It is a bit strange to think that the only way to continue printmaking will be by my own effort… I think I benefit a lot from the framework of a course which guides me forwards. I do have some ideas I’d like to explore further, for example working with collagraphs. I’d also like to experiment with non-toxic alternatives to stone lithography I discovered while working on the course.

Unfortunately, I’m on a tight schedule if I want to complete my final level 1 module (painting) within the OCA time limit for level 1. With OCA studies on top of a full time job, I’m not sure whether I can afford the time for anything extra. But I strongly feel it would be a shame if I didn’t continue making prints or trying to combine printing and painting for a mixed media approach.

The printmaking course actually changed my way of working, or I should say, I guess it was my tutor, with his feedback. I am so thankful he suggested Google Hangouts for course feedback. I was reluctant initially, because I find videoconferencing intimidating. But it made all the difference of the world to speak to a real person, compared to receiving only written feedback and exchanging an occasional e-mail.

My tutor introduced me to a seemingly simple, but eye-opening concept of busy versus quiet with respect to visual properties of an image. Very early he pointed out that my prints looked very busy, implying that there were not enough quiet areas which would provide the eyes with a rest and balance the composition. I’m still in the process of integrating the concept into my practice, but it pops up again and again when I look at my own works as well as those of others. The influence may be subtle but it was like some light in the dark when it came to reflecting and trying to improve an image. It’s also finding its way into my work for the painting module, which I’ve just started.

I did not always agree with tutor feedback. For example, he found my experimental monoprinting shoe series in Part 1 a way of going sideways, and that I should try more interesting subjects. But for me, the shoe series was a very intense, almost overwhelming learning experience. With every print, I tried something new – colour combinations and their effectiveness, texturing, overprinting, the effect of backdrawings. It gave me a lot of hands-on experience on which I could build subsequently.

And for the subject – I loved the simple shapes in the same way I liked the tulip shapes in my final series of prints. I acknowledge my tutor may not have been able to see any interest in a pair of shoes, and agree that it was more a vehicle for trying out printing techniques than interesting in itself. But the core of the problem would have been that I did not bring out the interesting features of the object, rather than the object not being interesting. In fact, the comment had a slightly destructive effect in that I began to judge objects whether they might be interesting in his eyes – rather than just giving it a try and see if I can discover something interesting for myself. But I think towards the end of the course I had assimilated his comment and became attentive to exactly this, how could I personally relate to my subject.

This showed me that even if I did not like something he said, I nevertheless took it on board and tried to find a solution that worked for me. His feedback also made me aware that all the seemingly irrelevant thoughts and associations I had while working on a print, or while researching a topic, were important and that I should make a not to keep track of things that had the potential to spark further ideas. In fact, I realize that my work process has changed to accomodate this and it also shows up in how I’m approaching the first projects of the painting module.

Overall, I’d rate this course as the one I liked best from all my OCA courses so far, and the first time that I occasionally had the feeling of following my inclinations rather than doing coursework. Really glad I signed up, really glad I completed, and (in all honesty) glad being able to move on to something new now!

Digital submission, student lives in USA

Summary of video feedback 8 May 2015

• An abundant submission demonstrating hard work

• Visual outcomes improving

• You have achieved a good understanding of a range of printmaking techniques and are able to apply them

• Sketchbook supports your work but needs greater breadth of exploration before engaging with a subject in depth

• Your log is a valuable and well-written resource. Reflection your personal journey will assist your artistic development

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Project 13. Combination mono and linoprint:

Appropriate research and interesting Klee/Haring visual connection. Some lovely mark-making and strong drawing in sketchbook. Greater exploration of preliminary ideas needed.

Prints themselves appear competently printed, but have not really picked up on possibilities inherent in artist research in terms of attractive colour usage or organisational systems e.g. multi-colour dab printing (Klee) or a formal, coloured, grid structure (Mondrian). Also would have been interesting to see prints using a varied line thickness, like your brush drawing of the staircase.

But you have worked hard and your engagement with follow-up work demonstrates this.

Project 14. Combination prints and chine collé:

Good research – Warhol’s Jagger prints.

A productive body of work.

I enjoy the bold, German expressionist-like cutting, although because the centre-line does not pass correctly through the face, the image appears distorted.

As you note, Set 2 are an improvement over Set 1 due to the stronger use of colour. I really like the expressive white lines in the face where you have wiped your monoprint – adds visual interest, and yes, ‘broken hero’ indeed.

Preparation of Set 3: The abstract image in your sketchbook is a super thing, a lovely balanced interplay of shapes, lines and colours.

Your monoprint under-layers call to mind the Turin Shroud. In future, if you notice such connections, make brief references to them in sketchbook or blog.

Set 3 make a good conclusion to your chine collé print-run. You are effectively combining the layers and the collage element. Technically, the blacks could have been more solid (although personally I like the comic-book print quality caused by the white spotting).

For me, image 3 works best. Elvis looks like he is illuminated by a stage light.

Further experimentation in sketchbook is interesting, and yes, could be a way to engage with the developmental pyramid idea we discussed last time. But tie it to some visual research, currently it has no context.

Project 15. Series of four combination and experimental prints :

Sketchbook exploration of themes, subjects and ideas not carried out in the broad intention of the brief.

However, you have researched your chosen theme of tulips and found appropriate artworks demonstrating a range of approaches.

Your developmental print surfaces, tests, explorations etc. have yielded a broad variety of images. Naturally, your productivity has produced varied results, but broadly speaking, the tonal work has caught my attention:

Such images allow us to enjoy the strength of your composition: the rhythmic deployment of the flower heads and use of negative space, the linear elements contrasting with the tonal masses.

The less successful pieces lack clarity of intention. Not a criticism, but to help your understanding:

The colour work has yielded some pleasing images demonstrating interesting combinations of approach with subtle interplays of tone and technique:

Four prints: Your final selection continues the rich subtlety. There is a good rendering of forms through tone and contour; the activation of the background helps bond the image into a coherent whole; and the subdued colour adds a slightly mysterious and unsettling air to things.

Technically, a broad and successful engagement with a range of materials and techniques.

Overall, an impressive and abundant body of work.

Supporting statement: Good. You acknowledge ups and downs, shortcomings and successes. Overall, a clearly growth-full and positive experience.

Your review of the course itself seems to me to be a very fair summary and you are aware of things to take forward.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

Sketchbook and a multitude of exploratory prints support your studies. You continue to demonstrate strength in drawing, too.

But to better exploit the book as a working tool, I reiterate the need for linkage to artist research (including explorations from this) and also the pyramid of ideas/development we discussed last time.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

As always, you take your blog seriously. You have made it into a very useful resource for yourself. Artist references, lots of information about materials and techniques, and very well illustrated.

Going forward, do explore and reflect on your own motivations as discussed previously.

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

You are now at the end of the Level 1 print course. Carry learning and understanding from this course into all your other studies.

Pointers for the next assignment

Use editorial judgement and discernment when submitting work for assessment, but seek to maintain the narrative flow of the work.

Make sure loose work is neatly trimmed. When mounting work, have deeper margin at bottom. Mount onto thin card. Stick to black or white mount colours.

As a general rule, when mounting multiple images on a single sheet, keep the internal margins smaller than the external margins.

