Again, I was focusing on portraying to the viewer the hidden dangers of plastic pollution – the plastic breaking down in the sea and entering the food chain. I also wanted to produce a larger painting to invite the viewer into the piece.
Positives of the process:
- Slowing down my process of painting and applying the layer thinly to begin with and blending them carefully has really enhanced the appearance of my painting. It has made the work appear more realistic as well as adding depth to the piece.
- Painting in layers starting with thin layers and ending with using a palette knife worked brilliantly. The palette knife is perfect for creating the effect of waves crashing against the rocks. The palette knife also allows me to drag the paint across the canvas carefully, creating the motion of the waves and ripples.
- Adding grey tones into the rocks prevented them appearing too bold and distracting to the viewer.
- Carefully dragging my larger paint brush over the smaller rocks – semi-covering the shape of the rock with the sea water paint to make it look like the rock is just under the surface of the sea worked really well. Occasionally the brown paint from the rock smudged outwards but this was easily scrapped away or covered. (Shown in close up 6 and 7)
- Adding small amounts of plastic netting to the background of the piece (like I did in my experiments) helped create the texture of the waves and rocks. It also makes the viewer aware of my concept, as they will notice the plastic netting and make the connection between the plastic and the ocean, hence the issue of plastic pollution. I have ensured this message will come across by again adding lots of small plastic pieces of a water bottle on top of the paint. I applied them all over the canvas but also ensured that I placed a lot of them closely together, so the viewer will be easily able to notice them. Especially when the light hits them. I decided to place them closer together than in my last piece to ensure they were easily noticeable and hence conveying my concept successfully. I also ensured that they weren’t too visually distracting as I want the viewer to be amazed by the beauty of the sea portrayed then shocked at the plastic within it, when they get up closer to the piece. This resembles how some people see the sea as only being beautiful as the plastic pollution is not always visible and by ensuring the piece coveys beauty and horror is exactly what I want to make the viewer question plastic pollution and their treatment of single use plastics.
- Putting masking tape around the edges of the canvas to prevent it being covered by paint was a great idea as it will make the piece look very professional and neat when on display.
Negatives of the process:
- I don’t have any negatives at the moment. I am very happy with the piece as it displays all the successful processes I found during my experiments.
Overall, I am very pleased as I believe the composition conveys the issue of plastic pollution well in two ways. One thing to consider is maybe adding other colours in. I will experiment with this on photoshop and take it from there.
Amy Vickery 