- Sansevieria plant
- My favourite mug
- Jiggly Puff soft toy
- Sedum Morganianum Plant
- My favourite perfume bottle
I chose these objects because they each have special meaning to me and are different shapes and sizes which I thought would make a good composition.
I began setting up these objects and taking photos from various angles and heights and also sketched several thumbnail compositions to give me an idea of what arrangement to use for my monoprinting.
Here are just a couple of examples of the photos I took:
Here are just a couple of examples of the photos I took:
Using all objects
Selecting three objects
Initial Thumbnail Sketches
The shapes of the plant leaves were the most interesting to me because of the patterns they have and the colours and textures. I included my soft toy because of it's whimsical character and the vibrant colours which contrast nicely with the plants, I eliminated the mug and perfume bottle because I felt the other three objects had more interest for me.
I chose several tools to draw with:
Feather, flat head hog style brush, palette knife,
round hog style brush, soft brush, foam brush, bottle top (not pictured)
I chose these tools because I wanted to create different strokes with the different textures of the brushes, the scraping lines of the palette knife and the more defined lines and shapes that could be created with the tip of the feather and foam brush.
At first when inking up the plate I used a large glass chopping board and covered the whole area with ink and drew into it. I realised later that we were to paint onto it rather than inking it first, so I cleaned up and started over. Even though I got the first bit wrong, I did find some interesting textures coming out of the lines and marks that I had made.
At first when inking up the plate I used a large glass chopping board and covered the whole area with ink and drew into it. I realised later that we were to paint onto it rather than inking it first, so I cleaned up and started over. Even though I got the first bit wrong, I did find some interesting textures coming out of the lines and marks that I had made.
Printed on Winsor and Newton cartridge paper with Schmincke Aqua Linoldruck Ink
Beginning again I experimented using the different tools and different papers. I tried Newsprint, Winsor and Newton cartridge paper, Canson marker paper and Strathmore printmaking paper. The inks I chose to use were Schmincke Aqua Linoldruck inks. I wanted to work with high quality, waterbased inks to make cleaning up easier and better for my health since I am very sensitive to the fumes of inks. I purchased the mini set which included black, white, yellow, magenta and cyan.
Initial prints:
Initial prints:
Palette knife to make texture leaf patterns.
I especially like the textures on this one, with the blends of green,
blue and yellow. I used the feathers edge to create this effect on
Winsor and Newton cartridge paper.
Using the different tools I got some interesting effects. I like how the dry brushes gave textured lines and the softer brushes gave a more precise line. Using the tip of the brush or the feather tip was ideal for carving in detail and I especially like how the Sedum Morganianum leaves turned out using these tools.
I experimented using different colours, some I mixed but most I used straight from the tube.
I found the marker paper was ideal for testing out prints and learning how to get the ink the right thickness and practice centering the image. It also affected how the ink printed, especially if it was too watered down.
Top left: soft brush on Canson marker paper.
Top Right: Round and flat hog style brushes on Canson marker paper.
Bottom: Foam brush on Canson marker paper.
**Updated Photos:
Top: Soft brush, waterdown down black ink on Strathmore printmaking paper.
Bottom: Round hog style brush on Strathmore printmaking paper using magenta and white.
Close up of texture created using soft brush and watery ink on Strathmore printmaking paper.
Top: Watery black ink on Canson marker paper with soft brush.
Bottom: Soft brush, feather on Canson marker paper.
Top: Flat hog style brush on Canson marker paper.
Bottom: Ghost print (from image below) using multi colours, flat hog style brush and soft brush on Canson marker paper.
Top: Flat hog style brush and soft brush, multi colours on Canson marker paper.
Bottom: (Ghost print of image below)
Flat hog style brush, feather tip, palette knife end on marker style paper.
Top: Flat hog style brush, feather tip, palette knife end
on Strathmore printmaking paper.
Bottom left: Soft brush, palette knife end on Strathmore printmaking paper.
Bottom right: Flat hog style brush, soft brush, bottle top on Strathmore printmaking paper.
**Updated Photos:
Round hog style brush, flat hog style brush on Winsor and Newton cartridge paper.
Close up details.
Reflection:
I found this project interesting, seeing how the different tools made different marks on the plate and how I could mix colours and textures together. I found this task a lot more enjoyable when I switched from a glass chopping board to a Gelli plate because the size was more manageable for me and fit the Strathmore paper I was using. Due to lockdown I found sourcing papers quite difficult and so I used the Canson marker paper a lot for experimenting as I already had a lot of it and it was a nice thin paper to play with and not worry about cost. I also already had the Winsor and Newton cartridge paper and so used that initially with my larger plate.
Later I trimmed the cartridge paper down for A4 sheets for the next projects. I wanted to make the most of what I already had on hand since at the time of making these prints lockdown was in full force and it was very hard to get hold of supplies. The Strathmore printmaking paper was one I was able to get a bit later on but was limited to size from the supplier and so I decided to go for the smaller Gelli plate since I wanted a nicer paper to use alongside the cheaper options.
Most of my prints came out quite ugly, I didn't mix many colours, mostly sticking to the primary set I had. I was more interested in getting an interesting composition and textures rather than it looking so realistic. I wanted to see what could be achieved with the different papers and tools I had chosen. Some of my prints like the blue and yellow ones, came out better and neater and others were very messy but I see this as part of the experimenting process I was working in.
I experimented with the ghosting prints, printing again from the same plate of a previous image. Most of these were very pale or blurred.
Overall this project has taught me about the materials, tools and the way the inks work when directly painting onto the plate and I feel this will lead me on well into the next project where we are rolling ink directly onto the plate.
Later I trimmed the cartridge paper down for A4 sheets for the next projects. I wanted to make the most of what I already had on hand since at the time of making these prints lockdown was in full force and it was very hard to get hold of supplies. The Strathmore printmaking paper was one I was able to get a bit later on but was limited to size from the supplier and so I decided to go for the smaller Gelli plate since I wanted a nicer paper to use alongside the cheaper options.
Most of my prints came out quite ugly, I didn't mix many colours, mostly sticking to the primary set I had. I was more interested in getting an interesting composition and textures rather than it looking so realistic. I wanted to see what could be achieved with the different papers and tools I had chosen. Some of my prints like the blue and yellow ones, came out better and neater and others were very messy but I see this as part of the experimenting process I was working in.
I experimented with the ghosting prints, printing again from the same plate of a previous image. Most of these were very pale or blurred.
Overall this project has taught me about the materials, tools and the way the inks work when directly painting onto the plate and I feel this will lead me on well into the next project where we are rolling ink directly onto the plate.
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