Link to OCA assessment guidance:

http://www.oca-student.com/sites/default/files/oca-content/key-resources/res-files/printmaking_210514.pdf

For this project, I chose a view downwards a stairway located close to the UN building in Midtown Manhattan. I was fascinated by the shadow pattern of the handrail on the stone pavement, and by the curvy outline of the stairway. The result was a line-dominated linoprint focusing on that visual pattern and excluding the rest of the setting. I had the association of a “Stairway to heaven”, the Led Zeppeling rock ballad from the 1970s, and this inspired the first set of prints in blue tones where I tried to create an ethereal background with the monoprint layer, so the stairway would look like floating freely in the atmosphere.

Preparing for the assignment though, I realized that I had achieved not enough variation in approach and outcome in that first set. Therefore I created a second set of prints taking up colour ideas I had previously tried out in the sketchbook, and also experimented with integrating a different subject, an imagined Manhattan cityscape, into the composition.

The second print takes up the “Spring time” topic by adding some greenery with yellow and red colour spots for flowers, adding a positive feeling and some liveliness to the somewhat austere linocut design. The third print reflects my ongoing preoccupation with living in the huge city. It’s kind of a hate-love and I’m not sure whether I’m truly happy with the choices I’ve made and the path I took, which I see symbolized in this print, as if I posed the question to myself.

The first set of prints was made on heavyweight printmaking paper, the second on Bristol vellum with a smooth surface. The margins of the prints will be adjusted for assessment presentation.

Blog post, first set: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1685
Blog post, second set: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=2102

Task 2 (Project 14): Combination printmaking with chine collé

The topic of this project was inspired by my accidental re-discovery of Elvis Presley as a singer and entertainer. Over the course of a few weeks I became a real fan and “Elvis Expert”, studying his musical career and personal life, including the sad ending of the story. Of course I felt a bit silly for the devotion, but couldn’t help being swept away by the quality of his singing. Choosing to make an Elvis portrait as a printmaking project thus was quite a personal thing. But in the research point on chine collé I had come across Andy Warhol’s celebrity screenprints, which sort of legitimized the topic choice, besides providing visual input.

One of the problems I encountered was that apparently the only pictures of Elvis in the public domain were taken at the occasion of his visit to U.S. President Nixon in 1971. None of these photos I liked, so instead, I chose a very attractive picture posted anonymously on the www as my image source. I hoped that using it for strictly educational purposes only would be acceptable. It taught me that digital rights issues can become complex when an artist is not able to use his or her own photos.

The project developed from more realistic colour schemes towards “odd choices” which worked surprisingly well conveying my impression of him as a “broken hero” and the discrepancy between the public and the private person of Elvis Presley. In the later prints, I began texturing and wiping into the inked monoprint plate to give depth to the facial area. I used chine collé only as an accent for his scarf.

With hindsight, I think that I was somewhat intimidated by the devotion I felt, and therefore reluctant to be more experimental with my subject. It was as if I permitted myself only to do “a beautiful portrait” and treat the image with respect. I think the subsequent experimentation in the sketchbook with collage and watercolour underpaintings shows that I let off steam at least a bit afterwards.

I chose a different set of prints for assignment 5 than what I thought were the best prints when I completed the series. I think the four I present here better reflect the variation in colour choices. In particular, I think the slightly misaligned second print was an important one because it made me see that I could convey my perception of Elvis’ personality by making unrealistic colour choices.

To summarize, I’m pleased with the actual outcome of the project, but I’m also aware that assessors might have expected more experimentation and greater variety in the use of chine collé. I guess it’s up to me to develop this further in future work with a variety of different subjects.

Blog post, Project 14: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1720Chine collé research point: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1707

Task 3 (Project 15): Four combination and experimental prints

In this project, I chose a simple flower still life with tulips as my subject. I loved the elegant shapes and the colours of my model, and this was what I focused on during project work. I started with a broad approach for the experimental phase, with 3 different collagraph plates plus a cardboard plate for textures and a hot glue relief plate as an alternative to backdrawing. I combined these with various monotype techniques, including texturing, wiping, painting and rejection effects from different ink types. I also worked with masks and assessed the effects of backdrawing. During that phase, I made prints on almost all types of paper I had in stock: Smooth drawing paper, thin Thai Kozo, plus various medium-weight printmaking colours in different hues of white. I tried out hand burnishing versus printing with the press as well.

In the end, I settled on the one technique I liked best: Painted monotype combined with a collagraph plate inked intaglio style, printed with the press in two consecutive runs on damp Canson Edition paper. Print size is 57 x 40 cm, with a printed area of 45 x 35 cm.

The colour choices represent warm vs cool colours, with two coloured backgrounds inspired by earlier prints I particularly liked (a transparent black and a yellow one). The selection of prints for the assignment was informed by my intention to produce a coherent series of prints, not just a collection of the most interesting prints that had come out of the experimentation phase. Therefore, the selected prints are the outcome of an analysis and consolidation phase where I tried to identify the most interesting elements of the experimental prints and combine them selectively for the final series.

I do see the potential for further development of the idea, for example by combining different views of the tulips, not just different colour schemes. If I had more time, I’d work out more designs and create the collagraph plates for more variation. I’m a bit sad that chine collé did not make its way into the final prints, but I tried it and found it did not work well with the subtle collagraph inking, because the paper soaked up the ink to invisibility. I could have tried different papers, but I found that I was able to achieve my desired colour effects with the monoprints and did not want to include the technique just for the sake of it. Likewise, I did not find a reason to add a chine collé element elsewhere on the print, and so did not do it. Now I realize that I might have tried using it for structuring the background.

I’ll take this as learning point for future printmaking: Rarely is the potential of a subject developed in a single printmaking session. I don’t seem to be the person who uses the sketchbook very much for ideas, I’m more comfortable doing the experiments directly in the form of prints, which makes me see what I get from different approaches and techniques. So my method might be to plan for several consecutive sessons with reflective pauses in between.

The printmaking process in project 15 is documented in 4 separate blog posts, plus a fifth for the supportive statement. I’m using the blog extensively because it provides a valuable resource which enables me to get back later to the technical steps I made and how I achieved certain effects. In its detail, it is not directed at assessors who merely have an hour to assess student work produced over the course of a year or longer.

I’m not quite sure how to resolve the discrepancy. It might help to include summary articles that are short on process details and emphasize reflection on my journey. I guess this is what my tutor suggests as well, by pointing out in his feedback that he doesn’t see what I like or where I’m going. Maybe the reflective parts are underdeveloped because I’m busy learning techniques.

Sketchbook work and printing plates: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1869
Monochrome printing experiments: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1902
Combination and multicolour printing: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1936
The final series: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1970
Supporting statement: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1987

Research and reflection

As in the other course parts, I alternated research with project work, and wrote up in chronological order. The respective blog posts can be accessed by clicking on the ‘research and reflection’ side menu, or via the drop down menu in the context of each project. For ease of reference, I’m including links here as well:

Paul Klee, Keith Haring, Piet Mondrian: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1611
Research point: Chine collé examples http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1707
Sasha Barker http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1778
Juan Sebastián Carnero http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1801
Reviewing my blog and personal journey http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1811
Linocuts by Jacques Moiroud http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1819
Inspirations: Tulips in print http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1842

During part 5 I also got back to collagraph and I guess that research encouraged me to make another attempt in the final project. I categorized the research as follow-up to part 4, but now realize its effect on part 5.
Collagraph printmakers: http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1637

I now see that my research was based on what I come across in social media, in particular the facebook groups and sites I’m associated with. I followed up images I found particularly interesting. On the one hand, I appreciate how this broadens my horizon and gives me pointers to contemporary printmakers and artists I wouldn’t have known otherwise. On the other hand, I think I should also learn to do more self-directed research, for example artists employing particular techniques or art movements reflected in printmaking. That’s an area I wish to develop in the future.

