Koi Collage, Inkjets and Depth of Field

I have been thinking a lot lately about both depth and transfers being and element, not always a focal point. Not sure why. But it is experimentation time.

This weekend’s experiment was inspired by a lovely Goldfish gel plate artwork and video by SueLeeArt.

Like SueLeeArt’s lovely goldfish, my koi fish were cut from paper. I also included an inkjet image transfer of some water grass in an attempt to add layers and depth.

The biggest lessons I learned were:

1. I should have reverse painted one of the 2 plant transfers so it would appear more forward, with the second black silhouette appearing more distant.

2. Even after a layer of matte medium was used to seal the fish and inject the transfer, if I peeked under a corner of the gel plate (don’t do that), the paper fish would lift up a bit inlaces. This resulted in the heavier top layers of paint leaking under the fish in places. (Funny, that afternoon the glass plates I ordered to I could see under my gel plate arrived in the mail. My bad)

3.  I had printed out the 3rd koi fish smaller and lighter in hopes of conveying the feeling of it being further away. It only looks messier. I need to rethink this approach. Perhaps it should have been small &/or black and white

I did like the juxtaposition – the on-plate collage look – of the paper and paint together.

What do you do to add a feeling depth to your gel prints and collages?