techniques

I spent the day making collagraph/intaglio plates with the Tetra Pak packaging.

Those are the plates above. The inside of the package is sliver and slippery. I drew lines with an etching needle and cut away the sliver layer and pulled it off to get the solid black areas.

I played with discovering the kind of marks that I like. I did print this leaf as a line drawing first and the pulled off the background to make the bold shape print.

I folded the packaging to create the creases in the funky print below.

I am loving the bold shapes and strong black impressions created by removing the sliver layer of the tetra pak.

I used Akua Intaglio inks and Arnhem 1618 printmaking paper.

I reworked the plates as I went along. I could cut the plate or cut away more as I went along.

I cut off the top and bottom of the plate and reoriented the print and it made a big difference. I love learning new approaches and techniques.

 

I found a tutorial and another here on Tetra Pak Collograph/Intaglio. I did some more searching online about the process and just had to give it a try.

Tetra Pak is a composite packaging system. I found broth, soups, milks, and juices at the grocery store and even some things at the Dollar Tree store.

So emptied and rinsed the containers and cut them apart. One of the things that I love about these style of prints it that the folds in the package can be part of the print.

I quickly made some line marks with an etching needle and used Akua Intaglio ink to ink the plate.

Above you can see the test prints and marks. To get bold black area, I cut into the silver layer of the package and removed it, leaving soft paper surface that holds a lot of ink.

I used my little Xpress Xcut embossing machine to print the plate. It was a fun process to try. But I was reminded why I prefer to use water based inks and print without a press.

The process is messy, slow and I have to wear gloves and try to be neat.

I think I will try it again, when I have a good image for the process.

See more Tetra Pak Prints by other artists on my Printmaking Inspiration Board on Pinterest.

Fun to do these tiny paintings that are inspired by a walk in the woods. I was amazed that I was able to capture some of the energy of the woods in such a small sketch.

Can you tell:

• it’s autumn
• the are pine trees
• some have lost there leaves
• plenty of standing dead woos

Try it. Go for a walk and then paint thumbnail landscapes of your walk. I think you will be amazed.

 

This was my TO DO list today.

I needed to

• make some space on my workbench
• take the time to play with the woodblock that I made last week in class
• gather the tools for my experiments.
• Then most importantly let it be FUN!

If you are having trouble getting started with you next art making project try out the “Space + Time + Tools = FUN” formula.

Often we can be distracted from making art because we think that we do not have:

• Enough space
• Any time
• Right Tools

That might be true, but if you really want to make art you can often find the time and space and then use the tools that you do have.

For example, woodblock printing is new to me. After taking a workshop at MassART with Lisa Houck, I wanted to continue to experiment with the blocks that I had made.

Even before the 2 day workshop started I hunted through my stuff for carving tools, wood, watercolors and paper. I borrowed watercolors from a friend and made do with the paper and tools that I had.

The thing that was going to stop me was time!

I reminded myself to “feed” my art habit first, then I would be in a space to share what I learn with others. [Like the oxygen mask in a crashing plane scenario. :)]

This kind of support, sharing and structure is what I hope to give you in the Mixed Media Printmakers Online Retreat. I want to help you find the space, time and tools to have some fun with printing, collaging and bookmaking.

I think that this kind of supported action will help to feed your art practice.

Read the details on the printmaking workshop page and join us today. Class starts July 7th.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Light rain and the raindrops in puddles inspired me to make some marbled monotypes for today’s #SeeDrawPrint challenge.

I used nontoxic suminagashi inks and a small water bath. I pulled about 5 prints. It is easy to get addicted and to be lost in the process.

You need to have a very still and level surface. Today the trains and the the roof fan on my studio were vibrating the table.

I like a kind of modern print with big bold shapes of ink. But if the ink is too heavy it starts to sink below the surface as in the image above.

I tried printed over some orange prints that I pulled a few months ago. It worked ok but the paper did not absorb all the black ink and it smeared a bit. I think I might try covering some small notebooks with a few of these prints.