Final check-up against the assessment criteria

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills – materials, techniques, observational skills,
visual awareness, design and compositional skills

I think technically, I made good progress in part 5. I worked with quite an array of techniques and tried to analyse what worked and what not, for example when using the press vs printing by hand. Unfortunately I didn’t find the time to do course-independent sketchbook work, but I think the tulip drawings in Project 15 are quite good. I also think that I began building up technical expertise and made use of experiences to produce quality outcomes.

Quality of Outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent
manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas

The blog seems to be my primary means for communicating ideas, thoughts and the prints themselves, and I think it’s quite coherent as a whole. I do see the problem that the blog contains too much information to be digested in the time available for tutors and assessors, and am trying to alleviate this by providing pointers and summaries of relevant content.

The blog served to partially replace sending in physical work, and I don’t maintain a physical learning log, so I found it important to present a complete picture of my progress through the course to permit adequate feedback. Maybe tutors and assessors would have needed to see less, but then the blog wouldn’t represent the actual journey, including wrong avenues and items that appear irrelevant at first but later might turn out to be pivotal. As it is, the blog  represents my personal dictionary of printmaking techniques, applications and errors.

Application of knowledge in terms of setting printmaking techniques into practice works well, I think. I can be quite stubborn and keep trying to make things work.

Demonstration of Creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a
personal voice

The creative part seems to be the hardest for me. As much as I’m at ease with trying out technical variations, I think I could have done a lot more experimentation. I guess it has to do with my tight schedule, which makes me focus on producing acceptable outcomes and doesn’t leave enough time to play around and try new and unconventional things. I do see some progress with respect to personal voice in the way I personally related to the chosen printmaking topics. But to be honest, I don’t feel as an artist yet. I produced a lot of prints, but the creative, experimental aspects are still a bit underdeveloped.

Context – reflection, research, critical thinking (learning log)

Hopefully my work for part 5 demonstrate that I took tutor feedback on board. I included a good deal of notes on my inspirations and tried to incorporate more reflective elements everywhere in the writeup. What still needs improvement is drawing connections between artists’ works and my own stuff. I guess it has to do with my work ethic of ‘no cheating’, always having been proud to do my homework without copying from my classmates… Making prints “in the style of …” has that negative connotation of not being original and stealing from others, which I find difficult to overcome. As much as I like looking at other’s works, and am ready to appropriate the technical aspects, I don’t want to copy any other artist’s style. I’ve not yet found a way to resolve the conflict between what the course seems to encourage and what I personally strive for. Put briefly, “it’s against my religion”, and I’m not sure what to do about it, so for now I try to take it easy and see how things develop without forcing me into any particular direction.

The idea was to follow up what I had started in the sketchbook, namely using more varied colours. The other idea was to loosen the relationship between monoprint subject and linoprint subject, i.e. make a picture as underlayer rather than just colorizing the stairs.

I’m now two days before the assignment is due, so had to deal with limited time. I had to fit in not only making the prints, but also writing up and updating the blog to reflect the additions. I guess the practice and experience I gained in projects 14 and 15 helped a lot to quickly come up with a technical approach.

I wanted to stay with Akua inks and print on dry paper, using release agent to improve ink transfer, and print with the press. I chose an eyballing registration method: I placed the monotype plate onto a piece of paper the exact size of the printmaking sheet, then aligned the plate in the upper area of the paper. The printmaking sheet was then aligned with the registration sheet and the monoprint run through the press.Later, the inked linoplate was placed face down on the monoprint, the ensemble turned upside down and run through the press a second time. This worked quite well, although unfortunately the lino plate was slightly larger than the perspex plate, so the lino marks extend on the upper and lower edge. If I had to do it again, I’d cut the linoplate to match the perspex plate size.

The prints have asymmetrical margins, and I will cut them later so that they’re going to be equal on all sides for assessment.

A series of 6 mono and lino combination prints

Monoprint inked with brayer and textured with a spatula, guiding idea of bushes or plants that are growing to the left of the stairway. To the left, the initial monoprint, to the right, after overprinting with the linoplate.

Colour variation: It seemed more natural to have the green around the stairways, and a kind of stone colour for the path itself.

I found the above colours a bit too muted so did another one with brighter red. I used the back of a brush to draw lines into the ink, repeating the handrail shadow pattern. But the lines were too fine and don’t come out after overprinting the linoplate. I also added yellow spots with a fine brush, to hint to flowers. It loosens up the plain green but is a bit too faint in the resulting print.

This print is a favourite. I added ultramarine blue over the rest of red on the stairways, resulting in a pale violet, stone-like colour. I re-inked the greenery, then added yellow and red spots for flowers. I really like the friendly spring feeling evoked by this print.

This was an experimental print on light blue paper. I  was skeptical whether the inks would look good, and don’t particularly like the result. I guess the print would look just better on white paper because the colours shine brighter. Technically, I experimented with using a spatula to apply ink, which resulted in the irregular blue pattern around the blue block. It didn’t seem to work for this print but might be interesting in a different context.

Here I created an even more independent image as a monoprint, taking up the Manhattan cityscape topic that attracted me already in part 1. I inked red over blue with a roller and then drew lines into the ink to symbolize the window fronts. The greenery in the foreground was inked with a dabber, deliberately leaving some white for the paper to shine through. I’m quite happy with the print and think the background image adds a lot of interest to the result.

Some reflections

From these prints, I like the one with the green flower lawn and the Manhattan houses best. I’m glad I made the effort to try out these monoprint variations with the linoplate. I think I made a general error by choosing a very limited subject, the staircase shape and its shadow. But then again it was interesting to see whether the initial idea could be pushed further a bit.

I particularly liked integrating the ‘Manhattan skyline’ topic, because it’s something I’m a bit obsessed with. Life in Manhattan is dominated by tall buildings, they can’t be avoided and appear in almost every view. Again there’s the symbolic notion of the stairway printed over the citiscape to indicate a path one takes.

Adding the colour spots for flowers had its own connotations, maybe a bit of spring feeling after the long cold winter. With the new colour choices, the stairways look much friendlier and almost like an invitation to take that path.

I feel that I’m progressing nicely in the technical side of printmaking, but the artistic side or personal voice is not yet developed. Maybe it’s just a bit too much, learning the techniques and trying to develop as an artist simultaneously. I guess once I feel at ease with the practical side of printmaking (or any other art medium), attention will shift to the artistic message.

Choice of theme

My choice of theme was guided by a decision to work from nature (not from a photo) and my love for flowers. Practical aspects like availability of the model for close study were also relevant. I finally chose a pot of tulips for the simplicity and elegance of the flowers’ shapes, and remained fascinated by the visual pattern of leaves and petal shapes in my composition throughout the project.

Technical approach

I started with some sketches and detail studies in the sketchbook to get a feeling for what interested me most about my tulips, and then undertook some research to see how others had approached the depiction of tulips (see Blog post: Inspirations: Tulips in print http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1842) .

