Etching Press - Session 5

Experimented with some more monoprints on the etching press. This time I inked the plexi-glass plate and carefully place a piece of either newsprint or rice paper over the ink. Then, using either a soft pencil or the rounded tip of the handle of a paint brush, I very quickly drew a line image on the paper. Once the drawing was done, I lifted the paper from the plate and the result was an inked line, with the drawing now in reverse. To conserve paper, I tried the same process also with two pieces of paper -- one next to the inked plate and a second piece on top of that. The drawing was executed on the top paper, with the transfer of inked lines going to the paper against the plate. The drawings done with the brush handle were the most fun and challenging because I couldn't see the lines as I "drew" them and could only guess at where one line left off and another might begin. Here are a few samples of the monoprints I ended up with:

 I made several prints of cats in various poses. The intent was not to create the perfect line drawing of a cat, but rather to have fun with the quick line. The smudges seen on this print (at Right) and the others here are the result of using newsprint that had been wrinkled or buckled when it had been used as a protective layer between the press' pusher blanket and the inked plate with the dampened paper laid over it. The "used" newsprint touched the inked plate in places and picked up some ink in addition to the lines I was drawing. Both cat monoprints shown in this post were done with the handle of a paintbrush instead of a pencil.

 In this second example I'd grabbed a piece of newsprint that had been used in the printing process the day I was experimenting with embossing. Two embossed circles are visible in the lower right near the cat's tail. I like the randomness of the lines, smudges and the embossing.
The next photo shows a close-up from this print. I include it here so readers can see what kind of line I was getting on the newsprint. The line is darker at its edges.

The next few photos show:
1.) The line print done in the same manner as the cats (also with newsprint that had been used previously.)
2.) A print pulled from running the plate and rice paper through the press after the line print was taken.
3.) A detail from the print shown in the second photo.

 

1.)

 2.)

 3.)

Etching Press - Session 4

Today I took some time to create a few monoprints. A couple days ago I did some research and reading and concluded that what I'm creating are monoprints and not monotypes. I'll explain the definitions of the two terms in another posting later.
The imagery I worked up for today's press work were mostly grouse. I intended to try some loons as well, but got carried away with exploring the feather effects on the grouse. It was very entertaining, plus I discovered some more ways to make marks in the oil paint that I've been substituting for printing ink. Also, on the way to the studio, I stopped by our local glass shop and purchased an 11 by 14 inch piece of plexi-glass to use as my printing plate instead of the 8 by 10 inch paper-thin acetate that I'd used before.
Here is one of the grouse monoprints from this printing session:

 

This is printed on the same kind of Japanese paper that I used in the earlier printing sessions. Using a rubber brayer,I rolled out the paint  in an irregular rectangle shape. Then I wiped away the "air" (negative space) around the bird, leaving bits of the rectangle's edge to serve as a kind of border or "frame" for the bird. Rolling a coat of inck onto the plate and then removing areas from it to create the image is a reductive process/print. Had I started with an empty plate and then brushed the grouse on  that would have been an additive process/print. I used a cotton rag to remove the white areas; if I removed too much, I simply painted it back in using a bristle brush. The sharp white lins were created using the edge of a small scrap of matboard

The final image measures about 8 by 6 inches.

Well, as I'm writing this, it's very close to turning into tomorrow. And Coast to Coast is on with some lively discussion about the State of the Union address. I think I'll make some hot tea and sit a little closer to the radio for a bit.

Etching Press - Session 3

A couple days ago I had some fun creating monotypes (monoprints) using my etching press. I followed that session with one creating embossings. I used a variety of objects to run through the press, among them some coins, paperclips, buttons, a flat bicycle wrench and some patterns I cut out and built up with scrap matboard. The results were mixed and it took several runs with each new object to determine the correct pressure setting on the press. 

Here is a sample of a "domino" pattern I created using strips of matboard and nickles on heavy watercolor paper which had been soaked in a tray of water for at least 30 minutes before running through the press. I shot the photograph at an angle so the light would show up the embossing:

In this close-up photo you can see that Jefferson's head and some of the lettering on the nickles are visible in the embossing:

If any of my blog readers have done embossing with a press, please feel free to comment on your experience with the process. What is the most unusual object you've embossed and what kind of paper did you use?

Etching Press - Session 2

This afternoon I created embossed designs on heavy watercolor paper with the press. The results were very good, but I'll have to figure out a way to photograph the work so it shows up. The scanner doesn't do very well when it's "seeing" just white paper with indentations in it.

The paper I used is some that I've had stored away for a long time. It is Arches watercolor paper and I'm guessing it is probably 300lb weight cold-press. This paper is heavy enough to take some real serious pressure under the press, but at the end of the session I wondered if a lighter weight and less textured paper might give even better results (and possibly with less pressure under the press.) The paper soaked in a tray of water for at least an hour before I used it.

I used scraps of mat-board (standard thickness) to make the raised areas of the designs. This works well enough but, as the printing process gradually compresses the mat-board pieces, there is a limit to the number of top quality embossings any one design can produce. In addition to the mat-board, I used some pennies.

