Shape + texture - self-portrait

For this task I started out making test textures with brushos. I'd not used brushos since A-Level but I really like them as they're similar to inks, but I know you can make cool textures with the powder.

I first flicked the black brusho powder at some paper with a wash of water on it. I like that the black powder spreads to reveal it's actually made up of a lot of different colours that blend when the brusho is used like ink. With this method as well, you get different variations in texture depending on how much water was on that area of the paper, which can be interesting.

I did the same with the red, but a bigger clump of powder, and blew some water out towards the edges to create what looks a bit like a bloodspot.

I also tried some old running out pens, dry brush and different washes.

I liked the turquoise brusho the most though, so I decided to experiment more with that. I tried finger painting with different amounts of water and powder, which got some nice results.

My favourite texture however was using a card to crush and spread the powder around the paper with different amounts of water. These textures were all really grainy and gritty, as the card picked up different amounts of powder and water. It also created many separate lines with each individual grain of powder, which I loved - reminds me of primary school when you get as many pens in your hand as you can and draw with them all at once.

I started experimenting with these textures for features of my face. I used the flicking powder method for the base of my face as freckles, then some dry card and crushing for eyelashes, wet dragging brusho powder for the hair, and finger painting for the pupils of my eyes.

And the final image:

Although I really enjoyed playing around with the textures, I'm still not that interested in shape and collage with it, but I do think I'll try and incorporate some more textures into digital work with line.