Working photos - taking wall rubbings

Me taking wall rubbings after a walk with our dog - hence the wellies!

I also love the weathered, studded door and the tiny area of repair to the surrounding stonework with slices of a brick like material......some of the details featured in the photo collage included in my very first post.

4. Shape Observations

The colours and textures attracted me to the area of wall for my study, however it has quite a complex structure so I found identifying clear shapes (beyond uninteresting blobs) quite challenging; there are many different elements which make up the surface, and multiple fissures so it was difficult to decide what to focus on as positive shapes, and avoid straying off into the negative spaces between.  In the end I decided to try and capture the essence of the wall, to represent it's basic structure and form by using the building materials (brick and stone) as the main shapes - but also incorporated some of the fissures in the large area of stone (bottom right) to help break up this 'block', and capture something of it's natural structure.

It's interesting that whilst working on this close study I have to keep reminding myself that this is a wall.  The configuration of shapes and raised areas constantly makes me think of a bay surrounded by rocks, so I often find myself thinking of it as a landscape!  When I went back to look at the wall recently, I was also surprised just how small this area is - I am so used to working on it at a larger scale.

Area of study

Exercise 1 - print block

I first made a print block using mount board treated with acrylic wax (to seal the surface) and then cut shapes from a self-adhesive foam sheet; once stuck down, I nibbled into the shapes with scissors to add some texture.  I then created a page of repeat rubbings using a tinted graphite block, which was sealed with a fixing spray.  I was pleased with the effect, which looks like a patterned fabric.

Next, I lightly sprayed the surface of the print block with water and applied representative areas of colour by rubbing Inktense blocks across the surface and block-printed as a repeat pattern into my sketchbook, re-wetting and re-colouring the block as necessary.  When I created the print block I overlooked the fact that when printing, the image will of course be in reverse!  I felt it created a pleasing pattern,  though I prefer the rubbing.

The print block

Exercise 2 - torn shapes

I used 150gsm black paper for the torn shapes and applied them to a sketchbook page using acrylic medium.  This took quite some time to do, because of my struggle with  identifying meaningful shapes in the composition and bringing those together so that the final piece was representative.  If I have time, I may do some interpretive, simple pencil line sketches to capture an idea of the network of patterns created by the fissures across the area, as I think these are interesting.  This was a productive exercise and I was happy with the outcome......in the end!

Exercise 3 - stick and ink drawing

This was an attempt to capture the fissures using a free way of drawing, with a wooden skewer dipped in ink.  I first prepared the page with a layer of gesso to introduce some texture the surface.  I enjoyed the method but wasn't thrilled with the outcome and I'm not sure how helpful it will be - but I'd like to do some more stylised, interpretive sketches to try and capture these better - perhaps as part of the design stage.

I did however make some lovely dimensional spirals by laying the inky skewer on it's side and twirling (the skewer!) while dragging it downwards - an accidental discovery while cleaning it on a piece of rough paper.

Accidental spirals

Exercise 4 - recoloured photograph

I also recoloured a photograph of the area in Word, creating a 'negative' image, which highlights the high points and lighter surface areas of the wall.  The image can be seen in the top photograph (unfortunately I'm unable to attach it to my blog independently).  The textural patterns are very interesting and could be explored further as part of the design stage.

3. Making a Colour Study - Black and White

I converted the main colour image into black and white to show tonal values:

.......and then inverted the image using Picasa, which helps to identify less apparent fissures in the surface. It looks rather 'cobwebby' and could perhaps be translated using painted bondaweb and papers as a base for stitch - or a heat distressed surface with embellishment.  I'm very new to textile techniques, so my ideas are limited to things I have seen demonstrated, illustrated and/or read about.....but would love to try.

I also re-coloured both the above images in Word (thank you Sian - I didn't know you could do this!) with interesting results - but unfortunately can't find a way to transfer these to my blog.  I will try a scan.  The images highlight texture and raised areas and are helpful for that purpose, and also possibly for identifying shapes other than those which are immediately apparent in the wall, as defined by colour, form and the building materials used.

