Marco Carofalo ART

Experimentation is a vital part of my practice and taking the time to observe different ideas is important to continue. I took the weekend to be creative and not be bogged down with typing up notes or working on my dissertation. Taking the time to do this makes me more productive and often throws up new avenues to explore. I had these three screen print tests that I pulled on canvas board and wanted to explore painting over them. I had produced a digital scan which I wanted to respond to with these paintings. I mixed up yellow ochre and red oil paint to produce this rich orange, which I diluted with white spirit and then applied to the canvas so it would respond to the material and make its own way down the board with slight interventions by myself. I liked the organic effect that was created and the cracking of the pigment. I was painting in a grid-like formation to converse with the underlying print. This is a technique I will certainly take forward and use on some of my final works. I treat my printmaking like painting, so to introduce this medium into my process appears to be the next logical step. This was a real success for me and led me to consider other ways I may be able to introduce overlaying my prints with other processes.  

I wanted to include square geometric painting into my prints and explore further diluting paint, observing the effects produced when removing pigment. I masked off some sections and applied water colour and then removed the medium. I wanted to produce a streaked wash that would mimic the look of a photocopy and the grid that appears on the computer screen. This worked to a point but the use of masking tape broke the paper when removing and allowed some if the paint to seep though. The next test was on a small canvas using diluted oil paint again. The subtle effect produced was very appealing and could see working well on top of my prints,  however, the masking tape reacted in an unexpected way allowing the medium to seep through and create a sticky residue when removing the tape. Using the appropriate masking tape is essential if I am going to take this method forward and some further investigations and experimentation will be required. I feel this was mainly down to the heavily diluted paint and high quantities of white spirit used.