Neighbourhood Cat - 2024 09 14

 

Soy wax, ink wash, graphite, pencil crayons, oil pastel, ink pen, shellac - 8 1/2 x 11 on paper

It must be over 20 years, likely in 2003, that I was interested in the qualities of using shellac for painting. I used it for my graduating project at Emily Carr, and I also experimented with coating paper for smaller works. I recently came across these coated sheets of paper and decided to see what happens when I use batik methods to melt wax and draw on the surface to create zones of resistance in the drawing.

It turned out the shellac surface is almost 100% waterproof on the paper, so when I flooded the sheet with ink wash after applying the wax, the ink wash beaded up and barely absorbed into the paper. I used graphite and pencil crayons to build up the shape, depth and tone of the subject. Then I used white oil pastel, and then white pen, to build up the lightness, and then using a 6B graphite to add back darkness.

Only after I stepped away and put the drawing up on the wall did I realize how the tension between light and dark, and working up between them, was also an expression of my inner state, the ongoing conflict of constraint and freedom that gives each day its own special quality, ranging from depression to elation, depending on the number of inputs, pressures and opportunities I am dealing with. Also, whether I have been able to have an uninterrupted nap. : )

Neighbour Cat was a worthy subject to provide an output for this internal dialogue so I could better understand this feeling of being pushed and pulled by forces beyond my control.

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