I particularly liked the painterly approaches in Julia Aires’ monoprints and the etchings by Josefina Hernandez and Louise Stebbing, whereas I found graphical approaches, eg. linocuts, less appealing. Consequently, I opted for a painterly approach in my project, in particular using monoprint for colours. I was also interested in collagraph, but knew I’d have to experiment and improve my technique quite a bit, as my prints in part 4 were not so successful.

My tutor had warned me not to choose a method I wasn’t comfortable with, so I was prepared to be open minded and try something else if it did not work out. But I wanted to develop my abilites with collagraph and so decided to give it a try.

The first step was to make a set of collagraph and experimental printing plates. Starting from a master drawing on the first plate, I created three collagraphs: The first was made from cloth with PVA glue applied in a different number of layers, aimed at creating tonal values from differences in ink retention of open vs. closed areas. The second and third were heavily textured plates made with sand, burlap and joint compound. All three plates were meant to be inked intaglio style, i.e. wiping away excess ink from the surface and printing with the ink that was left on the plate.

I also made a plate from corrugated cardboard for texturing monoprint backgrounds, and a hot glue relief on cardboard as an alternative to backdrawing the tulip contours.

Then followed an explorative stage to get to know my plates and my subject as it printed. I worked mostly monochrome, making painted and textured monoprints, collagraphs and styrofoam relief plates from the collagraphs. Next I experimented with multicolour and combination prints. I explored painted monoprints with wiped backgrounds in the style of Julia Ayres and tried overprinting monoprints with collagraph plates. I also experimented with denatured alcohol, sisal grass, strings and the corrugated cardboard plate for textures.

I used different kinds of paper (drawing paper, Thai Kozo, Canson, Strathmore, Lenox, Vellum printmaking paper) and compared the results of hand burnishing vs printing with the press.

The final series

After the experimental stage, I reviewed everything done so far in an attempt to identify the most interesting approaches and techniques for the final series of prints. I liked the monotype overprinted with collagraph best because it gave both strong colour and interesting texture to the image. For the process, I decided on Canson Edition paper, printed damp with the press.

Initially I wanted to combine prints from two of the collagraph plates, each one printed in a warm and a cool colour combination. But over the course of the printmaking, my preference switched to prints from the cloth/PVA plate, which I used to make a series of prints in 4 different warm vs cool colours.

Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the result and think that the prints are technically well executed and visually pleasing. I like the unusual colour choices I made and am happy that I was able to make successful prints from a complex collagraph plate. During the experimentation phase I had learned quite a lot about the techniques involved, so that in the final series, most of the technical glitches, like dampness of the paper, sequence of steps, registration and monopainting issues, were resolved.

Reflecting on the project as a whole

The project was a big one for me and I got quite involved, juggling with so many different approaches to my subject. At times I felt overwhelmed but in the end I managed to focus on what I liked best and produced prints of good quality.

With hindsight, I think I might have stayed more open regarding the subject. Very early, I locked in my choice of subject and viewpoint, and then explored the composition in various technical approaches. As a follow up, it might be interesting to develop a range of different views of the tulips and then make a series of prints in my chosen technique, with varying colours and maybe even varying paper sizes. The problem is again the time limit for completion of the level 1 degree modules, which requires me to finalize this module now, but I might get back to the idea at a future point in time. The relevance of this learning point should not be restricted to printmaking, because a more varied approach to a chosen subject would be a good strategy for me to adopt in other artmaking techniques as well.

I also felt a degree of professionalization in my practice developing over this final project. For example, in the final stage I had my paper prepared in advance – a number of sheets torn to size, placed at hand. I had my equipment all set out. I had a simple improvised registration technique that worked sufficiently reliable. I knew how to handly the Akua inks and special effects from combining intaglio inks with liquid pigment. Towards the end of the project, I felt very much in control of the process. Nevertheless, I tried to stay open minded and critical towards what I produced. This resulted in the decision to select all prints from the same collagraph plate, in different colour versions, rather than combining prints from two different plates.

Review of the course

I did this course as a voluntary add-on module to the painting degree and feel that I’ve learned a tremendous lot. This concerns not only printmaking techniques, but also how to structure the creative process and develop an idea into a printable motif. At some point, I felt restricted by the limitations of my materials. For example, I found that my favourite inks, Akua water-soluble intaglio inks and liquid pigment, did not work very well for painted monotypes. I developed a technique to create marks with a rough brush, but it wasn’t truly what I had in mind because it did not feel like painting freely with colours. Only now at the end I found out that a particular blender medium exists to address exactly this problem. I should have researched that earlier!

For the course as a whole, I’m pleased to see that I produced a large amount of interesting prints in a variety of techniques. It’s a nice feeling of accomplishment when I look at the gallery of prints, not only those selected for the assignment but also all the experimentation and sideways I took. I see the course as a guided introduction, both technically and into the creative process, and feel it’s going to be like a seed that will take more time and effort to bring out the full potential of what it initiated.

I see my shortcomings and that I was only partially able to respond to tutor feedback. One problem is that tutor feedback arrives at a time when I’ve already worked into the next project, my mind full of new stuff and ideas, and then have difficulties to set aside time to go back and review the previous project in light of tutor feedback. Other things in the feedback I understood and tried to take on board, but had practical difficulties with, for example with regards to drawing connections between what I do and what I see in artists works. Another big problem is my very limited time available, because I’m doing OCA courses on top of a full time job. All my time must be managed and organized productively, and that time pressure isn’t good for playful exploration which would provide the setting for creativity. Since I can’t change the situation for now, I will have to learn to be creative “at the push of a button” which might in itself be a valuable ability.

So there are still many aspects to develop further. For example, I think that I did not do enough sketchbook work, both regular drawing practice and using the sketchbook to work out ideas. My tutor also made me aware that I need to integrate the reception of artworks into my practice, but I struggle to do this because I’m very focused when I’m working. Currently I am alternating between studying artist works and developing my own stuff, with only the beginnings of mutual influence.

In the future, I hope that I can build on what I’ve learned in the course and continue printmaking. I’ll be taking the painting module next and maybe there’ll be room to integrate the two approaches. For now I feel somewhat exhausted because the workload of the course was intense, but after a little rest I guess I won’t be able to resist to get back to the printing press later on.

At first I was disheartened because I had put so many work in making the five plates and then making all kinds of combination prints. I did not know how I might arrive at a series with inner coherence fom what I’d done so far. Then I decided to take a more systematic approach and analyse why there the prints did not cohere and which were the successful bits in my prints so far.

As reasons why the prints did not look like an ensemble I identified

– different paper types with different surfaces and different hues of white
– different paper sizes: Some cut to fit through the press, others with varying margins
– a whole lot of different techniques applied in explorative fashion, i.e. somewhat at random
– experimentation with colour, sometimes successful and sometimes not, resulting in arbitrary colour combinations when a set of prints was placed next to each other

My conclusion was that I needed to address these points and develop a concept that integrated the most interesting and successful bits of my prints so far.

The first aspect was choice of paper. I wanted to use the same paper for my series, all cut (or torn) to the same size, which would provide a formally unifying characteristic. But paper choice depended on the choice of technique. For example, with the collagraph plates, I would have to use the press and dampen the paper, which worked best with medium to heavyweight printmaking paper. On the other hand, fine monoprint textures came out best on white drawing paper because of the very smooth surface. If I was to use a technique that required the press, I was at the same time limited to a paper format that fit through the press, which meant that the side margins could be no larger than about 2 cm.

