I had more of my original stretched tracing paper to use up, and decided it was time to try something oily instead. So I made the same image, this time in oil pastels. I have Senellier ones, which are nearly as soft as butter, so these seemed a good way to begin exploring how the tracing paper reacted to them, and how absorbent it might be.
Here’s my attempt:
It looked rich and subtle on its board. The colours are deep and blend in an interesting way that makes the image look good. They don’t seem to have been absorbed by the paper at all, but are fixed nicely.
However, I needed to see how this looks with light shining through it, so I fixed it to the studio window.
The day isn’t particularly sunny, but all the same, these pastels seem more transparent than I expected, and light comes through each mark. Their colours are a lot like those of the cine frame, but not so strong as they were with board behind. I thought this would work better than it does. While it was on its board, these marks were solid and said more than they do now. With light coming through, the image is weaker. But then, maybe I want to show how some narratives weaken like memories dim, and the voices of storytellers fade with distance? The watercolours I made on tracing paper were more satisfying with light coming through, after all. I shall leave it fixed to the studio window with the other pictures of this frame that I have made so far so I can keep looking at them and think about how they are working.
Although I really want to make images from the same frame to compare my results, I haven’t got any more mediums to use at Uni, so I have a go at a different frame, using soft pastels again on the last sheet of thin stretched tracing paper. Here is a photo of the frame I’m working from:
This is one of my favourites. I love the way the figure seems to loom from its landscape, and then fractures into pure colour shreds.
Here is my soft pastel image still stuck to my drawing board, followed by the same image stuck to the studio window:
I really like this image fixed to the window. It’s turned out well. The paper isn’t damaged of course, which is what I loved about the watercolours I have done, but these soft pastels against light are interesting in a different way.
My tutor says there are other grades of tracing paper. I’m getting some to try out. May treat myself to some inks too… Meanwhile I have had a tutorial with another tutor, who pointed out that I could make some sort of projected installation of the lost cine frames. I tell him that I’ve been keen to try and make something original from them, but he shrewdly points out that I’d be appropriating. Appropriation is my elephant in the room. It’s an activity that really fascinates me, and was the subject of my dissertation, but I have found limited ways of using it effectively. One of the most interesting aspects of my project is looking at the ownership of narratives. Appropriation is a brilliant way to do this – if I can figure out the best way to use it.