3. Making a Colour Study - Paper Weaving

I created a range of coloured papers using various techniques in a palette close to those appearing in the wall, and then cut strips in various widths to weave together:

The decorative papers used for this exercise were:

• Candle wax and graphite wall rubbings with ink wash and/or frotage using Inktense blocks and home-made print blocks (visible in the background of the top photo)
• Sketchbook pages roughly painted with gesso and then rubbed over with oil pastels to pick up the surface texture

I organised colours within the weave to approximately represent their balance and distribution across the wall sample.

I've stuck this into my sketchbook but deliberately left the long, unfinished edges as I like the contrast and balance this gives to the more densely woven area.  I really like the abstract effect this technique achieves and feel it captures the essence of the mingled construction of this old wall - though the colours used require a bit more attention.  The effect is slightly graphic, which I like - although equally this could be softened to be a more traditional weave, which I think would work well.  I'd also like to interpret this by weaving with more unusual materials.

I may explore this further for one of my resolved textile pieces using various yarns, textiles and materials to create a more textured and raised surface.

Here is a close up of the woven surface:

3. Making a Colour Study - Detail study

I made detailed study of the part of the wall which first drew my attention to this particular area, because of the lovely rusty colours in the stone contrasting with the dark blue-black lichen (Collema Crispum - common on calcareous rocks, walls and old mortar, especially in shaded places). This is the photograph I used:

For this piece I first treated the paper with white Gesso, allowing textural brush marks to remain, and worked over the top with many layers of oil pastel, blending and rubbing with my fingers as I worked.  I then drew into the pastel using a sharp graphite pencil to add fissures in the rock and surface detail to the dark areas of lichen. Finally, I used more Gesso and crumbled Inktense blocks to add the white and yellow lichen. The photograph used as reference is included opposite my drawing.

Here are some close up photographs to show some of the surface detail described above.

Ideas/thoughts for textile work:

• Possibly dyed/rusted layers of scrim as a base
• Lichen: blue-black - dense stitching using a variegated thread/yarn - consider tightly packed french knots
• Lichen: yellow and white - this has a more open texture and needs to have a stronger texture -overlaid long arm cross stitch?
• Couch fine threads for fissures?
• Could also use free machine stitching techniques - but I'm not confident with this yet.

3. Making a Colour Study - Textured Collage

I decided to build up a layered collage of torn paper (taken from my sketchbook) to create a textured surface representing the area of the wall I am studying.  This was in part to get to know the different layers and feel of the wall, and where various colours and tonal values occur - but also because my personal creative process seems to require me to pass through a detailed study phase before I can begin to explore looser and more abstract ideas around a subject.  Once I was happy with the collage, I rubbed many layers of oil pastel into the surface using a limited palette that I felt most closely represented the colours in the wall. A photograph (included in my sketchbook opposite the final piece) was used as my reference.

Below are some close ups of the artwork showing the textured layers in more detail.

Finally, I took a rubbing of the final piece to verify the textures created on the page, and was quite pleased to see some basic correlation between these and the rubbing of the wall itself.

3. Making a Colour Study - Colour Swatches

Here is the original wall rubbing stuck into my sketchbook.  I've added colour swatches created using pastel pencils, which I overlaid in layers and blended with my finger to achieve colour and tonal values I was happy with.  There are also a couple of separate marks using some oil pastels, which I later discovered also had a good colour match.  I used a printed photograph of the wall as a colour reference.

Each swatch is attached adjacent to the area of the rubbing relative to the building material present in the wall (ie brick, stone, stone and mortar) to which they apply.  The swatch in the very top left relates to the lichens found on the wall - the pale blue is surrounded by a much lighter greyish-white, which isn't clear in the photograph.  I was surprised just how many colours and tones there were within the wall and the lichens!