With this in mind, I went through my prints and identified the monoprint and collagraph combination prints as my favourite technique. I also found the effects of warm vs. cold colours interesting. I liked Chine Collé as well, but it tended to soak up the ink of the collagraph overprint as if there was no overprint at all in those areas.

Finally I came up with a concept for the series of four prints. I wanted to use two collagraph plates, the cloth plate with tonal values and the joint compound plate with the cracked background. I wanted to print these over monoprint flowers with clean background. I also wanted to juxtappose warm vs cold colour hues. The paper I liked best for collagraph was Canson Edition (250 gsm) which is fairly bright and not overly rough so it would bring out sufficient amount of texture. It would also look good with the embossing effecs of the joint compound plate.

The two collagraph plates had the tulip image in mirror orientation, because I accidentally worked out my master drawing directly on the cloth plate and corrected the error by reversing the image for the other plates. I thought that including prints in different orientation would add an element of interest.

I planned to make 8 prints in total from which I’d hopefully be able to select four as my final series. I prepared four sheets of paper for the first plate, then somewhat arbitrarily started with the joint compound plate and a set of cool colours.

Monoprints with the joint compound plate

For the first print, I had dampened all 4 sheets in advance, and then began inking the perspex plate. After printing the first layer, I needed about an hour for inking and wiping the collagraph plate, and the paper dried considerably. Unfortunately, the collagraph plate misaligned after registration and I didn’t notice, so the print came out at an angle.

The print looked good nevertheless but I learned that I’d better ink both plates first, then dampen the paper, and then print both layers consecutively. I took great care to handle the paper with clean hands and subsequently tried to avoid unnecessary movements once the collagraph plate was placed on the monoprint, to avoid the risk of accidental misalignment. I also managed to work out the two pressure levels for my press and was able to reliably switch between the low setting for the thin perspex plate and the high setting for the 0.6 cm collagraph plate.

The next collagraph was printed onto a painted monotype, again with a cool colour choice. I had found my wiping of the collagraph background too thoroughly, compared with the intense tone of earlier prints from that plate, and so tried to apply more ink and wipe away less. This print had more background tone and registration was successful

The third monoprint was painted again, but I added medium red to the flowers and some yellow into the green for the leaves for a livelier effect. The overprint was in the same blue-black ink mix as before. This time, I inked only the background because I found the burlap texture less successful. I wiped the background still more gentle and the resulting print looked the way I wanted. From close and enlarged, the background cracks can be seen as embossments in the paper.

The fourth print from this plate was made in the same technique, but with a choice of warm colours. The painted monoprint used orange-red for the flowers and yellow-green for the leaves, and the collagraph background was inked in Van Dyck brown, then gently wiped.

I found the two prints quite successful and thought that two corresponding prints from the cloth collagraph would make a nice ensemble.

Monoprints with tonal value collagraph

Thinking through the prints so far, I wondered whether I could also integrate prints with dark background into the series. I had particularly liked the transparent black background and the blue coloured tulips in earlier prints, so went ahead with a corresponding monoprint. I painted the tulips with Akua Liquid Pigment into the dark intaglio ink, using the rejection effect between the inks to create white and coloured marks with the brush. The monoprint was overprinted with the collagraph inked in blue-black and wiped intaglio style. As with the previous plate, I wanted to retain some more of the ink in the background area and therefore wiped thoroughly over the flowers and gently over the background.

The next two prints were made as painted monoprints with thoroughly wiped background, one in cool colours, the other in warm colours. I’m including the pictures of the monoprints because I found the change resulting from the collagraph overprint so stunning

By this time I began hesitating between two approaches: Making a series from two prints off each collagraph plate, or building the series from the cloth and joint compound collagraph only. Placing the two light background prints from this set next to the two of the earlier set, they corresponded nicely, but the ensemble was less interesting than I had hoped, compared to the three prints so far from this set.

I reflected what might work well as a fourth print in this set, and thought I’d like one with a coloured background, so I’d have two with coloured and two with white base colour. I wanted to stay with the warm colours to match two cool, two warm colour prints, and concluded that with the brown background colour, I’d have to choose a relatively light colour or the brown would sink in or look “dirty”. I remembered how I liked the warm yellow of the only multi-layer monoprint I made. I was unsure whether this would look good but wanted to give it a try.

I think the brown collagraph overprint has a stunning effect and completely changes the colour effect. I would not have anticipated this effect and find it very successful. As a result, I decided to stay with the second set of prints as my series for this project.

The series of four prints

I’m placing the four prints next to each other to show the ensemble effect. Of course I know that there would have been a million more possibilities to explore and compared to that, I might be judged of having made obvious choices. But I think this is a successful series of prints, technically well executed with interesting colour effects. I will discuss the potential I see for further development in the supporting statement in a separate blog post.

Multicolour monoprints

Two-layer painted monoprint and its ghost

I first inked the plate yellow, then drew into the ink with a stick to create some white lines and areas. Then I overprinted the plate with a painted monoplate, using the negative mask to protect the yellow background.

The yellow underprinting provides a unifying ground for the strong contrast between violet and blue-green. Subtle texture and colour effects result from the white areas in the underpainting. I liked the warm yellow colour. The ghost came out a bit weak but might work as an underpainting for other layers.

Backdrawing over monoprint

The first layer of this print was the ghost of a masked monoprint from a multicolour plate, hand burnished on drawing paper. Then a backdrawing was applied.

The backdrawing gives the print the necessary definition. I like the irregularity of the colours in the background and think it’s quite an interesting result.

Multicolour monoprint with hot glue relief plate overlay

This print was made from a loosely inked plate, then overprinted with the hot glue relief. The plate moved over the print which created partly double outlines. The resulting print is quite vibrant and lively.

Multicolour monoprint with backdrawing

The perspex plate was inked in transparent black, then painted into with Akua Liquid pigment in red and yellow. The liquid pigment rejects the intaglio ink whick results in white brushmarks with subtle hints of colour. The backdrawing was supposed to give more definition to the image, but the effect came out a bit weak. The lines are rather gray than black because I slightly thinned the ink with transparent base.

Texture monoprints

Textured monoprint with backdrawing

I placed synthetic wood shavings onto an inked perspex plate and printed this onto a sheet of newsprint, with the intention of texturing the plate for a subsequent monoprint.

After painstaikingly peeling of the shavings off the plate, I painted into the plate with green and red intaglio ink, using a brush to stipple over the surface. This printed as the first layer onto drawing paper, hand burnished. A backdrawing was supposed to give more definition to the tulip shapes, but again I found the effect too soft to be successful.

Monoprint with sprinkled background texture

The first layer of this print was a ghost of a tulip flower monoprint with white background. Then I inked the perspex plate in transparent black and sprinkled denatured alcohol with a toothbrush on top. I placed the positive mask on the print and overprinted it with the black plate. Finally a backdrawing was added.

The sprinkled background was a bit too weak and is hardly visible, but the technique might be interesting for future exploration. The alcohol dissolves the ink and creates spots in the plate which don’t print.

Multi-layer combination monoprints

Combination monoprint with masking, texture, chine collé and backdrawing

The first print was made on top of a light gray ghost from an earlier print on white drawing paper. I placed the positive mylar mask onto the print and draped some string over the entire area. Then I placed a plain transparent black perspex plate on top, turned it all upside down and ran the arrangement through the press.

