Paint with Smoke
Beginning with Wolfgang Paalen, visionary artists, including well-known surrealists such as Salvador Dali, practiced the fine art of "painting with smoke," otherwise known as "fumage." More delicate than charcoal, providing intriguing textures and patterns, fumage can serve as a standalone media or as an innovative approach to guiding the application of other media.
Steps
- Protect your workspace. If you do not have a work area that you can afford to mark with wax drippings, lay out a covering (such as an old tablecloth) to catch the dripping wax.
- Prop up your board or paper (hereafter referred to generically as "canvas") so that you are looking up at it. You'll need to work from beneath the canvas most of the time, so you may want to hang it from an elevated position, but if you can manage to hold it with one hand, you can use your non-dominant hand to change its angle as the candle's flame moves across the surface.
- Light your candle. Slender candles work best, but feel free to experiment. It's helpful to keep a pillar candle lit nearby to quickly re-light the one in use.
- Begin dragging the candle flame along the underside of the canvas. As you guide the candle just beneath the canvas, you will see dark shapes forming on the surface of your canvas.
- Vary the motions of your candle and the angle of the canvas. The best way to "learn" fumage is to experiment with it. See what effects you can get by using tilting the canvas or the candle slightly, or by moving the candle at different speeds or in different patterns of motion. For more information, see the "tips" section below.
- Blow out the candle and spray the surface with fixative. When you are satisfied with your design, apply the fixative (a stabilizing or preserving agent, such as varnish) to keep it from smearing. Before you do so, you may wish to intentionally smear some of the soot marks with your hand, a brush, or some other implement.
- Experiment using fumage in combination with other media. Wolfgang Paalen, the father of fumage, quickly progressed toward using fumage as a catalyst for his artworks, the seed from which the whole work would spring forth. With the fumage work providing his starting point, he would then add layers of oil paint, for example, to fully express his artistic vision. You can apply other media to the canvas either before or after you apply the fixative.
Tips
- Vary candle width/length and wick length. Longer wicks allow for more fluid patterning. Short wicks are good for darker applications, filling in certain areas.
- Vary the angle at which you hold the candle. For example, when the flame is directly perpendicular to the surface, it will make a circle.
- Before you apply the fixative try using different-sized erasers to create patterns in the smoke design. Using this apply/erase method, detailed layering is possible.
- Vary the speed at which you drag the candle flame. Try quick, short movements versus slow, long ones.
- Vary the distance between flame and surface. The closer the flame is to the surface, the darker the resulting color on the canvas will be.
- Try holding your canvas at different angles and coordinating the movements of the candle with this. The pattern made depends a lot on the movement and the angles of both the candle and the canvas. For example, a sideways flame will 'lick' the surface with a light line.
- Try creating a 'candle palette'. Have different sized candles with varying lengths of wick on hand to use.
- Use a candle holder so that your hands could be protected from any dripping candle wax. Also put a mask (like the doctors mask) to avoid inhaling smoke. Wear protective glasses or lab glass to protect your eyes from irritation. Do this out side so the people inside won't smell the smoke emitting from the candle.
Warnings
- Always be aware of how close the flame is to the surface. This is why it is best to work from below, or at an angle where the surface is always visible to you. Otherwise, you can easily burn the surface.
- Spray fixative in a well-ventilated area, away from all flames.
- Keep flammable items away from your work area.
- As always, when working with fire, be careful of flames as you run a risk of getting burned.
- To avoid fire or scorching, do not hold a flame to canvas for a long period of time. If you are using paper, you'll need to be especially careful.
- Never attempt fumage without adult supervision.
Things You'll Need
- Fire extinguisher.
- Candles.
- A "canvas" or base of some sort: paper (at least 100 lb. weight, preferably heavier,) illustration/Bristol board, Masonite (gessoed to make the surface more receptive), wood, or fiberboard, etc.
- Fixative (Fixatives used for charcoal or pencil drawings are appropriate, and may be purchased at your local art supply store).
- Matches/lighter.
- Flame retardant floor covering/workbench.
