I love the crumple series, and will continue painting them for the next several weeks. Today I explore in more detail the technique of scratching the paper before painting. Since I can’t see the lines I make with my sharp implements, I liken this approach to the automatic writing of the Surrealists (Slashes and Painting).

In the study below, I was expecting my first wash of yellow to be absorbed by the score marks. This didn’t happen, so I used red ink to fill in the scratches. In turn, I used the ink lines as the border for color changes.

Yellow with Red Pen and Ink
12″x9″ Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

I like the thin lines against the red-yellow background. It reminds me of some of the drawings by Paul Klee.  Only my study is the result of  mostly ‘automatic drawing’ and, by definition, thoughtless.