Next I cut out tulip flower shapes from thin blue paper scraps and glued these firmly onto the print, using the brayer for pressure. Finally a backdrawing was applied.

I think this is a successful and interesting print, there are lots of elements I like:
– the unusual and unrealistic colour choice
– the dynamic effect of the light background lines from the string
– the backdrawing which is dark enough to stand out and has an interesting quality of line

The second print was made as a ghost from the above plate. I pulled off the mask and the string, then painted and splashed some denatured alcohol over the plate. Unfortunately the print came off too weak. I guess this was because I used dry paper with a rough surface (Arches text wove). Despite release agent and printing with the press, the ink did not come out dark enough, so the texture effects are only visible from close or in enlarged view.

A later overprint with a coloured flower ghost and a backdrawing improved contrast and definition, but the overall impression remained a bit too faint.

Monoprint and collagraph combination prints

Multicolour monoprints, wiping technique

The multicolour monoprints with wipled background became my favourite single-technique prints. They were made by inking the perspex plate over the transparent tulip drawing, either with a brayer (for plain surface) or with a brush (for brush textures), and then wiping away the entire background area with tissue paper and cotton buds. The interest comes from “insufficient cleaning” – there are still some ink remains which print as faint hints of background colour. I liked these prints so much that I resisted the temptation to add backdrawing.

Backdrawing over multicolour monoprint

This monoprint was made by inking the plate with the brayer, wiping away the background, and then applying a backdrawing to define the leaves and the flower petals.

Here is another monoprint, this time with the flower painted and printed on damp Canson Edition paper with the press. The left image shows the original print, the second is after a transparent black (gray) backdrawing was applied. The backdrawing is soft and can better be seen when the image is enlarged.

In both prints I like the backdrawing, but it’s hard to say whether the prints work better with or without backdrawing. This suggests that backdrawing doesn’t make much difference if it is as subtle as in the second print. On the other hand, it does change the overall visual effect. I think it adds a little strangeness to the print and moves it from a more painterly style a little closer to a coloured drawing.

Monoprint and collagraph

Finally I combined the monoprint flowers with the collagraph plates. For the first combination printwith the tonal collagraph, I chose  I chose one of the flower monoprints with wiped background. In the resulting print I did not like the colour spots in the background area.

Therefore I made the three subsequent monoprints with the negative mask or cleaned the background area very thoroughly. In these follow-up prints I also varied the colour temperature between cooler and warmer red and green tones by adding yellow to the green and orange-red to the blue-red base colour.

I wiped away much of the background ink from the collagraph to obtain a subtle background effect. The tonal values looked differently depending on whether the flowers had been inked with the brayer or with the brush. On the smooth colours from the brayer the collagraph print came out clearer, but I also liked the liveliness of the texture mix in the painted flowers.

Monoprint, chine collé, collagraph and backdrawing

The last print presented here was made in multiple consecutive steps:

– The plate was inked orange-brown, then tulips were painted into the inked plate with denatured alcohol to create white brush marks. This was printed on damp Vellum printmaking paper with the press

– The paper was re-dampened, then dark red and orange tulip shapes were cut out and placed as Chine collé onto the paper (for easier registration).

– The cloth and sand collagraph plate was inked in black for the background and green for the leaves, then wiped intaglio style. The print was made with the press. This simultaneously glued the tulip shapes firmly onto the paper.

– Finally a gray backdrawing was applied to improve the definition of the leaves.

The resulting print would certainly look better with a different choice of colour for the monoprint and collagraph layers. I think I made the mistake of mixing inks for my orange-brown, rather than using clean colours, so the result became a muddy base colour, which wasn’t improved through black and green overprinting.

On the other hand, I definitely like the Chine collé effect and despite the muted colours, the print has interesting visual qualities resulting from the textures. I think it was an important learning experience and future prints in this technique should come out better if I improve the colour choices.

Monochrome monoprints

Painted monoprint and its ghost

Hand burnished on dry smooth drawing paper (170 gsm), with release agent to improve ink transfer

Monoprints with textured background, using the positive mylar mask

Taking up the technique developed in part 1 of the course, I placed the corrugated cardboard onto the inked perspex plate and made a first run through the press to texture the plate. Then I used the plate and the positiv mylar mask to pull some prints. I aligned the mask with the outline drawing placed under the perspex plate, but it was difficult to handle the mask, as it was so thin and flexible and full of ink on one side.

1) Hand burnished print on dry drawing paper
2) Ghost on dry Thai Kozo paper (ca. 70 gsm)

3) Hand burnished on dry Thai Kozo paper. The thin paper captures fine details of the background without the need for a press or dampening the paper
4) Ghost printed with the press on damp Canson Edition paper (250 gsm)

I had the idea of later printing a second layer to colourize the positive shape, but actually didn’t because I found other approaches more interesting.

Using the masks with the press didn’t work so well because only modest pressure can be applied, otherwise the mask is squeezed and slides over the plate, making clean registration very difficult. The effects from the sliding mask may be nice as accidents, but I didn’t want to pursue that further.

Ghost prints from the textured plate and the mask

The ghost prints were made after the masked prints, having pulled off the mask from the perspex plate

1) The perspex plate itself
2) Ghost from that plate, on white drawing paper hand burnished
3) Second ghost from the plate, with release agent and the press on damp Canson Edition paper
4) Print directly off the mask, with release agent on dry drawing paper, hand burnished

Styrofoam relief prints

Collagraph plate 1 did not have much haptic texture because it was created flat with just layers of PVA glue, but plates 2 and 3 had quite a bumpy surface. I made impressions from the collagraph plates onto thin styrofoam sheets by running them through the press, which created a relief surface from which I subsequently printed by hand.

The third styrofoam sheet was incised by drawing through the transparent master drawing and working out the lines with the back of a brush directly into the styrofoam sheet.

1) Onto damp Canson Edition paper
2) and 3) Onto dry drawing paper

Cardboard collagraph prints

Further experiments with the cardboard collagraph

1) Perspex plate textured with the cardboard collagraph in a run through the press, then inked with release agent. Hand burnished on dry drawing paper

2) Re-inked and re-textured plate, then tulips painted into the ink over the transparent drawing. Release agent applied. Hand burnished on dry drawing paper.

I wasn’t overly satisfied with the results from the cardboard plate textures. Technically, the plate was difficult to handle and slid around when I ran it through the press on top of the perspex plate.

Painting into the textured plate didn’t look very interesting either as a monochrome print, although I liked how the brush marks transferred onto the paper. I guess the problem was the recurring issue with too much similarity between figure and ground: Same colour and similar texture characteristics and colour distribution within the texture.

Hot glue relief print

A simple tryout print in dark red from the hot glue relief plate, printed by hand onto dry all purpose paper.

Inking and printing the plate was cumbersome. Firstly, my rollers were only 1/3 as wide as the plate so I constantly smeared ink into the background where I did not want it. Secondly, I did not know how to register the plate because of the surplus area around the border line. I eyeballed but anticipated difficulties when printing in layers.

Prints from the collagraph plates

Plate 1: The cloth and PVA collagraph

I made a first print from the plate as a relief print to see whether any interesting relief texture would result, but it didn’t. So I proceeded to properly inking and wiping the plate, then pulled prints with the press onto damp paper.

I was quite happy with the results and found that the image came out nicely. There was an interestingly textured background and good contrast between figure and ground. The tonal values were not as controlled as I had imagined, but there was enough tonal contrast to make the flowers stand out clearly.

