I just saw pictures from a collagraph workshop on printmaker Hester Cox’s Facebook page. The prints were made by workshop students and are just lovely. I would have liked to achieve something like this myself. I thought I’d include a reference in my blog to help me improve my collagraphs.

Glenda: Beach hut series
Glenda: Beach hut series, inked a la poupee

What works well here is the contrast between strongly and lightly textured areas, which is supported by different tonal values. As a result, the image can easily be read as figure and ground.

This was one of the major problems I identified in my own collagraphs. Both the group of small geese and the single large goose were texturally not different enough from the background. Using different colours for figure and background improved overall readability, but overall the composition did not provide enough textural contrast between different areas.

Angie: Leaf series
Angie: Landscape and feathers

The leaf and feather prints use natural objects to create interesting textures. I think an intaglio technique was used to wipe away ink from the surfaces, probably also making use of differences in ink retention. The landscape works through the colour contrast between the warm brown and cold blue.

These prints show another element that I did not get to work in my collagraphs, the intaglio wiping technique. Maybe it has to do with the textures I used, which may have had to much size difference. Actually I did not try out natural objects, maybe this would have worked better.

Bryce: Little owl
Bryce: Kestrel

The two prints make use of strong figurative images and expressive shape, with a lovely feather texture for the kestrel. Compared to this, I think my geese shapes might have been a bit simplistic and the textures I chose did not sufficiently support the “feathery” aspect of my chosen subject. But I don’t want to be overcritical, as the shapes might have worked if set against a quieter background texture.

Lenisa: Sculptural work
Claire: Gingko leaf series

I think the ‘sculptural’ prints strongly build on the wiping technique. The middle one with irregular shaped objects looks particularly intriguing. It’s breaking up the standard rectangle image boundaries. I discoverd this during linocut research and used it for the experimental linocut as well. It’s nice to see this applied to collagraph as well.

The Gingko leaf series explores a variety of approaches. Some are a bit weaker for the same reason I criticised my collagraphs, not enough contrast between figure and ground. But they are interesting to look at nevertheless. Again a single leaf evokes the impression of a whole tree. This reminds me of my leaf prints in part 1, where I created landscapes with trees based on the effect.

To conclude, looking at these prints I think that I was right being less than satisfied with my collagraph prints so far, and also identified what I could improve for future attempts.

Post scriptum

It was only after completing Part 5 of the course that I realized this little research must have worked subconsciously as an encouragement to choose collagraph in the final project, despite the technical difficulties I had encountered in Part 4. I guess this is an example of how much I integrate what I see and study along the way, without immediately drawing the connections or anticipating future effects. I’m much more at ease with this kind of organic influencing, compared to deliberately working “in the style of” any particular artist.

References

Original Facebook posting by Hester Cox: https://www.facebook.com/hestercoxprintmaker/posts/800684823352850