OUGD 504 - Studio Brief 1

After having thought about my concept and the various different types of media, materials and processes appropriate to my idea, I have decided to look further into thermochromic inks. Although I struggled to find many places that sell the thermochromic pigment, I eventually found a website that sells what I want and ordered 100 grams of black thermochromic pigment. When it arrived, I started off by gradually mixing more and more pigment in with 100 grams of paper binder. These are the numerous stages of the gradual mixing process:

One layer:

Two layers:

Three layers:

From this, I can see that I am going to have to apply many coats in order to get a solid colour. Depending on what I decide to use it for, this could be an issue. Unless I am planning on completely covering my design work with it I could encounter problems with the alignment of each thermochromic layer. I then decided to try applying the ink to paper stock that is more like what I am planning on using, as well as looking at how the black pigment works with coloured stock. 

My outcomes showed similar results to the previous tests, although the thermochromic aspect works, the ink is still not dark enough to provide a solid colour unless it is applied in numerous layers. I then decided to attempt covering a screen print that I have from earlier experiments. This should enable me to see whether or not it will cover up printed imagery beneath it. Here are my two experiments:

Issues:

As you can see from the images above, the black thermochromic ink does not completely conceal everything underneath it, thus being unsuccessful; I have used the whole 100 grams of dust and still the ink is not dark enough. Also, for some people the thermochromic element doesn't seem to work as well as with other people. This is something I really need to take into consideration when thinking about my final outcome.