Introductory project: Stage 2: Observing qualities: The blue fabric

I decided I also wanted to observe more closely the qualities of the blue jersey fabric that I had chosen for my Tropical Tourist theme, as I liked the inky splodges that contrast with the areas of white that make irregular stripes across this fabric. The colours speak to me of the sea and of dramatic graduations of colour that one sees where the water is clear and the sky is blue:

I decided a resist technique might be a good way to evoke this on paper, and used white wax crayon on A2 sheets of white, with a wash of black ink over the top. I experimented with different marks, and liked the experience of working blind, as it was hard to see the pattern created by the white areas until the ink wash goes on:

On the above sheet, I think the bottom line works best, shown below in detail, because the irregular ink marks make an interesting contrast with the white areas masked by the wax crayon:

Again, here I experimented a bit more the same materials, creating a few different patterns:

This is the area that I find to have worked the best and that I find to be interesting and evocative of the blue fabric:

I then decided to use masking fluid to create a similar effect and while I think the effect is interesting, the downsides of using the fluid are that you have to wait for it to dry before painting the ink wash over it, and it is harder to control the amount of masked area, and therefore the pattern created. Also, when you remove the masking fluid after it and the ink have dried sometimes the paper peels off too.