1) Plate inked with a brayer as a relief, hand burnished on dry Strathmore Printmaking paper (medium weight)
2) Plate inked deeply with a brush and wiped intaglio style: Ink stays in the rougher areas of the plate and was wiped away from the smooth parts. Then the plate was printed on damp Canson Edition paper with the press.
3) and 4) Same technique, same paper. Print and ghost from newly inked plate. For the ghost I used release agent to improve ink transfer.

Initial collagraphs from plates 2 and 3

Plate 2: Sand and cloth collagraph

Plate inked intaglio style, wiping away excess ink with tarlatan. Then printed on damp Canson Edition paper with the press.

The textures are deeply embossed and look interesting from close, but the overall impression confirmed what I had anticipated after the styrofoam relief print off this plate: The texture of tulips vs background did not have enough variation to make the tulips stand out clearly. Colour or a combination print would be required to obtain a clearer visual effect.

Plate 3: cloth and joint compound background

Multicolour inking, intaglio wipe, printed with the press on damp Canson Edition paper

I inked plate 3 in two and three colours respectively to improve the difference between figure and ground. I chose “cold” vs “warm” colour combinations for the two prints. I particularly liked the effect of the cracked joint compound layer in the background, which created both an embossement and an interestig colour texture.

Sketchbook studies

My intention was to try depicting my subject in a variety of media and from different angles. I wanted to see which aspect would capture my attention and interest the most. Apparently this was the visual rhythm of the 5 flowers and their leaves, and the simple but very elegant shapes. Drawing the green leaves was not easy at all. I tried to simplify a bit but did not work with any particular printmaking approach in mind.

I worked with oil pastel, graphite pencil and coloured pencil on white and coloured backgrounds. I also made a watercolour sketch and two charcoal studies. The charcoal studies were inspired by the tulip drawings by Lilian Westcott Hale which I discovered in my research on tulip depictions (described in the blog: ). I focused on tonal values and the figure/ground distinction. I tested the effect of light vs. dark figure before the background in three additional small charcoal sketches.

After the research and my initial sketchbook drawings, I felt unsure which technique I might choose for my subject. I liked the painterly approach in Julia Ayres’ monoprints and the two black & white etchings best, compared to the botanical and the graphical approaches.

I thought that monoprints might be the way to go, but also felt inclined towards collagraph. I had been somewhat disappointed by the results of my prints in part 4, at the same time felt I’d barely scratched the surface of the potential of that technique.

My tutor had warned me not to experiment with a technique where I had difficulties, because the aim of the final assignment was to produce successful prints. So I was a bit torn whether I could take the risk of getting nowhere with collagraph.

But I had one leftover plate from part 4, which I had made to explore a technique that’s based on different ink retention depending on the smoothness of the plate surface. I had covered the plate with a layer of fine jersey cloth and the idea was to add layers of pva glue to seal part of the surface so that some areas would retain ink whereas others would reject ink. Tonal gradations are supposed to result from varying numbers of pva layers – more layers increasingle close off the surface and retain less ink. Wiping such a plate means to clean the smooth areas which would then print as light values, whereas the rougher areas would print as darker tones.

The plate was quite large and its size pleased me. I decided to take a jump and try the collagraph approach.

Making the printing plates

The master drawing

I made a soft pencil drawing directly onto the plate. The surface permits erasing and redrawing. I aimed to indicate the darker areas which I would later seal with pva glue. This drawing would become my master drawing. Before proceeding to the pva layer, I transferred the design onto transparent paper for use in subsequent stages.

First collagraph plate

The pva glue was applied in several layers. I left out the darker areas of my composition, applied about 2 or 3 over the mid tones and about 4 or 5 over some light spots and the background area. Between layers, the plate had to dry for about 2 hours. Finally, I applied three layers of shellac on front and back sides, with 4 hours drying time in between. So it took a few days until the plate was ready to use. The shellac added a yellow tone to the plate. The final picture shows the plate after the first intaglio style print with dark, medium and light areas depending on ink retention of the surface.

Mylar masks from the master drawing

I transferred the drawing from the master transfarent onto a blue thin mylar sheet with black sharpie, then carefully cut out the shapes to retain both parts of the drawing as positive and negative masks. I had the idea of using them as masks in layered combination prints.

Second plate: Sand and cloth

Since the drying times of my first plate were long and I had more masonite boards in the same size, I thought it would be a good idea to experiment some more with textures for collagraph plates. I transferred my master drawing onto the plate with carbon paper. I used the negative mask and sprinkled sand onto a layer of PVA glue in the shape of the tulips.

Next I transferred the drawing onto a piece of burlap the exact size of the plate. I cut it out carefully and glued the negative shapes onto the plate for background texture. I applied several layers of PVA glue on top to smooth out the surface a bit. This plate was intended to print as an intaglio and I wanted to have it somewhat smoother to put less strain on the wiping tarlatan which would tear otherwise. The plate was finalized with 3 protective layers of shellac on both sides.

For reference I’m including the plate after the first intaglio print

Third plate: Cloth and joint compound

I made a third plate on masonite board, using the positive cloth for the tulips. I temporarily glued the positive mylar mask onto the cloth and applied a thick layer of joint compound with a spatula over the background area. The joint compound cracked during the drying process, and I found this was a very happy accident because the resulting cracks looked so interesting. After the plate was fully dried, I applied 3 layers of PVA glue to close the surface pores and another 3 layers of Shellac to make the plate water resistant.

I intended to use the plate as an intaglio plate as well. The picture shows the plate after one of the initial prints.

Additional collagraphs from cardboard and hot glue

For the fourth plate, I took up a technique I had tried out in part 1: Using corrugated cardboard to texture a monotype printing plate. I cut a piece of cardboard slightly larger than my printing area and glued torn pieces of cardboard on top.

The fifth plate was made with a hot glue gun. I came across stencil making with hot glue while researching scrapbook techniques for crafters and thought this might work as an alternative to backdrawing. The idea was to print a line relief onto an image. I decided to use a cardboard support, rather than making a free stencil, because I wasn’t sure if the glue stencil would be sturdy enough on its own. There were also some elements of the drawing unconnected to outlines, which I wanted to retain. Finally, using cardboard was practical because it spared me having to use a heat resistant working surface.

Technically, I transferred the line drawing onto the cardboard, retraced the lines with a sharpie, then followed them with a hot glue gun. The technique consumes quite a lot of glue and it takes a bit of practice to get at least moderately smooth lines. I reworked some areas to make sure the lines were complete.

Both plates were then sealed with three layers of PVA, then three layers of shellac on both front and back. They bent initially but over the course of applying the layers on both sides and drying time in between, they straightened out flat again.

Making all the plates took almost two weeks, despite working on several plates simultaneously, while others were drying. With the five plates, I would have lots of approaches to explore and lots of combination possibilities.

With hindsight, having all these plates created a breadth of approach that was hard to handle. It was also not possible to build on experiences made with one plate to improve subsequent plates. But I think it increased my chances of finding a combination of techniques that would result in successful prints.

Then I wanted to look around a bit how others approached the subject and did a google web search with ‘tulip print’ as my search term. Quite a few images came up and I selected several I liked. They represent a variety of different approaches. With a few exeptions, they were made from contemporary artist, with many contributed by craftmakers. I guess studying towards a painting degree I’m expected to search for “real artwork” but it’s not that easy to locate tulip prints by respected artists.

