Transparent Materials for Painting

 


    In my painting practice, I have been interested in the use of layers and painting with transparent materials to create compelling pieces. I work with oil paint, so trying to find a compatible material became rather difficult. My painting professor, Jordan Morgan, suggested I research Mylar. I tried to research what other people did with this material, but it was never exactly what I was looking for. The material was either opaque or the examples I found didn't even use oil paint. I found out that even though oil paint is a pretty durable medium, overtime, it is quite fragile. It is prone to cracking, yellowing, and with all of the new materials being created for oil paint, we don't know what it will do to the medium overtime. I found out that if I paint on a material that is not stiff enough, it will crack; If I paint on a material that is too smooth, the paint will crack off. Then, I finally came across Duralar. It is basically the same essence of Mylar, just a different brand and available on Amazon. So far, I have loved working with this material. It came on a roll that I can easily transport and cut to any size I desire. I recently made a painting with this material to show a vase of flowers that was slowly decaying. I started by incorporating the layers by covering the whole piece. Then, after I painted on many layers, I cut away pieces I didn't like to reveal the layer(s) behind it. I was happy with this process, and I want to bring a similar process into my capstone. 

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