Tea Party Monoprint

I worked on this monoprint over the weekend using Yupo for a printing plate. I missed taking a photo of the plate prior to printing because I was in a hurry. This first picture is the Yupo plate after I printed it - not much paint left so I would call the printing process fairly successful.
I began this project with a farm theme in mind. The trees and barn were cut out of drywall mesh and stuck on as a resist. I expected that some paint would seep down into the grid pattern as I applied it with the brayer but the paint mix must have been too dry. The sky started out blue with just a bit of purple but the dioxazine purple is so strong it overpowered the blue. So, I just went with it and played the yellow /purple compliment game. I rolled gamboge on top of the tree area. The dish pattern was done by dampening cotton lace, laying it over the painted yupo, covering with wax paper, brayering over and then lifting the wetted area with a kleenex.
This second picture shows the resulting monoprint. I left myself a decent sized light value area thinking I would do an image transfer there.
Tomorrow's post - how to nearly wreck and [hopefully] rescue a painting from disaster... stay tuned!

Abstract with Transfer

Here's another of the monoprints that I've been working to finish. The first photo is the Yupo plate just before printing - I could have left a larger opening and had a bigger image transfer... The second photo is the finished product on BFK Reeves printmaking paper. The image transfer is my Mom at about 10 years of age. I used acrylic medium to transfer the photo to the printmaking paper, then some acrylic to enhance the image in places. I also strengthened some of the areas of the monoprint with solid watercolor and various textures.

I'm becoming a bit more comfortable with abstraction but I struggle to know when I'm done ;o).

[double click on either image to see it larger]

Enjoy!

Christmas Monoprint (6"x4")

This is an monoprint plate ready for printing. I'd like a lighthearted singing snowman like this to send to my friends. I hope that this will turn out well enough to use as a Christmas card this year. Can I just say that there is no method more fun than spritzing drops of water on to a painting and then lifting them up to get an instant snow storm. We'll soon see.

I have a lot of work in the hopper and slowly but surely I'm making progress on each of them. I'm also having a blast trying various image transfer methods. Hopefully I'll become proficient enough to use them in my art.

Enjoy!

Yupo plate ready for printing

This is a Yupo painting that I'll be transferring to BFK reeves paper tomorrow. I've left a space white where I'll apply an image transfer as I finish the piece. I've aimed for a cruciform composition for the printed image. I had a hard time holding myself to the cruciform in mirror image... because of course the printed image will be the reverse of this image. I'll see how it goes when I print keeping in mind that the print will be lighter in value than this plate. Enjoy your weekend!

Stamping around

I've had an interesting week with art and immunizations and life insurance quotes and lawyers... You get the picture. I've had little time for the former and spent more time on the latter. This week has been black and white in many ways. I've been doing sketches, value studies, and a bit more stamp carving.
I finished carving this stamp this this morning. In the photo you can see the carved stamp on the top right. I used a brayer to apply some watercolor to the stamp and then stamped positively onto the watercolor paper (bottom right). Then, after re-wetting the stamp, I applied it to the previously painted Yupo paper. The water dissolved the paint and I lifted the paint off with a tissue - see lower left of the photo. Another option would have been to roll a brayer over the tissue before lifting which would have removed more of the paint.
I'm having a fun time with these mixed media techniques. Enjoy!

Texture Samples

I'm currently working on 3 paintings based on monoprint starts. None are complete yet but I wanted to show you a couple of examples of texture I created with the stamp I carved just a few days ago.

These samples are part of a monoprint I did last weekend. The process uses Yupo (plastic paper) as a printing plate. Paint is applied to the Yupo paper and then a variety of tools are used to manipulate the paint: dry foam roller to flatten brush ridges, lifting paint with a brush, toothbrush spatter, cotton lace imprints/lifts, stamps positive and negative... if it makes a mark it can be used on the Yupo.

After the artist decides the Yupo paper printing plate is complete, printing paper (soaked for 3-5 minutes and then blotted) is laid on the plate and a baren (or flat spoon) is used to hand rub the paper. The water in the paper activates the watercolor paint on the Yupo plate and the rubbing transfers the paint to the printing paper. After the monoprint is made a second print can be done the same way but the second print is called a "ghost" and is much weaker in color and value than the monoprint. At the end of the monoprinting process there are 2 or 3 pieces that can be developed into art works; the Yupo plate, the monoprint and the ghost (if printed).

These are examples of the same stamp used positively (above left) and negatively (above right). A positive stamp is straightforward - dip the stamp in paint and press it on the paper. The negative stamp is a lifting process. A moistened stamp is applied to the Yupo plate over an area previously painted. Tissue or paper towel is laid over the wetted area, then a bit of wax paper laid atop that before rolling a brayer on top. The tissue adhers to the wet paint and when it is lifted the shape shows up in relief against the painted background. Enjoy!

Mexican Hibiscus (11"x14") on Yupo paper

While calling my sweetie outside a mall in Mexico, I spotted this gorgeous hibiscus flower. I chose it for my first painting on Yupo "paper" and I've been slip sliding around on it for a couple of days. Possibly I should have done a drawing of some sort before I started but since the paper is a special plastic I figured I would just wipe it off if I didn't like it and I did quite a bit of wiping, trust me. It's the next best thing to oil painting - white paint isn't added, it's subtracted. If you want white, wipe.
This was a fun experience but I believe I'll wait until I've done some reading and/or have some instruction before I tackle another one. I kind of like how this one turned out but it was a dicey thing at times - trust me because I just can't take the time to explain it all.