mixed media printmaking Archives - Page 3 of 17

Magazines and books – sources of inspiration

altered books, book arts, drawings, inspiration, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / September 28, 2021

Once or twice a year I get a stack of old magazines from a library or other recycling source.

It is a treat to feast on the pictures and text. I cut stencils and roll pages into mark making tools, make collages and more.

I go through the magazines several different times for collage and drawing projects.

cut up book pages for collage — cut out word poems

Parts of the magazine that inspire me:

Words – for found poems and collages
Fonts – for drawing
Photos for drawing references
Thumbnails of larger pictures – composition ides
Illustrations – for drawing ideas
Figures and silhouettes for stencil making

So go to your library or recycling center and get a stack of magazines and make stuff. The images and words that you find are a jumping off place for your own uniques expression. Twist, crop and rearrange the words and images to make something new.

Make some origami boxes – There is a free tutorial here.

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Masking stencil combined with soft foam plates

foam plate printmaking, masking stencils, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / August 23, 2021

I think a combination of different quality of marks often creates a more interesting print.

Foam plate relief printing often creates solid white line kind of mark. You can create variety in the line quality by drawing the plates with different kinds of tools.

In the print above I used a pen, pen cap and found weeds to make the foam plates on the left. But to create the bolder marks on the right I combined a solid plate with “masking stencils.” I used plant material for the lower right image and cut paper stencils to create the shapes on the upper right side.

Masking stencils like those shown above are not usually used in relief printing. But if they are super flat they can be combined with a plain unmarked foam plate with pleasing results.

I thought of this combination of materials, because as a gelatin printmaker I have stacks and stacks of masking stencils.

So as you work on creating your mixed media prints be open to combining processes and materials in new and unconventional ways.

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What to draw when it feels like work?

drawings, mark making tools, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / July 12, 2021

If you are like me and don’t really like to draw, then it can be challenging to come up with ideas for drawing subjects.

A few classic subjects:

self portraits
fruit and veggies
flowers

I think the important thing is that you are interested in the subject matter. That will make it easier to stay committed to the drawing. Most recently I have been distilling my marks down to basic shapes.

I think it helps to give your self permission to draw the same thing over and over again.

A couple of more topics:

Studio tools
Jars, cups and vessels
Buildings
Birds

So if drawing feels like work to you, don’t give up. Just keep trying new approaches:

new subject matter
use small pages or notebooks
try meditative marks

If you would like to explore some meditative mark making and learn a few book forms, then check out the current workshops being offered.

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Books a good way to show off your monoprints

artist book, handmade books, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / July 9, 2021

If you are an experimental monotype printmaker like me, then you probably have a lot of prints and papers with potential.

The books above are bound in the manner of Japanese Stab binding. This form works well with a soft cover and hard back, and a long landscape style format. We will learn this book form in the Mixed Media Retreat.

Accordion style books are great for display.

I think the natural evolution is to start making books with some of those prints. Things you could make with your prints:

book covers
end pages
whole bound book of prints
spine covers

Pamphlet stitch binding easy and useful.

If you are curious to get started with some simple book forms, then check out the details, of the online Mixed Media Retreat. We will learn 6 book forms and several layering techniques that will put your prints to good use.