Graphic Tools - Text 6
The main problem that these animators encountered was that of getting the ink or paint to adhere to the transparent film stock; in particular, the challenge was to “hold in place … coloured ink, which had a tendency, as on any smooth surface, to retract.”[12] Here again, even though descriptions of the technique by McLaren himself suggest the possibility of a single tool or technique being used, such a claim does not hold up when placed alongside other writings by this same filmmaker about some of his experiments. In this way, McLaren could advocate the use of brushes and “black waterproof India ink (Higgins ink of this sort is very satisfactory),”[13] and could also emphasize the various possibilities for working with transparent film stock, such as his experiments while working on Fiddle-de-dee (1947), which to make he painted
often on both sides [of the film stock], using acrylic, ink and transparent coatings. The visual textures were obtained by long brushstrokes or by stippling, by scratching the colour, by wiping the film stock, still moist with colour, with bits of different fabrics, by spraying colour onto the film stock, and by mixing two varnishes of different chemical composition, such as a dye soluble in alcohol and another in cellulose. A coating was applied to the film stock and, while it was still wet, another was added, creating different shapes and textures, as when one mixes oil paint and watercolours.[14]
