A Great Studio Day

I'm working on an idea for a new series of screenprints about my garden. The technical part will focus on making transfer drawings by hand on paper and then translating them at the computer into stencils for photo-emulsion screens. In the picture below, you can see a sketch for my first one.

Transfer drawings are challenging because, by nature, the results are hard to control and unpredictable. Even though it usually takes many attempts before arriving at a good one, a successful transfer drawing is always much more interesting, to my eye, than a straight-forward one.

In the picture above, I've used the brayer to roll out a thin, even layer of ink on my glass topped work table. Next, I'll lay a sheet of paper over the ink and draw on the back. The pressure of the drawing implement pulls ink up on the other side. Along the way, ink transfers unpredictably in other areas, too, creating an atmospheric effect, which is the beauty of transfer drawing.

There are examples of transfer drawings on my website.

Finnish Disco Lesson

I've just got to share this delightful little ditty from YouTube: click here.

Today's Studio Session: Viscosity Printing

Viscosity printing is a good way to print certain zinc or copper plates in multiple colors with only one run through the press. This innovative printing method was developed in the mid twentieth century by Stanley William Hayter. He experimented with applying layers of inks mixed with varying amounts of oil on a single plate. The differences in viscosity, or oiliness, kept the inks from mixing.

Here is my work station. I'm using etching inks in a variety of colors, and with a varying amount of added linseed oil. First, I wipe the zinc plate in the traditional way with the first color, which has no added linseed oil. Next, I roll out another color, which has a bit of added oil, and apply it over the first as a top roll. I do the same with the third color, which is oilier, or "looser" than the first two colors.

And here is my first print! It is exciting to see it, because there is some serendipity built into viscosity printing and you can't quite predict how it is going to turn out before you print.

By the end of the session, I'd printed seven different viscosity prints including ghost prints, ghost prints with newly added top rolled colors, and versions created by starting from scratch with fresh colors. I added stickies with notes to each, so I could recall procedures later.

Sophie, the guard cat, kept an eye on everything in his usual way while I was working.

I'm Making Monoprints Today

It has been a while since I've created some monoprints so I thought I should review a bit before my printmaking classes start next Monday. Monoprinting will be Project Two for the Intaglio group, and when I do the demo, I hope to convey how infinitely creative, engaging, challenging and fun monoprinting can be.

To begin, I placed a large piece of clear plexi-glass on my work table with a small cutting board centered underneath. Because the cutting board has inches indicated on it, I was able to easily define a 4" by 4" image area by running some clear tape along the outside borders. Then, I flipped the plexi over to tape (with masking tape) the back side with an outline for the paper I'll use. This is a very easy registration method.

In the picture above, you can see the image I've created in ink on the surface of the plexi-glass. I've used a brayer to roll ink all over, pulled a plastic brush through the ink to create lines and added a light green texture by stamping an erasure covered in rubberbands. Last, I cut some image shapes out of an old file folder, inked them up, and placed them on top.

When I finished the image, I pulled the clear tape defining the image area off the plexi. This left a nice, clean border.

Here, I've place the whole piece of plexi on my etching press. Next, I'll carefully lay the printing paper on top, following the outlines I can see on the back of the plexi. Then I'll cover the paper with newprint and the printing felts and run it through the press.

After rolling the assembled parts through the press, I begin to pull the printed paper off the plexi. This is always a very suspenseful moment, followed either by ecstasy or disappointment depending on whether one likes what one sees.

Voila! This was the first monoprint.

But I continued working with the residue ink left on the plexi to create "ghost" prints. The print above was created by simply pulling the added tag board shapes off and printing what was left.

Here is the third monoprint in the series, created by adding a leaf shape that had been re-inked in gray. Often, the later prints in a series are more interesting than the first one or two because the intensity of the colors has diversified and the accumulation of seemingly random ghost marks adds flavor.

I'll leave these prints to dry overnight and assess them. Sometimes monoprints are finished at this point and sometimes they seem unresolved but have potential. Sometimes they are unresolved without potential. In that case, it is wise to simply tear them up, keeping only the happy memories of the creative act, itself.

I think these are unresolved but have potential. Adding watercolor and pencil, for example, might be a good next step. After further development, I can assess again. An accurate critical eye is essential to an artist and is something that can always be honed.

This session, in which I printed these three and a different series of three, took less than two hours. I didn't photograph the other series of three because they fit into the third category: unresolved and without potential. They were the first monoprints of the day, and I've noticed over the years that it often takes a while to loosen up during a monoprinting session. At least that is true for me.