anywhere.
Moving Forward
I want to try basing the colour element of these experiments on en plain air studies of the woods I am painting/drawing. This will provide more focus and purpose to the images, with more reason behind the colour choices and placing of paint.
I want to try more experiments learning from what didn’t work well here.
Georgina Harris 