In the painting ‘All-Over Seriality’, I arranged the graphic and calligraphic elements from Blaqk’s works in an all-over layout and designed the background with elements of seriality. However, this seriality is repeatedly interrupted, similar to Esther Stocker’s works. Blaqk’s works mostly consist of the same graphic components: geometric shapes combined with calligraphic elements. These different elements overlap each other, creating an illusion of foreground and background. The calligraphic elements mostly look as if they were created with a quick brushstroke. However, if you look more closely at the style, you will notice that the brush was repeatedly lifted and reapplied. I would also like to use this technique for my final thesis. In addition, her works often give the impression that the graphic elements were created first. On closer inspection, however, it can be seen that the brushstrokes that overlay the graphic elements lose colour and leave a white background. This shows that the calligraphic elements were created first and the graphic elements were added later. To arrange the elements in an all-over layout, I followed the principles defined by Jackson Pollock’s works. There should be no focal point in the picture. All brushstrokes and elements should be arranged equally, without any one area of the canvas being given greater weight than another. It should also be possible to view the image from any direction without feeling like you are looking at it from the wrong side. In other words, there should be no top, bottom, left or right. Furthermore, the painting should have no relation to the edge. It should appear as if the image simply continues beyond the frame. As if you had taken a large image and stretched only a small part of it onto the frame. I began painting by priming the canvas with white acrylic paint. I used a small paint roller for this. I primed the canvas to make the background as white and bright as possible. The surface of the canvas had a slight grey tint, which I was able to paint over well with the white. Once the primer had dried, I began to apply the calligraphic elements. I used a brush about 8 cm wide for this. I worked with the canvas lying on the floor so that I could paint from all sides, similar to Jackson Pollock. I repeatedly lifted the brush and reapplied it to create shapes that can only be achieved with multiple brushstrokes. I used the wide and narrow sides of the brush to create different stroke thicknesses. Jackson Pollock’s works often feature splashes of paint in varying sizes. I wanted to achieve a similar effect with the different stroke thicknesses.
Once the calligraphic elements had dried, I determined the positions for the graphic elements and considered where they should be placed visually above or below the brushstrokes. I first masked off the graphic elements with tape and tried to precisely define the curves of the brushstrokes so that the black paint would not cover them. I then painted the resulting shapes with white paint and rolled them smooth with a paint roller. This was to close any gaps under the tape and prevent the black paint from running under the tape. Once the white paint had dried, I applied the black paint with a brush. I then rolled out the paint with a paint roller to cover the brush strokes.
Once the black paint had dried, I removed the adhesive tape. I noticed that, unfortunately, the paint had still seeped through the tape in some places. In other places, however, it had not, resulting in a straight edge. I probably should have pressed the tape down more firmly in some places or used a stronger adhesive tape. However, I was concerned that tape that was too strong might tear off the paint underneath. In contrast, I was able to successfully meet the all-over criteria. There is no focal point in the picture and all the elements it contains appear to be evenly distributed. There is also no discernible direction or reference to the edge.
In the final work, I decided against the element of seriality that I had planned in the first draft. In that draft, I really liked the lines in the background. In the final work, however, I felt that the lines took up too much white space. Since the image consists only of black and white paint, it is important to have enough white space to create a balance between light and dark. The exclusive use of black and white creates the greatest possible contrast, which makes the brushstrokes particularly visible. It also increases the focus on the shapes. I didn’t want to distract from this focus with seriality. I also decided against the lines from the first draft, as the characteristics of the all-over would be lost due to the predetermined direction in seriality.
