BROMMER WORKSHOP: DAY 3

GERALD BROMMER WORKSHOP PAINTING #4

I started the day off with preparing a new surface.  I forgot to photograph it before the gesso was applied but it wasn't too much different.  I used an interesting heavy embossed paper along with some torn Tyvek (You need to make a small cut in one side to be able to pull the Tyvek apart) and some foil that I had embossed with a textured plate.  The board I was working on was bigger than the finished image I was after so I didn't bother to cover all the space with collage.  I brushed GAC 200 over the foil so it would accept paint (GAC comes in different numbers and each one is designed to do a different job.  GAC 200 is for non-porous surfaces such as foil, glass, etc.  You can brush it on the surface before painting or mix it into the paint.  It dries clear.  This is a Golden Acrylic product available at major art suppliers both local and online.)  I partially covered the heavy embossed paper with gesso.

GERALD BROMMER PAINTING #4 FINISHED

Here is the finished painting, cropped as I had envisioned it.  It is difficult to photograph foil but the embossing shows up in an intriguing way.  I used carbon ink on top of this collage and like the richness of textured surfaces with just value and no color.

GERALD BROMMER PAINTING #3

This is how this painting looked yesterday when I left for the day.  I thought it was ready for the "dog pile" but someone suggested I not give up on it when they commented on yesterdays post.  I decided to give it one more layer and see if I could bring it around.  When you start doing heavy duty collage, everything in your path becomes a valuable addition to your "stash".  I was taking a walk last week and passed this tree (I think it was a Bottle Brush Tree) and there was a strip of bark hanging off the tree.  I couldn't resist and ripped it off and took it home and added it to the ever growing pile of things to take to the workshop.  So, since this was supposed to be part of a tree, I thought it might be interesting to see  if I could collage some of the bark onto the paper.  It took a little determination but it saved the day!

GERALD BROMMER PAINTING #3 WITH ADDED BARK

I covered the bark with tissue collage and when it dried added some color.  After much contemplation, I decided it should be cropped and matted to create a stronger image and a temperature dominance.  This is the final version and a detail so you can get an idea of the texture up close.

GERALD BROMMER PAINTING #3 FINISHED AND CROPPED

GERALD BROMMER #3 PAINTING DETAIL