FMP

Prediction within experimentation

After noticing the change with my plaster sculptures a couple of weeks ago, I decided last week to conduct an experiment with a predicted outcome. This is the first time I have worked this way, and has allowed me to collect data that will help me with future experiments.

Firstly, it has helped me to identify how long it takes for the ink's pigment to shift within the plaster once set, and has also confirmed my assumption that the ink's pigment would set in specific places.
Secondly, it has allowed me to see what pigments go into various different ink colours. Within these particular experiments I chose to use Orange and Violet ink, and as shown in the images, depending on when the ink was mixed into the plaster, blue, brown, green and red are predominantly the pigments that make up the two colours, however because I mixed the two inks together, I am unable to tell which pigments make up which colour.

The first couple of experiments I conducted have a greenish tint to them with a lot of brown pigment on the edges and textured areas of the plaster. This is because I mixed the ink into the plaster before the setting process had begun.

The last of my experiments was made using someone else's left over plaster. It had already begun to set, but I decided to use it anyway. I added the ink during the setting process. It was a lot harder to mix into the plaster, and left marbling running throughout the plaster at first. When it had set, however, it appeared that this experiment out of all of them proved to show the pigment most clearly, and even displayed brighter spots of blue and even red.

Now knowing roughly how long it takes for the pigments to shift, I have decided to experiment with adding in more natural materials into the plaster to see if any pigments change. I have thought about using mud, which is rich in different materials, with the hopes that pigments separate and become clear. I have also decided to use clay dissolved in water. I will use the clay water as the water to mix the plaster into. The clay I will be using will be high in iron, and will effect how the plaster sets, but I am curious to see what changes happen exactly.

From here, I plan to experiment with the diffusion of pigments in natural objects suspended in artificial bases, like fruits suspended in gelatin.