How do you track your Ideas?

inspiration / /
Use Idea boards to create and capture inspiration
Idea boards to create and capture those moments

Ok, I admit I just took a Creative Live course with Megan Auman about Pinterest.

So I am guessing that a lot of folks use pin boards and Pinterest to keep track of ideas and inspiration.

There must be some other folks who love paper, pictures and real pushpins.

Do you:

  • collect postcards from museums
  • create dream boards
  • cut out magazine pictures
  • spread them out to see or
  • organize them in a book or binder?

What do you do when you are walking and you have a great idea for your next series of prints?

Do you talk to your smart phone, write it down or hope you will remember it?

Need a printmaking workshop? Check out the current online classes.

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Go with the Flow

inspiration / /
looking out the studio window - heavy rain - linda germain
What do you do with heavy rain?

Heavy wind and rain here at my studio. Click below and enjoy a minute of “rain in the drain”

Flow is important to me when I making monoprints. Flow is:

  • effortless
  • steady
  • beyond though control
  • usually allows for results that exceed thought
Make gel Monoprints on fabric with Linda Germain
Make gelatin Monotype prints on fabric with Linda Germain

I have discovered that gelatin printing monotypes on fabric has a very different flow for me as compared to gel printing on paper. I have noticed:

  • transfer of ink is different
  • hand pressure is different
  • brayer care is different
  • potential marks are different
  • impressions are different
  • time management is different

As I walked through the rain this morning, I was very aware that the street was the same but different. It was covered with a thin sheet of ice and that required:

  • awareness
  • adaptation
  • patience and
  • adjustment of expectations.

I think that when I apply those attitudes to making monoprints, then I have more success. What do you think?

Explore making gelatin plate monotype prints on fabric with me and an international group of artists. Read the details and register for the online printmaking class today.

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Love Line as a design Element

drawings / /
Line drawing in printmaking linda germain
Simple line drawings can make powerful impressions

Line is often the first element of design that is taught in a basic art course. I love line whether it is simple and clear like the flower drawings of Ellsworth Kelly or the figure drawing by Matisse. (Do a google image search of the underlined terms and see if you agree)

Yet, I am also moved by the scribbles of Cy Twombly or some of the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock or the bold black brush strokes of Franz Kline.

  • We all use line everyday in writing.
  • We are familiar with it.
  • Very few materials are needed
  • Line can direct the viewer
  • It can guide you through a piece
  • It can connect elements of the piece

How do you feel about line? Love it? Or leave it?

Have you ever:

  • done gesture drawings of a live model?
  • contour drawings of every day objects?
  • made thick bold expressive marks with black paint?

Notice how you already use line in your art making. See if there is a technique or approach or style that you would like to play with.

Enjoy!

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Adding hand work to gelatin prints on fabric

gelatin prints on fabric / /
Yellow dye pastels added to gelatin plate print on fabric - Linda Germain
Yellow dye pastels added to gelatin plate print on fabric

I tried out some pastel dye sticks to add color to a monochromatic gelatin print. They seem a little “waxy” so I think I will use them as a last layer, too add a bit of accent color.

They can be heat set with an iron according to the manufacturers instructions.

Sometimes with gelatin printing it is a challenge to fill in a delicate white space with another printing method. That is when hand work and mixed media techniques can help.

If you would like to explore gelatin printmaking on fabric, with a great group of international artists, then sign up today for the online printmaking course, Monoprinting on Fabric. Read the details here.

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Gelatin Prints on Fabric to Cover Journals

artist book / /
Books with Monoprinted Fabric - Linda Germain
Journals covered with Monoprints on Fabric – Linda Germain

As you may have noticed from yesterday’s post, I am creating quite a pile of monoprints on fabric. That is the way I approach my printmaking. I love to get lost in the process and make lots of prints.

It is great to get into the flow of printing and let one mark or impression inform the next. This exploratory approach does allow for lots of learning and “mistakes.”

I don’t really think of my “less-than-perfect” prints as mistakes, but more as prints with potential. If 10 percent of my work is amazing, then that is good enough.

I think that it is funny that I give myself so much attitude to “fail” when I am making art. {I wish this would carry over to the rest of my life.}

Most recently I am embracing the idea to start with what I know and can already do. For example, I was getting frustrated because I don’t seem to be able to free motion sew with my sewing machine. And I love the look and feel of free motion quilting.

After several good attempts, I set the machine aside and moved to the needle and some simple hand stitching. I will circle back to machine stitching maybe after I get some help.

Do you give yourself the space/time to make the mistakes necessary to really learn a new skill? Try it!

If you want some support in learning to print on fabric, then join us in Monoprinting on Fabric. Registration is open now.

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