Scan, modify & voila: digital collage
Above is a digitally modified layered collage that started as a carefully arranged scan of red maple leaves, a scrap of red mesh, and two strips cut from a blotter. Just some fun…
And at left is a colored sketch of salal in bloom, in water color, soluble graphite, & colored pencil, started on a recent camping trip.
Hint of color now added: is it finished?
Working with small plates at the print shop
My new mini-print mini folio: the folio is 6″x7.5″, & has the hand rubbed iris print on the front. Inside are two variations from a shellac matboard plate, mounted for easy removal. The plates are 3″x3″. The color on the 2nd fuschia print is watercolor painted added after the print was dry.
I was tired working in the print shop yesterday afternoon, especially after completing an edition of 16 for our current print exchange. To experiment & use up ink, I grabbed leftover paper and printed some more, using the Iris that is featured in the edition with other recently created plates. Select an image to see the folio and these other prints in the larger lightbox display.
If only I had managed to get them straight on the paper! Oh well…
Drawing on wood & new prints (w/colored pencil)
The drawing is done with water soluble graphite pencils, “painted” with water, on a piece of MDF (medium density fiberboard) primed with two coats of white Golden Absorbent Ground. I like this ground, and being able to use water media directly on a board, no paper!
The collagraph plate is built up on matboard with paper, vinyl spackle, & elmers glue, all coated with shellac when dry. I stamped into the wet spackle & glue mix to make the impressions…
Manipulation of an sketch
Current work…
Proofing plates without the press…
I am working with various low tech matboard 3″x3″ plates for a print exchange. I have made some 12 foil covered collagraph plates, and eight shellac over cut matboard plates, but have not yet printed all of them! The first six foil plates are too irregular and don’t quite please me: some are not square, and the relief is not enough: I have been working into all the prints with colored pencil. Love the yellow glow monoprint background with the red & green though.
The shellac flower plates have been proofed without a press, last night in art class. Next to print them on the press!