There are plenty of other materials that can be used for the embossing - lots of other materials. And not only for embossing, but printing too. When I prepared dinner this evening, I noticed the styro-foam tray the pork steaks were packaged in has an interesting pattern on the bottom. Hmm. Maybe that tray can be inked and printed. I opened a jar of sauerkraut and thought, hmm, maybe the lid can be used for embossing. And on and on. So many potential objects - I will be counting them instead of sheep when I go to bed.

Etching Press - Session 1

This afternoon I dug out the Japanese rice paper I had squirreled away. Located the brayer, grabbed a tube of burnt umber oil paint, a generous pile of cotton swabs (Q-Tips), a bristle brush, and a clean cotton rag.
Then I taped a piece of acetate to a scrap of white matboard to serve as the "printing plate" for a session of experimenting with subtractive technique making several monotypes (or monoprints, which is what I believe they technically are called -- I'll delve more into that in another post later.)


This small print (Left) is the second one I pulled. The first one was too light. I decided it was not enough paint on the plate, so I really gobbed it on for this one. I think the thicker layer of paint is good up to a point. Too thick and it will "squish" under the press and all the linear marks and texture would be lost.
Print size is about 7 x 5 3/4 inches.


I used the cotton swabs in the dark passages. It didn't take much of a pass through the paint to completely filled a swab, so I used a lot more of them than I thought I would. In the detail photo (Below), you can see the cotton swab strokes cutting across the brushstrokes. I like the way that looks; it reminds me of some passages in the monotypes done by William Blake (1757-1827).

 I was trying to get a sense of a storm cloud bearing down on the land, maybe even crushing (Detail above). I got some surprises with the cotton swabs--those that were "frayed" left more interesting "starting" and "stopping" marks.


This next print (Above) scanned  as if it were brownish -- which it should be, as I used burnt umber. Print size is about 4 x 8 inches.

 This print (detail at Right) was the result of partially cleaning the plate with mineral spirits and then deciding I liked what remained after the first wipe of the rag. So I went from there and invented something of a prairie landscape with patches of snow in it, some sagebrush and distant mountains or hills. I used both ends of the brush (bristle and handle tip) along with cotton swabs. The texture of the paper is very evident in this print. I need to think about how to take advantage of the paper texture.

This print (Left) started with a REALLY thick, tacky layer of paint on the plate. I didn't think it would work very well, and the only reason it worked at all was because I was aggressive with the used of the rag. I think I wasted a bit of paint on this one.
I should mention here that the clean edges around the first two prints are the result of taping off the image area before rolling out the paint and creating the image. The tape has to be peeled off before running the plate under the press and it was sorta messy, so I decided not to continue taping the plate off for each print.

I like the random edge made by the brayer better than the clean edge left by the tape.
The detail (Right) shows the amount of detail I was able to achieve on such a small format using just the swabs and rag.
Print size is about 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches.

 This next print is even smaller than the others. It is about 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. The ridge appearance was left not by a brush but by the rag. It must have been the way I held it, because I went through another several prints trying to duplicated that and it didn't quite repeat in this way. I think it has an appearance that is almost like wood grain. I used the handle of the brush to make some of the contour lines.



The detail (Right) shows areas where the paint itself is suggestive of form with no real "help" from me. I like that!


And what's a studio without a fruit still-life? So here's mine for the day -- an invented pear.

 I like this print. I like everything about it. I suppose when I  look at it again tomorrow, I'll find all kinds of things in it that  I don't like. But for now it's of interest. I especially like the irregular border edge of the image. It makes the taped-off "perfect" edge seem boring. I tried a little yellow ochre in this print. I wasn't happy with how that color printed; it's too dull compared to the result I'd envisioned. Next time I'll try a cadmium yellow or even a lemon yellow.
Print size is about 9 x 6 inches.

The detail (Above) shows what I achieved with the stem. I was really surprised by the printed image versus what I saw on the plate.

 This detail (Right) shows the upper left corner of the pear print. I was very excited to see how the layers of paint retained their own individual characteristics, texture and shape. I must have the press pressure about right for the amount of paint I was rolling onto the plate by the time I got to this particular print. Hmm. I see that the thinnest (most transparent) layer of paint is what the scanner saw as brownish and the progressively thicker (more opaque) layers it saw as somewhat blackish.

This (Below) is the last print of the session. I don't think it is necessarily the best of the session. Just the last. By this time I was becoming more comfortable with the speed at which I needed to be creating the images so that the paint would be fluid enough to transfer with the printing press.

 I applied a thicker layer of paint onto the plate for this image and then tried to realize the image as quickly as possible. The result was  more of a dark/light contrast rather than any real subtle shifts from dark to light or vice versa. I'm not sure I like the resulting print quality of this manner as well as the earlier ones. Print size is about 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.

The detail (Right) shows strong decisive directional strokes or passes with brush and rag. I didn't use the cotton swabs on this print.

Another detail (Right.) I really tried to build form with just two or three values. Actually, only two values; the middle tones are the result of paint film left behind by the rag. If I wiped out too much, I simply added more paint with the brush.

All in all, the printing session was productive, not only in numbers of monotypes printed, but also in what I discovered in the process.