Masking Tape
I feel like my paintings overall are progressing well. I have started to produce some works that I am happy with and have lots of ideas as to how I will progress- both of which I will talk about in later posts.
However there is one element to my work that is not working, technically it is working but not as well as I’d hoped, and that element is masking tape. I have been using masking tape a lot in my latest paintings as it helps me to create extra dimensions and layers. It is also good to segregate areas of the painting I am happy with so I can re paint areas I am not and create edges and vertices.
In short masking tape has created a depth to my paintings that I believe would be very difficult to create without it. The only problem though is this:
The paint bleeds through the masking tape and more often than takes the underlying paint off when removing it.
I have tried have tried various brands of masking tape, electricians tape and frog tape all of which failed in at least one area. I have tried wetting the tape, unpeeling the tape when the topic coat of paint is wet and dry and I still get the same results
However this then got me thinking- Does it even matter? Ultimately all its doing is making my painting look ‘untidy’
Looking at it from a logical perspective it does and it doesn’t. One could argue aesthetically it does and conceptually it doesn’t. However in this instance the concept of the work relies heavily on it’s aesthetic to make it successful. If the painting doesn’t reflect my attempt to explore colour and space then I guess it could be said to be unsuccessful- at least to me. With this in mind, perhaps I’m not asking then right question.
Maybe the correct question is “Does the negative effects of the masking tape outweigh the positive, in terms of helping me achieve what I want?”
Yes, I think it does.
