I returned to my latest pieces, 15, 16, 17 and 18, rubbed off the masking fluid and assessed what this had done. I was right. The old fluid had bonded with the paper in places, and had not formed a proper barrier. Frames 15 and 16 show this, and are scrappy versions of the original ciné frame 18d as a result. The new fluid masks with a much cleaner edge, so 17 and 18 turn out better than I expected. However both masking fluids on all four of my inked pieces, 15 to 18, have bonded with the thicker areas of ink, which lifts off with the dried fluid as I rub. Gentle rubbing does not help. Keeping control of my paintings of these damaged frames with ink will be difficult if I want to use masking fluid to leave patches of pure light.
Here are my peeled pieces, photographed on a window to emphasise the masking fluid’s effect:
I am losing confidence in ink as a medium for these tracing paper images. I wonder whether watercolour would be less susceptible to coming off around any blobs of masking fluid. It certainly appears to penetrate the paper with pigment in a way that these acrylic inks don’t.
It is tempting to rush in with a watercolour version of these pieces, but I’m worried that this would result in an image that feels like a hasty copy of them, rather than its own response to the original ciné image. Also, the ink pigments are so much brighter – maybe I can make a delicious image if I try again.
I decide to persist for now with one more ink image of 15d, but choose another different damaged frame to work from as well, one with a more defined real shape, 22d – the licking cow – on much bigger paper.
It was a lovely sunny day, so I was able to make a timelapse video of the inked tracing paper drying
And here are the two new images dried and stuck to my space window:
I’m not really very pleased with them. The masking fluid did the same thing and peeled off ink once it had dried and I could rub the fluid off. The pigments are strong, but not subtle. The images look crude. Maybe I’m over thinking things and they’ll grow on me. Time to do something else.
