Palette Painting Development: Adding Resin

Peer Feedback from Resin Sample:

• "I really like this much better than just the plain palette. It looks more polished, more finished."
• "This works to close that gap between the metals you were talking about, and the whole surface looks shiny now depending on what angle you view it from. The way the resin has been poured on the surface looks a bit like the texture of the stainless steel and this works." 

I personally also like the way that the resin covers the exposed screw holes, that I have left on the actual palette too. There is something about encasing a raw palette with exposed screws in resin, to trap the imperfections but encase them forever. 

Once I decided that I would fill the top of the palette with resin, I thought that I would add the mild steel trim so that it would also hold the resin in place, so it needed to be about 3mm higher than the surface. I tested out a thin strip of steel, and a thicker strip: 

Thin strip

Thick strip

Reflection:

• The thicker strip is the same width as the frame I used on my canvas and therefore, this would keep with the consistent theme. 
• I will have to weld the frame together and grind back the steel so that it keeps with the themes on the other two final pieces. 

• Creating the steel trip in 4 lots of L shapes that have been welded together, and then stuck on to the plinth (as the metal cutter wouldn't cut a whole length of this palette). 

Reflection of Using Mild steel for Frame/ Understanding the properties of mild steel:

• The steel frame I used for the canvas has already got fingerprint marks on it, and it has discoloured and become patchy. I really like the way the details reveal themselves within the steel, and the processes of lifting, carrying, and making is evident in the steel. 
• This is one of the reasons why I chose not to varnish it, it highlights the fragility in the mild steel and how it is a material that reflects what happens to it. 

Pouring Clear Resin on Palette:

Reflections:

• I protected the palette using paper as I didn't want any resin getting on the palette at all. It was important that the sanded palette stayed as clean looking as possible. 
• Pouring on the resin was a delicate process as I didn't want any of the resin to touch the stainless steel, however, in some cases this couldn't be avoided and a think layer had to be placed over some of the shapes. Any extra imperfections can be cleaned up after using acetone. 
• Overall, the outcome after I have just poured on the resin is just the way that I wanted. I am very happy with the improvement it has made to the piece and I feel it is now complete, as before the gaps between the board and the steel shapes were too obvious. 
• With this process of pouring on the resin, I used a brush to push the resin up to the edges of the steel shapes, and this was able to close this gap brilliantly, making the steel shapes look as though they are floating on the surface. 
• This development was the result of tutor feedback and my own problem solving and trial and error experimentation, and it has resulted in a migh higher standard of work. 
• This should take a few days to fully set, but it will still be highly fragile and prone to finger prints if touched, and I think this material property really links back to the fragility of the mild steel that is prone to rust and fingerprints, so in a way it's sharing the same language.