South Wirral Art Society

The use of liquid latex as a stop out solution working on paper and canvas with acrylic paint.

A demonstration by Alun Evans 12^th April 2011.

Introduction.

We were treated to a demonstration by Alun (and his wife) on the use of latex as a masking medium. It is a comlex issue to grasp but to help members I have split this paper into four distinct elements namely;

·         What themes inspired Alun?

·         What technique did he use?

·         What was the process followed?

·         What results did he get from his approach?

Themes.

Alun spent some time talking about the sort of things that interested him as an artist. This is an important issue because his interests have influenced his approach. For me the following emerged;

·         Contrast between industry and nature.

·         Relationship between industry and nature. This might seem similar to the above but this is more about the interplay between the two.

·         Process. There is certainly process in Alun’s approach but there is a deeper  underlying idea at play here. The charcoal he used was a good example: a natural material subject to an industrial process then used to create art about nature and industry - the circle is closed.

·         Margins especially those between land and water, nature and manmade.

·         Time. Winter mixed in with summer, ambiguity about day and night the blurring of the margins between time periods.

What is important is the composition on the paper and the relationship between the objects on the paper.

Technique.

To some extent this will be covered in the following section on process, but it is worth spending time developing an understanding of the basis of the technique, and the mindset it demands. The key for me is to think of a negative for a photograph. This is a bit old fashioned but I think it helps. On a negative the white areas represent the dark areas on the finished photograph – dark areas equal light areas. This is because of the amount of light that reaches the photographic paper through the negative. Light areas let through more light so the paper turns dark – dark areas less light so the paper remains lighter. Similarly the latex dictates what colour reaches the canvas (or the layers of paint already on the canvas), and once removed exposes what lies beneath. We have all used masking fluid to keep areas white when using watercolours – the same principles apply. Think about your painting in reverse; decide what yo want to show through to the final painting and protect it with latex. The advantage is that you can paint over with great freedom withour having to stay witin the lines and in doing so the results will give you interesting effects and textures. So in brief this is what it might look like in practice;

·         I might want some white hills in the distance so my latex is applied to form the hills.

·         I might then put a blue wash over the whole thing.

·         On top of my wash of blue I might draw a lake and then blank that with latex.

·         Next I cover the bottom half with green but not including the area with the hills and the blue above the hills.

·         I then block in some trees and fields with my latex before finishing off with some  brown in the forground.

·         When I remove the latex I should have a brown foreground, a green middle ground with fields and trees formations and a blue lake, white distant hills and a blue sky above.

This is over simplifying the process but I hope it helps you to grasp the idea. The trick is to think through your picture before you start and how you will build up your layers. But one important message is just experiment with it  and just see what happens – don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Alun used the example of his painting of Jodrall Bank to illustrate the process he went through. Briefly this is what he did;

·         Extensive preliminary sketches and photographs.

·         Used a combination of images.

·         Projected the image onto a canvas for a pencil drawing.

·         Applied latex to his pencil lines and the bowl of the telescope.

·         Applied a black gesso over the main body of the painting  but not the sky.

·         Peeled off the latex but not off the telescope, leaving the landscape as white outlines on the black background.

·         Applied a light wash to take the edge off the whitelaid down new lates for a hedgerow in the foreground.

·         Applied field colours to the landscape onto the black gesso.

·         Peeled off the latex and finished the painting in the normal manner.

Results.

What does Alun achieve from all his work and effort in taking this approach?  Well I feel the following;

·         A very individual signature style that cold only be a D Alun Evans.

·         A striking painting with a poster/graphic quality.

·         Interesting textures, patterns, maks with ‘happy accidents’ sometimes that add to the painting.

·         Excitement and anticipation as the latex is removed and the picture is born.

Art should be exciting, it should be experimental, it should be discovering new ways to be made, and should embrace new techniques, after all oil paints were new in the 17^th century and just look what they have done for art! So take Alun as a catylist to try something new TODAY!

Thank you Alun, and thank you to you wife for her input on a great evening for the society. All the best for your future, every success and wishing you an endless supply of latex.

Peter Appleton

Secretary.