i lived in brighton for a while and i would cycle to the beach at dawn ... to swim if the weather permitted ... and to collect small pieces of driftwood that had some texture and/or animation
walking alone beside the waves in all weathers, and having some trivial purpose, was extremely therapeutic ... the sea has many rhythms and the mind slows down imperceptibly whilst you are near to it
i gave each piece of dry wood two or three coats of acrylic paint with a good sable brush ... watered-down liquitex is nice because it has a fine texture and when brushed on gently will flow and creep into most of the cracks and crevices ... i found i could mix and keep a colour for a long time in an airtight 35mm film canister
you have to be patient and must allow each coat to harden and set
when the colours seemed right, i would give them an extra coat of liquitex translucent gold ... the microscopic flakes of mica migrate and congregate while the paint is liquid
all you need is time and patience and good eyesight
3 comments:
But those are delightful Tristan...
Fascinating and almost as enjoyable to behold as it must have been to paint them.
Amazing, a work of patience, and they are extraordinarily beautiful.
I think Brighton must be one of the best places ever for driftwood, must be the combination of pebbles and coastal drift... you hardly find any here, it's disappointing, but it all seem to end up on the other side of the Channel!
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