Experiments influenced by Julio Le Parc

When looking into Unit 1, I wanted to explore the use of colour using influences from different artists and techniques. When looking into Julio Le Parc's work, I found the use of small dots of colours, mostly primery, were used to build up a larger piece. Inspired by this, I created some experiments influenced by this technique. Across, is one of the first experiments I did, in which I tried to use overlapping dots of colour to give the illusion of mixing a new colour. By using the cicrles overlapping I thought I would achieve this, however when I compleated the piece, it didnt have the effect I intended. I thought maybe the dots were too spread apart or too big. 

So in reponce to this I created the piece below, which is a similar layout to a piece by Julio Le Parc, but I only used 3 colours not 4. I tried to use smaller dots in order to make them closer together, but I found it difficult to create a

repetative dot pattern.

When chosing a meduim to do this in, I first though of using acrylic, as I used black acrylic to paint the background. However, when I was thinking of using colour over the top, I wanted to use a pigmneted meduim, so I chose to use gouache, which is a medium I havent used in a few years. I found it was pigmented enough to show up over the black acrylic background and thick enough to create small dots and not spread out. However, I found it hard to create even round dots. I used the smallest brush I could find but couldnt achieve the small dots, and achieve the blended colour effect I wanted.


In responce to this, I used a larger brush to create larger dots, and where the colours overlap, I mix the colours together before painting. I feel this piece had the effect I intended, and does have the feel of an illusion when looking at. I found by using the larger dots it was easier to achieve a uniform pattern across the piece. I feel by using the larger dots also make the dots look more vibrant in tone also, as more pigment can be build up in a small area. I feel when mixing the colours together, the vibrancy was lost slightly, as I had to mix in some white in order to lighten the tones for them to stand out against the black background.

The final experiment I did was this illusion piece inspired by Le Parc. For this, I again used a black background of acrylic and then used varying shades of gouache to create the illusion of overlapping lines. I used a ruler to create the lines and then leave the centre circle black. I used darker tones on the larger areas, and where the lines overlap, more vibrant tones. This gives the illusion of transparency to the lines, and depth as they overlap to create more pigmented tones.

Upon reflection, by doing experiments influenced by Le Parc, I've been able to experiment with using new meduims and methods influenced by artists. I used both acrylic (which is what Le Parc used) and gouache (a meduim I havent used in many years) in my experiments. I feel that I will begin to use gouache more in my work due to the cosistancy and the high pigmentation, as I move on with my experiments for this unit.