chris ruston
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Consolidating what I have learnt - Suminagashi/ Marbling/ Drawing experiments

1/16/2019

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There always seems to many ideas and not enough time to follow all the threads that  new skills and techniques generate! Having been familiar with using ink as a drawing medium,I have been thinking about how the process of suminagashi, and marbling might be incorporated into my existing practice.

Last Autumn I decided to take up the challenge of 'Inktober' (work can be viewed on instagram). The challenge was to produce an ink drawing everyday for the month. This exercise produced a number of drawings - some I consider complete others as 'beginnings'. I decided to experiment by combining the Suminagashi process over the initial marks. I was excited by the combination and feel it has further potential. The Suminagashi marks add a delicate layer of  transparent lines.  Finally, some of the drawings had a final layer of graphite marks added to  make them complete. Definitely something to explore further!
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Combining a layer of Suminagashi 
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Ink  drawing, suminagashi, graphite drawing.
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The Simple Pleasure of Marbling.

1/14/2019

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Having experimented with Suminagashi, I wanted to learn more about the traditional methods of marbling. Having evolved through the Middle Ages, marbling was once so highly prized  artists would jealously guard their processes and designs. My father initially trained as a bookbinder, so I grew up with some the books he had restored. There was always something magical about opening those old books with their beautiful marbled endpapers.  I owe my love of art and books to him.
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While Suminagashi is a fairly straightforward process and can be easily set up in a studio or kitchen, marbling with carrageenan moss is a more involved process.  Size is required to be added to the water to hold the gouache on the surface. There are more variables that can affect the outcome. For the process to be successful the correct balance is essential - for example the temperature can have an influence, as can the hardness of the water used.
However when all is in balance the results can be extremely satisfying. I quickly became absorbed by two particular patterns - the vein and the stone pattern. ​
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    Welcome.
    ​Here you will find a gathering of thoughts, notes, and images which inform my work.  A "virtual sketchbook" of projects and ideas as they evolve.

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  • About
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Art Works
    • The Ark >
      • Adrift
    • The Great Gathering
    • Blickling Hall
    • Salts - LighthouseKeeping
    • The Sea
    • World of Ice
    • Lost Voices - Whaling
    • Pages from a Frozen Sea
    • Capturing the Moment.
    • Holuhraun 2014 -2015
    • Silent Spring Revisited
    • Archived Pages >
      • Ocean Blue
      • Fire - The True Egde of Creation.
      • Before The Beginning.
      • Al Mutanabbi Street Project
  • Instagram
  • Contact
  • Links