Within it, stood an experiment I never thought I would be testing, some 23 years later.
Dated '1991'
This was a charcoal picture I did, for an exercise (written on the back) called, Harmony and Movement. I have vague recollections of not understanding the exercise, but giving it my best shot. I scored a High Achievement, which was second to the highest score you could have achieved.
It's very amateurish, I know, but the interesting thing about this charcoal picture was how I fixed it with nothing more than hairspray. It's lived in my portfolio, pressed up against other pictures, for around 23 years. When I touched the charcoal with my fingers recently, it barely came off.
I have yet to try a proper fixative, but I think its fair to say that hairspray is a good, second alternative.
Its amazing that it remained intact like that and remains fixed too. I don't know about the acidity of hair spray vs. fixative-its something I haven't explored at all but if they are equal then hairspray is cheaper. And doesn't clog like fixative seems to in my house.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting peice to me. I love the movement you got with all the lines. Its interesting how some of the feather markes line up in opposite ways to the white space between the lines too-do you see what I mean? white agains black? And you got a really good face in that owl if you ask me-not sure how old you were in 1991 but I am grateful that somebody recognized your skill and kept you moving as an artist. Thanks for sharing this.
Looking back, I could've added so much more movement, by changing the contours of the background lines - but at the time (being a teenager) I had so much going on, I found it hard to focus on experimenting, lol. Now its a little different.
ReplyDeleteI do see what you mean about the feather lines too. I made sure to smudge them, so they wouldn't compete with the background, as there was so much happening there. Thank you for your feedback and kind words of encouragement. :)
I considered the acidity of hairspray too, and wouldn't know what was in the list of ingredients. I'm guessing they wouldn't want anything too acidic to damage the hair, but then hairspray is only designed to be worn temporarily too. I can tell the paper has aged, because its not as crispy new, but its also not very delicate either - still holding its form.
I guess the thing to remember with hairspray is that it probably depends on what's in the list of ingredients. There's no way of knowing if the hairspray I used 23 years ago, had less acidic ingredients or more, compared to the ingredients used today. I know I tried to purchase (or my mum did) a low fragrance variety, simply because the smell could drive us crazy.
I remember several other girls asking to use my hairspray too, because it didn't smell as bad as theirs. ;)
Good points about the particular brand of hair spray you used-maybe that was it. Formulas change all the time-and I can't think of what year the harmful toxins were removed from cans in the U.S.-I am sure they did the same in Australia-so its hard to make a comparison. I have finished a pastel piece that I need to fix and I am afraid to use my fixative but I wll be buying hair spray tomorrow.
DeleteI understand that you were a teen and that you could of done more-no judgement at all. I found the contrast of the lines very interesting even if you smudged them. I might have not smudged them but then we would not have Harmony and I would of gotten low marks. lol.
See, you weren't even in the class, and you understand what harmony is! I really struggled grasping these concepts, lol. I think you would've gotten great marks and I probably would've sat next to you, talking all about art then too. ;)
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