But actually, I do like what I found so far and find it inspirational already. I’m not yet in a position to know what I’m going to develop, and I also see the danger of muting myself by looking too much at what others have produced already.

Painterly approaches

I found two prints which I suppose are both monoprints, the first by Amy Akers, the second by Julia Ayres.

The Akers print reminds be a bit of Van Gogh paintings, because the lines are so fluid and irregular even for the harder materials like wood and ceramic vase. It gives a very lively effect to the image.

Ayres is the author of a monotype printmaking book and has much experience with the technique. The print includes a chine collé blockprint (the eye) which I think doesn’t very well integrate with the print as a whole. The monotype strongly corresponds to the tulip intaglio print below, maybe that plate was also used in the print. I particularly like the faint remainders of the red background colour from the wipe away technique.

In the ‘painterly’ section I also include these two etchings, the first by Josefina Hernandez, the second by Louise Stebbing. I think both are very exciting compositions with an unsusual viewpoint, the first by cropping and the second by using the wilted flowers as models.

The Hernandez print makes me think about collagraph prints that use different ink retention properties of various surfaces. The flowers would be a surface retaining much ink, whereas the light background results from a smooth surface which was wiped almost clear. This is apparently the same principle at work as in etchings when collagraphs are used as intaglios!.

The Stebbing print is quite different, and I don’t understand the technique. It’s a wonderful play with transparency, lines and shapes, very mysterious in effect and very atmospheric.

“Botanical” approach

I found a print by Sally Winters which reminded me of botanical drawings and watercolours by Elizabeth Blackadder, which I’m including here for reference. It’s in the tradition of botanical drawings, of which I’m including an example by Jacob Marrel (made c. 1635-45)

It’s not exactly what I’m interested in doing, but I still like it because it’s so delicate. Sally Winters’ print is an etching printed in colour . There are only only traces of a darker colour for outlines which creates the very fine style.

Winter presented some pressed flowers and another colour etching. I’m finding both very inspiring although I know it’s just too fine and delicate for me. I’m more at ease with a bold and expressionist way of working. But I do appreciate the visual qualities and in some of my tulip sketches I think there comes up something more sensitive and detailed that what I usually do.

Graphical approaches

Here I’m referring to bolder, black-and-white or restricted colour approaches that look a bit like poster prints. I guess this is the most frequent approach to linocuts, in particular single-colour linocuts. It promotes a stylized depiction that reduces detail and tonal values.

The first print (ted tulips) by Abigail Davidson is a linocut, but could have been made with stencils and looks a bit like the potato prints I used to make as a child. Nevertheless it’s nice in its simplicity and how it includes different stages of the tulip flower life cycle. The second print from “Anna’s Drawing room” impressed me by the loose cutting and the bold shapes.

It’s in stark contrast to the other two linocuts from Lapwing Printworks (left) and Rosamund Flowler right) with much more delicate and detailed cutting of lines, shapes and patterns. The Lapwing print has an interesting composition with a strong angle, although the cutting is a bit bland and not so interesting. The Fowler print reminds me of linocuts by Jacques Moiroud (as explored in resent research, see http://ocaprintmaking1.blueconcretemoon.com/?p=1819). I appreciate the technique but can’t help feeling that it’s overdone, there’s just too much pattern going on and this is a bit disturbing.

I also found a linocut of just the flowers with a pattern depicting the texture of the petals (published under the name Prionta Lionoile). It has the character of a detail study, but by enlarging it to take up the entire image space it becomes an almost abstract composition and the cutting patterns begin to create tonal values of light, medium and dark red. It is an interesting approach. I guess it works best on only a detail of the flower – in a group of tulips with leaves the image might become too busy overall.

Tulips in art and design

The initial google search was followed by a search on the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, search term ‘tulip’. There came quite a lot of hits but most were not directly relevant for what I was interested in, for example more botanical drawings or depictions of tulips on vases or in rugs. I still found a few items I’d like to include here for a closer look.

Two drawings captured my interest, one is a study of tulips by Charles Demuth and the other a charcoal drawing of several tulips by Lilian Westcott Hale. At the time of writing this, I’ve done some more tulip studies myself. I realize that the Demuth studies are much looser that what I’ve done so far, but I seem to have been similarly preoccupied with the tonal values of leaves. Demuth apparently wanted to capture this in the watercolour wash. By contrast, I tried to capture this with hatching at first, then making colour studies with coloured pencil, and finally tried watercolour washes. Demuth’s drawing is looser and more impressionistic, whereas I tried to depict the shades the same way I saw them. I think Demuth’s drawing with wash is more sensual than mine are, but I feel still too preoccupied with analysing what I see before I can let go.

The Lilian Westcott Hale drawing inspired me to try out charcoal as well. What I admired in the drawing was the interplay of figure and ground, with white shapes before dark ground vs dark shapes before white ground. The light contours in the dark tulip shapes are intriguing. I tried to do something similar in my sketches but found it hard to erase the charcoal to obtain white lines inside a dark shape. I guess I was a little too impatient, it probably takes much more time and patient study to achieve the kind of results as seen here.

I even found one tulip print in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, it’s an aquatint by
Joe Andoe. I do not particularly like the print, because I think it’s a bit kitsch with the stylized clouds in the background. Nevertheless I’m impressed by the simplicity of the flower shape which is enough to make it resemble a tulip.

And then finally, the tulip chair by Eero Saarinen which was really a surprise because I’m quite sure to have seen it already but have never been aware where it came from. Now having studied the forms of the tulips, I recognize its elements! It’s how the stem sits in the center of the flower, and it’s so smooth, straight and perfectly even in form. The green leaves have folds and wavy shapes that are really like the armrests of the chair. It similarity just makes me smile.

Web references (all accessed 6 April 2015)

Amy Akers, Pink Tulips http://www.artspan.com/art/2345921-98287/Printmaking/Giclee/Still-Life/pink-tulips.html

Joe Andoe 1993 Portfolio of 6 Aquatints: Tulips http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/487026

Julia Ayres artist website http://ayresprintmaking.com/

Elizabeth Blackadder Irises watercolour http://stilllifequickheart.tumblr.com/post/3971525312/elizabeth-blackadder-irises-2010 )

Abigail Davidson https://www.pinterest.com/pin/363454632399481219/

Charles Demuth 1926 Tulips (watercolour and graphite) http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/481640

Anna’s Drawing room http://annasdrawingroom.co.uk/2014/03/07/lobsters-on-a-postcard-please/

Rosamund Fowler – The tulip vase http://www.woodengravers.co.uk/gallery76_01.html

Josefina Hernandez http://www.josefinahernandez.com/printmaking

Prionta Lionoile https://www.pinterest.com/pin/165436986284139715/

Jacob Marrel ca 1635-45 Four tulips watercolour botanical drawing http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/337769

Lapwing Printworks https://folksy.com/items/4002-Tulips?shop=yes

Eero Saarinen Tulip Armchair 1956 http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/482088

Louise Stebbing at Skylarkstudios http://skylarkstudios.co.uk/index.php/prints/detail/49/

Sally Winter Etchings https://www.etsy.com/listing/77904353/tulips-a-botanical-etching-with-aquatint
Sally Winters Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sally-Winter-Etchings/352823438130241

Lilian Westcott Hale undated, Tulips http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/10979 Charcoal