For the first attempt, I went back to the penguins motif. The first was made using the sketch on top of the paper and tracing it with a ballpen. The second was made on top of an existing monochrome print in yellow. I had some trouble figuring out how to obtain a traceable image to […]
I had assembled quite a few things for experimenting with textures on the inked surface, but my first attempts to make marks by pressing items onto the plate did not work at all. I used black Akua Intaglio ink, and it turned out to be much too stiff for the technique. So I switched to […]
I proceeded to the next variations using a different set of masks: A Clematis flower cut out after a drawing I made in 2012 for the drawing course, with a Clematis leaf drawing from one of my potted plants. I designed a registration system using a grid of guiding lines on a sheet of white […]
As a consequence of my dissatisfaction with the printing paper in the previous series, I bought inexpensive acid-free medium weight paper (150-200 gms) and some lighter and heavier materials for experimentation. I also did quite a bit of web research on monotype and stencil making and then decided to buy an electronic cutter. I chose […]
I decided to continue with the penguins for the two colour masked monoprints and made two series of prints. The first was with blue and green tones, the second with orange and yellow tones. In the second series, I used lighter paper instead of my expensive heavyweight drawing paper, but I was very dissatisfied with […]
Henri Matisse’s blue nudes were made relatively late in the artist’s life – in 1952, two years before he died. I thought this would be an indicator that they incorporated many years of experimenting and experience with the technique of using cut-out paper to create compositions. What makes them so powerful? I think […]
Finding a design I had the idea of making prints from animals and began with photos from a visit to the Berlin Zoo, back in 2008. I made some sketches in my sketchbook. I also made a sketch of a simple still life arrangement with two brushes in a glass. Then I wanted to try […]
The next monoprints were experiments with different subjects, painted onto a plate and then printed by hand or using a press. Blue pitcher and basket For the first try, I chose a blue ceramic pitcher and a little brown basket – two relatively large objects for an A4 format. I made two quick sketches in […]
While following up links I found in the context of my research on Barbara Schneider, I came across the website of Linda Germain, who provides a very hands-on tutorial and videos about using gelatine plates for monotype printing. She makes wonderful, simple prints using techniques I had already seen on printmaking students’ blogs: Using cut-out […]
French painter Edgar Degas lived from 1843 – 1917, somewhat earlier than I had been aware of. I had done some research on Degas in the context of another OCA course and had been very impressed by his realistic depiction of scenes and people, for example in ‘The Cotton Exchange’, a painting dating from 1873. […]