Sampling - Fred Fowle - Large Scale Gold Leaf Piece

Once i felt confident in using gold leaf I laid an entire sheet of A3 paper with leaf and sealed it using fixative. Then using household gloss paint thinned with standard thinners I painted on a decorative motif similar to what Fowle paints. The design encompasses scroll work which dates back to the early Victorian style of sign writing and lightning patterns synonymous with the pop culture of the 60's and the space race era. The design was painted using long bristled sign writers brushes which allow for long smooth continuous lines to be created. Final the design was picked out with a black outline which in Fowle's words 'really make it POP'

Sampling - Fred Fowle - Working with Gold Leaf

Once I had the basic skills to use gold leaf I began sampling in the style of my artist

The first sample was created by using gold size and a long bristled brush to paint out a scroll type leaf pattern favored by Fowle. Leaf is then layed and excess brushed off. A black line is then drawn  around the entire thing. This line makes the entire design really stand out, an important factor in fairground design. The gold leaf on this piece hasn't adhered well.

A similar piece but this time the gold size was left longer to go more tacky and allowed for a better but not perfect adhesion. An improvement in the outlining can also be seen.

For this sample I created a stencil and used it to apply spray adhesive. The stencil is then removed and leaf layed. This has given a much better adhesion than the gold size.

Sampling - Fred Fowle - Gold Leaf a Learning Curve

A vast majority of Fowle's work is done by working over a layer of metal leaf with Flamboyant paint. Flamboyant paint is a translucent paint that when applied over the leaf allows the reflective shine of the leaf to show through and adds a bit of sparkle to the design 

First attempts at laying Gold leaf, spray adhesive was applied to paper and the leaf laid on top while still in the paper book, then by rubbing the back of the tissue paper that the leaf comes on it is smoothed out. As can be seen it was difficult to get it to lie smooth using this method. 

For the second attempt I repeated the process but after initially using the tissue paper to smooth it I used a general brush to smooth it out some more. This was effective but the bristles were too stiff and pulled the leaf up in certain areas no matter how light a touch was used.

As a third attempt I bought a very soft bristled brush to smooth out the leaf but the initial laying could have been better.

As well as the brush I purchased some gold size, this is an acrylic based adhesive that can be brushed or sprayed on and stays tacky for up to 24 hrs. I experimented with it by using sign writers brushes to paint the letter J and then laying the leaf. The leaf can then be brushed smooth and anywhere that leaf wasn't applied to it will just brush off. The size should have been left long as it would have allowed the brush marks to settle and therefore a smoother finish.

First experiments with sealing and painting on top of leaf. The leaf must be sealed first or the slightest scrape will make it peel off. Here I have used enamel and acrylic paints both straight out of the pot and thinned down. This allowed me to see what would stick and whether it was possible to create a flamboyant effect without using expensive flamboyant paints. Watered down acrylic paints were the closest to flamboyant but lack the initial gloss shine.

Sampling - Fred Fowle - Mecury

Mercury is the God of Speed and was therefore commonly used within Fowles work to reflect the speed and excitement of the rides he was decorating. 

In this sample I have replicated the version of mercury painted on Jimmy Bowrys skid. This wasn't painted by Fowle and instead is painted by Jimmy himself but it is similar to Fowle's work. The piece is done on paper in acrylic. If this piece was done by Fowle it would be on plywood over a layer of aluminium leaf using flamboyant paints.

Photo Shoot - Fred Fowle

This photo shoot was acquired during a number of different trips. The first of which was to the Great Dorset Steam Fair where replicated versions of Fowle's distinct style were on show. I have attempted to photograph the artwork in different ways to be less repetitive to view. The second trip was to Nottingham Goose Fair were I was able to get photos of Jimmy Bowrys Skid which is painted in Fowle's style and the remix Waltzer which is a modern vinyl printed version of Fowle's work. The final photos show pieces of work like Fowle's in storage at a showman's yard. These are very useful in understanding the effect that Flamboyant paint creates. The main issues within this photo shoot were many of the pieces were in storage which meant trying to photograph items in hard to get to places or pitch black sheds. Another issue was capturing the bright lights and movement of the rides which required a high quality camera than what I used.

Mercury, God of Speed, a popular motif for Fred Fowles work

An example of modern psychedelic art work, the safety barrier is a popular design created from fiberglass. 

A very typical design of Fowle's, the flying wheel.

An up close view of flamboyant paintwork, the way the aluminium leaf shines through from underneath can be clearly seen.

Artist Research - Fred Fowle

Fred Fowle's career in art began by painting a black line on shoes. From here he went on to work at R.J.Lakin's fairground ride manufactures where he learnt the skills that led to him becoming known as 'The Master' in the fairground community. Fowle's style is highly recognizable and can be viewed as an Era in fairground decor in its own right. His heavy use of bright colours and elaborate design mixed with images from advertisements and films meant that his work was highly effective in drawing in crowds of people towards a certain ride. His work largely involves using a base layer of aluminium and gold leaf on top of which a layer of flamboyant paint is applied. The flamboyant paint is translucent and allows the leaf to shine through adding a little magic to the designs. An important factor when children are the main target audience for a piece. Fowle's work often portrays the psychedelic and pop art styles of the art movements in the 60's and 70's.  
I hope to be able to portray Fowle's style in my own sampling through using similar mediums and working with the same ideas and inspiration. This will involve gathering photos and newspaper snippets of adverts with interesting designs on along with getting to grips with completely new mediums like gold leaf. I intend to create an array of different samples with some being much more experimental than others as I get to grips with the new mediums and styles.