Component 2

Following on the looking at Mithu Sen's work, I decided to make my own inks, so to continue with the natural theme of my work, instead of using synthetic inks. Using a spoon to catch the impure carbon, a product of incomplete combustion I decided a good place to start was black ink.  From my existing knowledge of chemistry, when incomplete combustion occurs, soot can form as a result. Soot is impure carbon and is black in colour. Burning a candle is an example of incomplete combustion, and by using a spoon to collect it, the soot can be scraped off and placed in a pot. It can then be mixed with water to produce a black (or very dark grey) ink. Next, I made a yellow ink. I have fond memories of cooking with my nan, and one of my favourite spices has always been turmeric, and I remember as a child always having yellow stained hands. Therefore I felt turmeric would be best to use for yellow ink. To make the ink I mixed ground turmeric into water and put it in a pan ...

After experimenting with techniques on how to make paper, I found the best way and developed my technique which I feel is best for preparing and making paper. I created a youtube video showing how I prepare for making paper. I found this technique the most effective and easiest whilst also making it quite compact and this will help when coming to create my final piece and using this technique in the studio too. Making it more reasonable to have a small setup will make it easier to plan the process of paper making in my final exam.  Due to me using relativly white paper to begin with, I can produce rather white paper without the need for bleaching. The final outcome is mostly white with scattered black spots, which are fro the print on the paper before, and some faded blue spots from bleeding pen ink. But I find these add to the texture and give the paper more depth.  Below is the video of how to turn the pulp into sheets of paper. When making plain paper, I guess...

When looking for artists I wanted to investigate techniques people use on handmade paper. When looking or artists, I came across Mithu Sen, an Indian artist who works on handmade paper. Her work has erotic and feminine undertones and focuses on human interactions. Below is a piece titled Behind the Tail II. Its a piece made of mixed media, watercolor, collage, gold leaf, inks, and fabrics over handmade paper. I find her use of the flowers to match the delicacy that the paper processes and contrasts the structural bones. In response to this, I wanted to create some pieces painting flowers using inks and seeing how the medium reacts to my handmade paper. Inspired by Sen, I created some drawings on handmade paper using pencils to sketch the bone structures and using red synthetic ink to add accents, like Sen uses. By using pencils, I created more shading and definition to the bones to give the piece more depth. This contrast the single tone of the red ink as there's no shading o...