Obsessing Over Mark-Making

Funny how something piques your interest and won't let go of your brain until you explore it. What got me recently?  Mark-making. Talk about double adventures ~  first making the tools and then experimenting with them!! 

I poked around the winter foliage in the backyard looking for things that might make interesting marks.  I'd already saved some household things I thought would be interesting to use - a broken wooden fork, a piece of heavy string, loops of jute twine, etc. 

Gathering Materials

 Then, using sticks, wire and floral tape, I created the "brushes."

Completed Tools

Finally, on to playing with them. The first test of them taught me that the marks changed as the way the tool was wielded changed.  Some made better marks when scrubbed on the paper, some when rolled or "flopped" back and forth, some when dragged.  

Testing, Testing

Next I made painted papers with acrylic paints using a variety of methods to add color to each one. I was hoping to create conversations between the colors and the marks made by the tools.

Painting, Scraping, Rolling Acrylic Color

And finally, the tools were used with ink over the background papers, some lines subtle, some bold.  

I'm excited to continue this exploration.  Have you experimented with mark-making or creating natural brushes?  The possibilities are endless!!