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And Goodnight zzzzzzzz

Mari May

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop and I’m tired. Goodnight 🙂 zzzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzz

Yesterday I posted about setting up to develop a linocut print while I was gallery-sitting at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir. After I did an interim sketch from my original sketchbook drawing of a Neolithic standing stone, I transferred it (in reverse) to a piece of vinyl with a white conté crayon. I’m using vinyl rather than lino because it’s softer and easier to cut and also because it’s so much cheaper. I find that I get very inhibited when I use expensive materials and I want to be free and a bit experimental with this – I don’t want to get precious about it.

I’m not going to cut a lot away at first, I’ve ruined a lot of blocks that way. I’m going to cut in stages and take proof prints as I go along to inform any more cutting that needs to be done. I’m aiming for a rough, simple, expressionist style. Here’s the first stage cut, inked up with a cheap water-based printing ink, waiting to be printed by hand using a plastic baren.

I have put my series of drawings en plein air of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder. If you want to see more, please click on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page. This one is the legendary grave of Saint Elfys (Elvis) in Pembrokeshire, not for from the Presceli Mountains. Elfys? Presceli? Elvis Presley? Coincidence? hhhmmmm

Starting From Scratch.

I spent last Saturday at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir, a fabulous artist-led artspace in the Rhondda Valley. The two artists who run the gallery, Chris and Gayle, are taking a well-deserved holiday and a rota of gallery artists are taking turns to keep the gallery open. I took a load of drawing and printmaking gear to start work on a new linocut.

I’m making a print from one of the many drawings I’ve done over the last year of ancient stone monuments across South Wales, mostly Neolithic and Bronze Age. The first stage is to do a sketch from one of the drawings in my sketchbook, simplifying it. The final piece will only be one colour, black on white, so I can’t put in the whole range of tonal values that are in the original.

The End Of The Experiment

So here’s the last stage of my experimenting with home-made printing ink based on Nori (seaweed) paste. Above is a block cut into vinyl, inked with a roller (brayer) and the print taken with a traditional Japanese bamboo baren. I used a Daler Rowney cartridge / drawing paper, 95gsm and had better results with the paper used dry, rather than dampened on the back with a quick spritz of water from a spray bottle.

Then I tried printing with a stamp, inked with a roller but simply pressed onto the paper by hand. Again, it’s the Daler Rowney cartridge and gave a better result on dry rather than damp. I’ve used the ink with these two blocks onto a lightweight Hosho Japanese paper, a vintage J Green British paper and lastly, the Daler Rowney, which has given the best results. It’s an economy paper so that’s a good result.

And finally, cleaning up. In water. Easy peasy. All in all, a good experiment. I still prefer a top quality oil-based ink for archival gallery prints, but this is an excellent alternative for using outside the studio or where you want to use something that’s more environmentally friendly.

Rainy Sunday

Husb and I have been in West Wales all day, visiting friends. The weather when we left was gorgeous but by the time we arrived, heavy rain was moving in from the Irish Sea and scuppered our plans for a countryside walk and some quick sketching en plein air. Of course it rained, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend! Never mind, it was nice to stay in and catch up. As we drove home, I turned to look back at the North Pembrokeshire coast from the Presceli Mountains. There was a break in the rain and the evening sun shone through the thick cloud for just a few moments. I might not have managed any scribbling, but the photo opportunity made up for it.

I have put my series of drawings en plein air of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder. If you want to see more, please click on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page. This one is the legendary grave of Saint Elfys (Elvis) in Pembrokeshire, not for from the Preseli Mountains. Elfys? Preseli? Elvis Presley? Coincidence? hhhmmmm

A Bit Of Vintage

And ….. back to my experiments with home-made printing ink. After disappointing results with a lightweight Japanese Hosho paper, I tried a lovely vintage British paper, J Green & Sons sold by the Vintage Paper Co. Above, I used the ink with a rubber stamp made from a design I did of the artist Käthe Kollwitz, applied with a roller (brayer) and stamped by hand. On the left is a slightly dampened paper, spritzed on the back with a water spray bottle. On the right is one onto dry paper. The damp one is the best.

Then I tried the ink with a vinyl block based on a screenprint I did of artist Frida Kahlo, applied with a roller and the print taken using a traditional Japanese bamboo baren. Again, the print onto dampened paper (right) is better than the one on dry (left). Pretty good results but still one more paper to try. More tomorrow ……..

Culture Vulture

Just back from a culture vulture evening, with the opening of two exhibitions, at Galerie Simpson and Volcano and the monthly Storytelling at Tapestri. Swansea is buzzing with arty shenanigans tonight. Of course, I had to have a bit of a scribble …….

I have put my series of drawings of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder. Please click on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page if you’d like to see more of them. This one is Saint Elfys’ Stone in Pembrokeshire. That’s pronounced Elvis BTW 😀

Scribbling Over And Saving Money

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop. I can usually only manage to get there for the second half, 8.30 – 9.30 pm when we have one full-hour pose. I drew with white, sanguine and black conté crayons onto brown wrapping paper, it’s about A2 in size.

I did a few quick warmup sketches first to get used to the subject, you can just about see them under the final drawing. I don’t mind drawing over things, it adds an extra layer of interest – and saves money!

Process, Process, Process.

10 Stamp inking — I used a roller (brayer) to apply the home-made ink to the rubber stamp that I’d had made from my original design by http://www.speeedystamps.co.uk

Making art involves lots of processes, especially with something like printmaking. I made my own printing ink with Nori (seaweed) paste, ground mineral pigment, water and gin. But successful printmaking depends on so many different factors – the ink must be compatible with the printing block or plate and also with the paper. What make of paper? How heavy? What sort of surface? And wet or dry? All these have to be tested. Yesterday I tried out a simple vinyl block . Today I’m showing the results of printing with a rubber stamp onto a lightweight Hosho Japanese paper.

11 Stamping — Pressing the inked stamp onto dry Hosho paper

12 Hosho dry — Didn’t work, the paper stuck to the stamp and peeled away.

16 Hosho Kathe damp — So I spritzed another piece of Hosho on the back with clean water and it worked very well.

I found the Hosho a bit too lightweight for both the block and the stamp. It’s a fine paper and crumples quite a bit when it’s damp so tomorrow I’ll show the results of working with a heavier paper.

Paper Geekery

Yesterday I showed how to mix up printmaking ink with powdered mineral pigments, Nori (seaweed) paste, water and gin. But that’s just the beginning. Next I had to try the ink with different blocks and papers to see what gives the best result. My first experiment was with a simple vinyl block that I inked with a roller (brayer) and printed using a traditional Japanese bamboo baren onto a lightweight Hosho Japanese paper. I tried it first with dry paper, but that was awful and the paper stuck to the ink and disintegrated. So I tried spraying the back of a piece of paper lightly with a water sprayer and again took the print with a baren. It worked quite well, much better than dry paper.

8 Baren — Printing onto dry Hosho paper with a baren

9 Hosho dry — The paper stuck to the ink on the block

13 Hosho damp Frida — Printing again after spritzing the back of the Hosho paper

14 Hosho Frida — The dry and damp Hosho papers

So tomorrow I’ll be having a go with a rubber stamp instead of a block……..

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