Back to Chaos

Today I created the background of my image. I used the collaged newspaper sheet as a base and I then placed black and white paint over it, using water to gradually disperse the paint, drawing on water colour techniques. I used shape in the form of squares on the left side of my painting to represent pixels, as the newspaper becomes digitalised. The 'pixels' gradually become more prominent, until they are fully revealed in the left corner, symbolising the gradual change to newspapers until they are fully digitalised.

The medium I chose was acrylic paint, as I like how it is thick and fast drying and creates a high-contrast image.

I then drew on the techniques foregrounded in the movement of Abstract Expressionism, flicking black, white and red paint over the image. The irregular and jagged shapes created a chaotic image, which evoked the emotions of anger, as the newspaper nears its death. These emotions are also felt by those whose jobs are in this dying industry. The red splatters also represent blood, another representation of death and the bleeding soul of the newspaper.  Although I liked this effect, I thought the background lacked the references to the newspaper and therefore I ripped the word 'dumped' out of the newspaper and collaged it into the background. 

Although I am happy with my background, I think that it could be improved using Photoshop to increase the contrast and overall vibrancy. This would also represent the process of digitalisation, as the print news and my artwork become improved through technology. I will need to do some further research into digital artists in order to gather inspiration for this next process.