lumena wrote:Seance, that looks really cool. So are you drawing an entire section of the reel?
I used a variety of techniques and applied them to the entire length of the 35mm roll. For this one
all the imagery is abstract/geometric since there is no underlying exposed image on the film itself.
I do have another 16mm film project that I'm working on where I'm using similar painting/scratching
techniques, but since that one has an existing image, it feels a bit different and reacts differently. The
footage for the 16mm project is something that I shot decades ago for a failed project that I never
completed. In that case scratching away the emulsion was cathartic, since it was a way to address
the feelings of failure and regret that the failed project elicited in me.
For this 35mm animation I drew with various markers and then applied various other types of inks
over that using small watercolor paint brushes. Some of the inks I used are alcohol-based while others are
lacquer-based. So the different ink mediums sometimes repelled each other in interesting ways,
or with certain combinations the pigment settled to create various sedimentary or random patterns or
undulating clouds of "grain" or textures or even crackles.
I also used a few different tools to scratch images into the emulsion either before or after applying
the ink. In one case I scratched in geometric patterns and then went over the entire thing with two different
kinds of ink (one black, one an
intense violet) and when the ink dried it sort of pooled up in the channels
and grooves that I had scratched into the film to create really cool lines. I'm super pleased with how that turned out.
For scratching film I use several different tools. I have a bookbinding awl that works great for creating strong lines
of uniform thickness. I have a sewing needle stuck into a wine cork (for ease of gripping the needle) that gives
very fine lines or wispy ones due to variations in pressure applied. I have a carving tool for carving soapstone that
creates a parallel swathe of lines of varying depth, which, when used on exposed film creates different colors
depending upon how much emulsion is scraped away.
I also used a few different kinds of sandpaper or grinding tools to create ghostly texture blocks and random line swirls.
Eventually I'll post that project, but not quite yet.
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:13 pm
(though I do love exactly what you're doing now, if Chank's Clipper is any indication, plus that drip masterpiece in the b/s/t 
)
