Enjoy a quick slide show of some recent monoprints on fabric.
There is still some room in the Monoprinting on fabric, online printmaking class, that begins January 12th. It would make a great gift to yourself and then you can get busy shopping for everyone else.
Have you wanted to create your own hand printed fabric for you art projects?
Do you love that tactile nature of working with fabric?
Do you love to experiment and see what happens?
If you said yes to any of those questions, then you will love Monoprinting on Fabric, the online gelatin printing workshop. Check out the details and email me if you have any questions.
Not all brayers are created equal. There are several different types.
Soft Rubber Brayers are best for gelatin printing
But with any type you still want it:
To spin easily and evenly
To spin quietly ( squeaky brayer will drive you nuts)
Be comfortable to hold in your hand
To pick up and roll out ink in the desired fashion
You can find:
Soft Rubber brayers
Hard Rubber Brayers
Pop in brayers
Foam paint Rollers
For printmaking on the gelatin and glycerin plate you want soft rubber brayers. They pick up the ink evenly and release it on to the plate easier than the other types.
The other types of brayers or paint rollers are less expensive, but they will create frustration while trying to make monotype prints that you love.
The pop-in style do not spin as easily or evenly. The metal handled style can be uncomfortable if you are printing for a long time. Hard Rubber do not pick up and release as easily.
It is also great if you can have several brayers of different sizes. The speedball soft brayers come in sizes 1 1/2″ to 6″ widths.
It is nice to have a small brayer to get into tiny spaces. And a large brayer will give you better coverage with less lines when you are inking up a large area. You will waste less ink if you use the brayer that meets the size of your project.
Try to take care of your brayers. If you do they will last a very long time. Here are a couple of brayer care suggestions if you are working with water based inks:
While you are working try not to let acrylic or other hard products to dry on the brayer.
I keep a small container of water near by to drop my brayer in while I am setting up a print
Before you clean, roll off most of the unused ink onto scrape paper
Clean with tepid water and a few drops very mild soap
Be sure to get out all the ink from the cross bar and side pins.
If you let ink build up there, then the brayer will not spin as well
Gently dry them with clean soft rags
Rest them on the metal crossbar rather than the rubber roller
Natural Materials for monoprinting on fabric with the glycerin and gelatin plate
Autumn is coming to a close in New England. Last week I gathered as many leaves that I could find.
The were still on the tree, so fresh. I imagine that their little veins were still open and ready to drink up the glycerin and water bath that I was going to put them into.
I tried to collect at least 3 different sizes of the same leaf. I did this so when I print with them, I will have repetition and variety.
I left the leaves in the 2 parts water and 1 part glycerin bath for 4 to 7 days.
Then I stacked them in between the pages of an old phone book. Hopefully the phone book will absorb the excess glycerin.
I have been wondering where I could get leaves, ferns or grasses during the winter months.
Tarlatan for straining the gelatin when recycling it.
Well traditionally a tarlatan is used for wiping excess ink off an etching plate.
It is an open weave, heavily starched fabric.
I use it in gelatin printmaking to strain recycled gelatin into a pan. It catches all the gunk and junk that was on or in the gelatin plate from weeks of printing.
Also sometimes the gelatin plate starts to mold as it ages.
The glycerin and gelatin recipe does not mold as quickly as the gelatin. I try to catch all those bits of mold in the tarlatan.
I have heard that some folks use a fine mesh sieve, old panty hose or doubled up cheese cloth.
So use what you have when you reconstitute your gelatin and glycerin plate.
If you would like to get lots of help making and maintaining your gel printing plate, then join the next session of Make Monotypes, the online printmaking course.
Many of these inks are not intended for use on fabric, but I had them around and wanted to see what would happen if I used them to print on fabric.
You know that I believe, “Fearless experimentation can lead to extraordinary results.”
The perfect ink for my application will:
roll out thin layer with brayer
hold the edge of a detailed mark
print very dark to very light
stay alive/workable as long as possible
non-toxic and low fumes
dry fixed on the fabric
allow fabric to remain soft and supple
Often is it not possible to do a quick test of inks when printmaking. Printmaking takes time and often the first few prints with a new ink are not so great. Each ink has a learning curve. What is good for one person may not work for another person.
You can make one change –
type of fabric,
type of plate,
weather and
speed of working and it could affect your results.
So these are just my opinions based on one or two weeks of test printing on fabric. Please do your own tests with your own goals and desires.
As you can see from the picture below, it is possible to get a pretty good print from most of the inks that I tried. Please note that I was working small and fast and doing the most I could to get a strong print.
Top Left counter clockwise, Golden Open Acrylic, Createx Screen Print, Speedball Screen print, Blue/red-Createx Monotype, Purple-Jaquard Textile colors, Yellow-Versatex Screen Print, Black-Speedball fabric ink, Blue dress-Speedball block Print, Center-Craft Acrylic
Here is a very short summary of my experience with these inks for printing on fabric with the gelatin plate.
Speedball water soluble block printing inks – water based- I printed on damp fabric and did a very quick dry/heat set with iron. May not be permanent.
Speedball Screen printing fabric ink – Ok but did not roll out as smooth as the Versatex
Speedbal Fabric block printing ink – oil based water soluble – I am sensitive to the oil base. Takes practice to get it to work with the water based gelatin plate
Versatex Screen printing ink for fabric and paper – My choice – It meets all my criteria above
Jaquard Textile Color – Second choice – it is a little too fluid, so it loses details.
Pro Chemical textile paint – may be a good choice but mine was too old. Give yourself a chance – don’t use old dried up inks
Createx Acrylic Colors – screen print or brush – Pretty good but coverage was uneven
Createx Monotype colors – Good but I am not sure if it is permanent
Acrylic Craft Paint – Not so good, stiff, dries very fast, sticks to the plate, but it is cheap and readily available.
Caligo Safe Wash relief ink – water soluble oil – did not roll up very evenly for me
Aqua Linoprint by Schmincke – water soluble oil – stuck to the plate and did not release on to the fabric
Daniel Smith Water Soluble Book Printing inks – water soluble oil – requires time to get to know the ink – pretty good coverage, but I hear they are discontinuing the product
Golden Open Acrylics – stuck to the plate and did not want to release on to the fabric, for that reason it was hard on the gelatin plate. I have seen it work for others using the commercial gel plate.
