"1600" was created for a faculty show in March at the Art Institute of Charlotte. I needed to create something new, because just a month ago, The Black Male Image- Reworked series was displayed. So of course I could not show something that everyone had seen.
"1600" is the number of possible African American students who could have made it through graduation. I not sure of this number- and it could be alot higher- but what I do know is that there are many AAfrican AAmerican students who have missed out on an opportunity to be successful. And getting an Education is the beginning of a successful journey.
The image in green is a screen print of my grandmother's graduation class. The image transfer (in black) at the bottom of the canvas is an image from myvintage photo collection. Both images are signs of the beginning of education for African Americans -the repeat of circles is to symbolized the 360 degree saying- "What goes around comes around".
The red stamped dates at the bottom represent the never ending stamping of time wasted and/or time spent of making good things happen. "I am all about making good things happen."
Below are the steps taken in creating "1600"
For this piece I recycled an old painting. I covered it with white gesso and then covered it with Mustard yellow acrylic paint
Step 1
I wrote a few lines about being successful. I drew in the letter A to also represent the beginning- or a new start. You are still able to see the old painting, and really I was ok with that. I thought it gave it more texture.
Step 2
Sticky letter were added and then I repainted the entire board with the mustard yellow paint - about 3 coats. You still can see the under painting, but not as much.
Step 3
This is the results of the letters ,peeled off. I used the sticky letters as a stencil You can see how much of a difference the 3 coats of paint have made. I love the contrast of light and bright yellow.
Step 4
Once the paint dried, I transferred a image on the canvas. I used the gel medium transfer method. In this photo I have applied water to the surface and had started to rub away the paper. I like the gel medium transfer method because it allows for you to maintain alot of the details of the original image.
Step 5
I added a screen printed image to the board,which I ordered from Craft chi. Actually it was a test sheet I saved. I just thought the color and the subject matter worked well. The half circle is tissue paper. I cut the tissue paper into a circle and then glued the circle on the canvas. You are able to see the color of the tissue paper,but still see the writing and number.
Step 6
Finally, I wanted to add visual texture to the bottom of the page. So date stamping came to mind. I thought how fun and textural that would be to date the collage. Randomly stamping created depth and balanced the top heavy artwork.
You might like these stories:
Creating a Brand Image for Art Business
Copyright Infrigement
Creating a Branding Image for A Craft and Design Business. LinkWithin
Posted on June 12, 2009 in Art How Tos | Permalink
Posted By: Daniel Moss
Monday, June 15th 2009 at 11:08PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
