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ANTILOG_05July15a
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12:56 2015-07-05
* Yet another treatment has been applied to the First Official White Point Painting, for the White Point Project and Series ("ongoing").
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Time: Sun Jul 05 12:44:26 2015
Experiment: WHITE POINT PHASE ONE THIRD TREATMENT 003 - WASHING CANVAS
Statement of Purpose: The purpose of this current, the third, treatment was to diminish the intensity (read: saturation) of the yellow I used in the previous treatment (from yesterday when I started this painting, the first in the White Point Series). That's the purpose. The purpose is to really slowly "distress" the canvas. I begin with very thin layers of color, which I scratch and add synthetic or artificial "wear & tear" to, to give a faux-finish that looks "old" or "antique" (see. "antiquing", "relicing", "patination", etc.). The idea is to slowly and continuously shape the surface of the canvas in such a way that it looks old and "yellowed at the edges", but entirely "synthetically" (in a general process I tend to call "antisynthesis". The idea is to give it the veneer of "patina", a.k.a. the special "character" of antique furniture, to give a concrete example. You could call it a "refining" process. It is "iterated", "ambient", and "experimental". ("Serial" as well, of course!).
Procedure: Simply put, what I did was mix some white acrylic, only a few drops, into a metal pan / dish with a good deal of water. Say it was 95% water + 5% pigment/paint, or even substantially less than that. I used titanium white (or a variant thereof) and now I am just waiting for it to dry. As it dries, I meticulously observe every aspect of the surface "as-it-dries", to check out or try to spot anomalies, areas maybe missing paint. I am currently using a resin banquet table - 6 feet by 4 feet - and it's in these kinds of situations that one notices that FLOORS in apartment buildings are NOT EVEN LEVEL. The paint is slowly dripping to one side. The table and floor, the entire building, ISN'T LEVEL. So that's another reason why I have to watch and observe it quickly as it dries, because my goal / objective here was to apply a WHITE WASH on the ENTIRE SURFACE, equally everywhere.
Notes: It turns out that I had too much water in my mixture. The watered-down white paint, given that the acrylic itself is cheap and has less actual pigment than usual, what happened is that the whitewash treatment I just did is basically disappearing as it dries. But that's okay. It is still giving a DESIRABLE EFFECT, it's just VERY, VERY MINIMALISTIC. It is extremely subtle, which is fine, I will just correct that in Treatment Number Four.
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13:30 2015-07-05
* I applied a fourth treatment to the White Point Painting. (Phase One, Fourth Treatment).
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Time: Sun Jul 05 13:21:58 2015
Experiment: WHITE POINT PHASE ONE FOURTH TREATMENT - THE END OF PHASE ONE #004
Statement of Purpose: The purpose of Phase One was simply to "weather" the surface of the canvas some. I wanted to give it a textured veneer, all in infinitesimally off-white treatments/coats of paint, what can be called adding "PATINA" or a process of "patination". The Fourth Treatment of Phase One prepares us for Phase Two.
Procedure: What I did was "pat" the surface a little after it had been drying for several minutes, say 10-15-20 minutes. I patted it with a highly textured "texture sponge" as well as with some Paper Towel (the kind with a textured "pattern" on it). Then I added a little more of the whitened/yellowed paint and "texturized" that as well. In the last phase of this treatment, I ended up adding some more paint, this time a mixture I had made for a quick paint test on another surface (a small canvas, perfect for doing paint tests). I am letting it dry now and observing it closely, with an eye meticulously scanning and monitoring for details.
Notes: The First Phase basically, of the first official WHITE POINT PAINTING, is virtually over. I will be adding a transparent medium to the surface, what you might call an acrylic "varnish", which will be matte. I may then add some "granular" textures, using a product called a "No-Slip Compound". It's a product you add to a freshly painted surface to make it less SLIPPERY. It is a great compound for adding a little texture to a canvas, which is my goal here. The transparent medium/matte acrylic varnish, will not affect the COLOR of the painting in its current state. I must just remember not to use too much of the No-Slip Compound, or else I risk "UNDOING" some of my hard work so far on this painting. You just go slow and add it in layers.. it is like a powder of sorts, with a "SANDY TEXTURE".
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18:13 2015-07-05
* I made some more progress on the WHITE POINT PAINTING. Here are my notes.
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Time: Sun Jul 05 17:57:31 2015
Experiment: WHITE POINT - BEGINNING OF PHASE TWO: PREPARATIONS & INVOCATIONS, FIRST TREATMENTS
Statement of Purpose: I finished up Phase One of the first official WHITE POINT PAINTING. I am starting Phase Two. All I did was some extra DISTRESSING. All part and parcel of the iterative process. The purpose of this step is to give the surface YET MORE CHARACTER.
Procedure: I began using a "sandblock", a sand paper in the form of a small block. I used that some, to "age" the surface a little more, and then I added color and texture, all the while ensuring that I give it a good "wear & tear" and "patina" look and feel. This was the first "official" PATINA LAYER / TREATMENT. I began using contrasting colors.
Notes: This "preparation" step is going to be in two parts. I did some more stuff to the surface which I will describe in the next "REPORT".
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Time: Sun Jul 05 18:02:31 2015
Experiment: WHITE POINT - BEGINNING OF PHASE TWO: PREPARATIONS PART II, FIRST TREATMENTS #002
Statement of Purpose: At this point, I begin adding substantial amounts of color. I will often be "going over" my own work. That is, I will do something, apply a wash or some paint and the result will be that it will effectively "ERASE" something that I did earlier. That's okay because I can still make the older layers show through. All I have to do is "SCRATCH" the surface, or use SAND PAPER; there are many ways to make the older, bottommost layers shine through. That's one of the reasons I like to work with watered-down paint, so that it has some level of transparency. Plus I don't have to paint "ALL-OVER" the entire surface of the canvas, which automatically means the earlier layers will show through.
Procedure: Basically, I did a treatment comprising of the application of "YELLOWED" and slightly WHITENED "PUMPKIN ORANGE. I applied the orange with a palette knife to a good portion of the surface, say maybe 70-80% of the surface of the canvas. Then I scratched it with the palette knife as well as distressed it with an EXACTO KNIFE. I waited for it to dry and then later I used the SAND PAPER on the surface.
Notes: The idea was to add a little color, or CONTRAST. I effectively chose a tone of pale yellowed-orange.. The mixture, say, was 60-70% "pumpkin orange", the rest being white and yellow (a variant of "Cadmium Yellow" that's apparently called "bright yellow" or "canary yellow"). The color basically looks like the inside of a raw sweet potato. The darker HUE helps give the canvas character. Now there is beginning to be some CONTRAST. The only thing is, I ended up "UNDOING" a lot of the work and treatments I did before, by essentially "painting over them". That's okay. For the next treatment, I will be adding back some of the same light colors that I applied in the beginning. Then I will also be scratching and "distressing" the surface some more, hopefully revealing some of the underpainting.
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