reworked figure studies

I've started reworking some of my figure drawings and creating new works with some of the great papers I've collected over the years. After doing so much printmaking in the past year, it's really great to do something totally different. Initially I've taken ripped up parts of figure drawings - mostly quick sketches, and used them as the basis for a new image. I've been kind of making it up as I go along, and trying not to over think things.

As they are all charcoal images, I've been slightly touching them up where they are really smudgy, and then applying white acrylic to accentuate light areas, and pasting handmade paper to create shadow and depth.

I still have to master the amount of paste I use - some of the finished images are really wrinkly and I haven't figured out how to lessen that. I tried putting one in the press - it worked for a while then went back to it's bendy self. I also wonder how to 'finish' them - should I mount on card, or more paper or leave as is...

But what I'm really enjoying is the cutting! Give me an x-acto knife, some paper and I'm happy! Lots of ideas bubbling away...

paper

This morning I was sorting through some old files and came across this photo taken sometime in June. I'd happened to be in a shop in Bras Basah complex which sells an amazing range of chinese brushes and paper, and lucky for me a Chinese calligrapher was there buying some materials. He agreed to write the Chinese character for 'paper' for me in ink. He did several versions and I have since used one of them for my business card. It is embossed in white. I specifically chose to put this character on my business card to acknowledge where paper originated from - and that's a whole story in itself!