Wednesday April 19
Today i headed to school bright and early..well not that early, say 10.30 which is pretty good for me! The printmaking was busy again like usual...and i tried to keep out of the way of the dutch students trying to do their thing.
My first few experiments today were similar to yesterday. Except i wanted to try something different. I thought that if i used oil pastel some gestural cloud like shapes on my paper first, then when i pressed it into the diluted ink, it would block it (kind of like crayon and dye). I thought wrong though...forgetting that they were OIL pastels and i was using OIL ink..they just clung to each other. So in adding more and more water i started to see the evidence of the pastel, but not so clearly. I gave up pretty quickly, though it was interesting to see what happens, im not as pleased with these as much as the ones i did yesterday...it doesnt make a huge change. And i was more pleased when i used the water to make cloud like effects, rather than pastel which looks too rough.Below are two of the experiments:
I think that i will stop these experiments for a short time, while i focus on my woodblock experiments. I have a good amount of monotype backgrounds to draw into which should keep me busy over my trip to italy and london next week. One thing i am interested in is whether these kind of monotype experiments without a press would work if i pressed canvas or hardboard into the ink. Im not sure whether the ink would stick to the surfaces though. Paint would however, perhaps i could try the same kind of process using paint.
This morning i also attempted to make some woodblock flats in bright red! This was again frustrating. The shop was closed so i couldnt buy any proper printmaking paper...so i just used my good drawing paper. Also many students were using the press for lino cuts, so i wasnt able to get in their way. The presses here work on a totally different pressure system to the way its done in otago. Instead of using a roller press like at otago, where the inked plate covers the paper millimetre by millimetre, here they use presses in which the ink hits the paper at one time. You put your plate under this flat press, and pump a lever until the press comes down.
In inking up my flat, i had to be very very generous with ink as to get a good coverage on the paper. My usual method as taught by Marilyn Webb was not a goer with these presses as there was not enough pressure to get a good coverage. So in being very very generous with my ink, the results are that you end up with very blotchy flats, good coverage but not even. This may be due to the fact that im not using proper printmaking paper, so tomorrow i will try and create some flats on printmaking paper and see if it works any better. I have asked about using a roller press to do woodblocks, but i was told a big fat NO so im a bit dissapointed about that.
Tonight i will carve my woodblock image, and hopefully school will be open tomorrow so i will be able to print it. I plan to make an example of the skateboarder, and one with parachutes, and if they work well then i am interested in making some bigger prints...and combining monotype into them.
My first few experiments today were similar to yesterday. Except i wanted to try something different. I thought that if i used oil pastel some gestural cloud like shapes on my paper first, then when i pressed it into the diluted ink, it would block it (kind of like crayon and dye). I thought wrong though...forgetting that they were OIL pastels and i was using OIL ink..they just clung to each other. So in adding more and more water i started to see the evidence of the pastel, but not so clearly. I gave up pretty quickly, though it was interesting to see what happens, im not as pleased with these as much as the ones i did yesterday...it doesnt make a huge change. And i was more pleased when i used the water to make cloud like effects, rather than pastel which looks too rough.Below are two of the experiments:
I think that i will stop these experiments for a short time, while i focus on my woodblock experiments. I have a good amount of monotype backgrounds to draw into which should keep me busy over my trip to italy and london next week. One thing i am interested in is whether these kind of monotype experiments without a press would work if i pressed canvas or hardboard into the ink. Im not sure whether the ink would stick to the surfaces though. Paint would however, perhaps i could try the same kind of process using paint.
This morning i also attempted to make some woodblock flats in bright red! This was again frustrating. The shop was closed so i couldnt buy any proper printmaking paper...so i just used my good drawing paper. Also many students were using the press for lino cuts, so i wasnt able to get in their way. The presses here work on a totally different pressure system to the way its done in otago. Instead of using a roller press like at otago, where the inked plate covers the paper millimetre by millimetre, here they use presses in which the ink hits the paper at one time. You put your plate under this flat press, and pump a lever until the press comes down.
In inking up my flat, i had to be very very generous with ink as to get a good coverage on the paper. My usual method as taught by Marilyn Webb was not a goer with these presses as there was not enough pressure to get a good coverage. So in being very very generous with my ink, the results are that you end up with very blotchy flats, good coverage but not even. This may be due to the fact that im not using proper printmaking paper, so tomorrow i will try and create some flats on printmaking paper and see if it works any better. I have asked about using a roller press to do woodblocks, but i was told a big fat NO so im a bit dissapointed about that.
Tonight i will carve my woodblock image, and hopefully school will be open tomorrow so i will be able to print it. I plan to make an example of the skateboarder, and one with parachutes, and if they work well then i am interested in making some bigger prints...and combining monotype into them.
posted by simone marie at 5:16 AM
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