A “happy accident” in a painting is something unplanned or unintended that gives a result we like or that is interesting to work with. But I don’t have to simply wait for one to happen: I can deliberately create the conditions in which happy accidents occur, increase the odds of something intriquing happening though never having control of the outcome.
Acrylic ink is one of my favourite mediums for doing this. To do a drawing and then spray it with water. The result depends on how much ink is on the surface, how much has dried, how much water is sprayed and how close to the ink I spray it. Bonus: it freaks people out who’ve not seen it done before because it gets messy.
Here’s a photo of my final painting, before I get into the layers in it. As you can see, even though a process may be chaotic and messy, the final result need not be overtly so. The reason for doing it is that it benefits me in the making of the painting, it’s exciting and challenging in a way that colouring in a line drawing can never be.
Mixed media on A2 watercolour paper. Sold.
My first step was to do a drawing in the ink.
I could have let it dry and then add colour, but I want something that’s wilder, so sprayed it with water. (Click on a video to see it full size.)
The result:
I placed paper towel over the result to lift off a bit of the excess inky water.
Then I scrunched up the inky paper and stamped across the surface.
The result:
What a delightful chaotic mess to work into. It’s hard to be patient waiting for it to dry, but any wet medium added will mix in and ruin the effect, whilst coloured pencil can tear the wet surface, so I usually work on something else.
I don’t stress if my drawing has dissolved as I can always refind and redraw it. Dealing with what has happened is part of the process. I enjoy responding to what’s there and nudging it in a direction.
Next I got out my watercolours and added a layer of “harbour wall colours”.
Once this had dried, I used opaque acrylic paint to draw in the rusty ring and chains. I also added some opaque colour to some of the harbour wall stones.
Next I added a layer of coloured pencil. It’s subtle in many places, you only notice it up close.
Next layer was oil pastel, both lights and darks. The watercolour paper I’m using has a slight texture to it, which breaks up the pastel line.
I went back and forth with coloured pencil and oil pastel until I got to this point.
After pondering it for a while, I decided the darks weren’t strong enough. Time for something dramatic rather than faffing about. So I poured ink over the whole thing and sprayed this with some water.
Relax, remember there’s a lot of oil pastel on the surface and the ink won’t stick to that.
I left it vertical, to drip-dry overnight.
The next morning I added some light orange oil pastel to the rings, and declared the painting finished.
Mixed media on A2 watercolour paper.
