On Burlap 3, Part 2

Having stretched the burlap onto pieces of plywood, I applied gesso and was ready to begin the background layers. For the larger piece (4' x 6') I used household acrylic latex paint (some flat, some eggshell luster). I spooned the paint onto the canvas making drips and drops all over, but concentrating certain colors in specific general regions of the burlap. After paint application I rolled the paint around with a 4" Speedball brayer (it took some time), varying the pressure, length and direction of stroke as I went. After this was done I still had quite a bit of excess paint so I decided to squeegee the excess, pulling it from one end to the other and collecting it in an old jar so it can be stored and used later. I applied a little more color as desired and mixed and pulled it with the squeegee.

First layer of background for 4' x 6' picture. Household paints on gessoed burlap.

For the smaller picture (approximately 4' x 2'), I used tube acrylic paints, applying the red, yellow blue and white in diagonal strips which were worked/spread using the 4" Speedball brayer. After the paint dried, I applied black acrylic paint from a tube to various areas of the background and spread it using the brayer.

First and second layers of background on approximately 4' x 2' gessoed burlap.

On the smaller picture I plan to stencil on the picture below. This image is from my computer (MacBook Pro) and has been color adjusted for saturation, exposure and contrast. Not having a printer or a digital projector, I was not sure how to replicate this image on a large scale. I had some acrylic plates used for monoprinting still in my studio space so I created a grid using permanent markers and propped the piece of acrylic against my laptop screen.

Digital photograph on computer screen with 'analog' grid overlay.

I taped together two pieces of Bristol at the proper dimensions, recreated the grid from the overlay (above picture) and proceeded to rescale the picture.

The next step will be to laminate the front of the picture prior to cutting the stencil. At the same time I will probably create a stamp for the background which will say 'Open Up.' I'll then spray paint the image onto the background, touch it up and...we'll see if it needs anything else.