Wolf Collagraph Print

Wolf Dreams Collagraph

17x23

Wolf Dreams Illustration

Woman and wolf entangled in dreams.
New inspiration for a print. My latest doodle.
I scanned in my sketch and created a vector illustration.
I may do a collagraph, or dabble in watercolor for a change.

My New Printmaking Studio

With the help of some friend's heavy lifting and my dad's carpentry skills, my new garage studio is complete. I have a 2 car garage and am using one half for the press and work space.

My dad built the work area and I covered it with glass, which you need for mixing and cleaning up ink. He also built the shelf above for storing all the ink supplies and brayers. I bought the custom made press and flat files from a fellow printmaker. I also found a vintage kitchen table and a mid century modern bar stool at the Salvation Army.

Overall I'm so excited to finally have my own space to create prints. I've run into a couple issues with having a garage studio. The first is rust. I left the press for about 3 weeks and uncovered it to find it completely coated with rust. After cleaning it all off, I coated it with lubricant and am awaiting a product recommended to me by a printing press manufacturer called Weatherpruf that supposedly keeps machines rustproof for up to a year. The other issue is emptying my huge water tray with no sink. I had to drag my whole table out to the driveway to dump the water. I'm still working on a fix for that. Either a hose to siphon it or a pump of some sort.

Arabic Abstract Acrylic Painting

I know I usually post only my prints,
but I finished this painting and thought I would share it.
I haven't painted in a while and really like how this turned out. :)
It's a larger piece and fits over a mantel.

Fern Monotypes

"Fern Botanicals"

I love ferns!
I have a huge plant at work and have wanted to experiment with some of its' large leaves.
I'm really happy with the results.

Golden Koi

"Golden Koi"

I revisited this collagraph to create a glow effect on it.
First, I covered the whole plate with a deep brown.
Next, we created a rainbow roll with bright yellows fading to a reddish brown.
We then rolled this over the top of the brown plate to create the glow.

Etching

"Sitting Buddha"
Etching

Here's my latest etching. It was created on a zinc plate.
First I created colored monotype backgrounds, then ran the etching over top.
He is inspired from the Great Buddha statue in Kamakura, Japan.
He is 13 meters tall and weighs 93 tons.
I'd love to see it in person someday!

Black and White Monotypes

Here are some monotypes I made last night.
The red tint resulted from leftover ink that someone must have used on the materials previously.
It was unexpected, but I liked the way it came out.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas to everyone from my side of the world.
It was a great, long holiday weekend up in northern Michigan.

I finally got to post my quail print. I gave it to my sister as a gift.
I framed it with a thicker brushed chocolate frame this time instead of the small black that I usually do.

Here are some other color variations...


I made quite the mess with this print...

Final Ink

You have to love the power of YouTube. I found some cool little videos about printmaking. This one called "Final Ink" was sped up and set to music. I thought it was pretty cool. If you've never seen how a print is made, watch this clip.

I've posted two other videos on the sidebar to the right.

More Leaf Monotypes...

I'm having a bit of a leaf obsession lately.
The fall colors are just now turning.
I'm collecting leaves while I still can for projects in the winter.

"Leaf Shine 2"
Monotype

"Leaf Shine 1"

Monotype

Ruth Thomas - Contemporary Printmaker

I stumbled across this artist's website and was really inspired.
It's not often that I find someone who specializes in collagraphs.

I really enjoyed her portfolio. I posted two of her pieces below.
View the rest at: http://www.ruththomas.net

"Bodelwyddan III"

"Relic"

Canna Leaf Monotype

Canna
(click image to see detail)

My instructor brought in a very large Canna Leaf from her garden for me to make a monotype with. These prints are 22 x 28 inches. I had to use a full sheet of paper. It was my first time doing so. I had to have other class members help me align the paper to the plate.

At first I didn't want to use the leaf, in fear of making a mistake. In the end I'm really glad I did. It came out so nice. We ran the leaf through the press twice so the juices wouldn't ruin the prints. I ran the first print on newsprint. Then peeled off the leaf leaving the first initial ink on the plate. I really like this method. I love how you see the veins in the leaf. Overall I got three prints from the leaf. With the amount of ink I used, I could have got 5 prints.

I did run into one problem, the paper warped slightly. I'm not sure how to prevent this when drying my prints. It happens often. I place them on a flat surface, yet they warp upward.

Leaf Series - Monotype

I had a great time experimenting with fresh leaves.
I also was able to get 3 prints from the same plate.
The cognate or ghost print was always better than the first.
The details of the leaves came out really well.

Gum Arabic Transfers of Detroit

These were created from my original photos of Detroit.
I then made xerox copies of them and used a gum arabic transfer method with sepia ink to create the final print.

For all those that commented:
It is a process where you wipe a gum arabic solution over your xerox and it is resisted by the black areas. This allows you to roll your inked brayer over the xerox and coat all the black areas with ink. Meanwhile your white areas stay clean and clear.
A high contrast image is best.

I made a lovely series of three like these, but in blue, for my friend back in March.

Taj Mahal - Collagraph

"Taj Mahal"

I've always loved the Taj Mahal so I decided to make a collagraph of it.
This was the most time consuming one yet. Cutting the small details was slow going but worth it.

Animal Series

"Deer in Flight"
This has been my favorite print so far. I used a combination of real plants and paper to create it. I hand drew the deer design. I created many different versions of it. Some have typography or sheet music overlaid on top. This was done using a gum arabic transfer method.

"Sitting Bear"
I added real plant life to this collagraph.
I also created this in purple and sepia.

"Robin Song"
This is a collagraph I created by first sketching a design
then cutting out the paper shapes.
I also created this in a burnt yellow color.


"Snowshoe"
This is a collagraph also made with paper cut outs.


"Horse Concerto"
The horse is an etching. The sheet music was a second run done with gum arabic.

"Quail"
I added cedar leaves to this collagraph.
The rest is a paper design.

Turntable Collagraph

"Turntable"
-Not for sale-
I created this turntable collagraph earlier in the year as a gift to a music lover.
To get the dark and moody look, I wiped certain areas more with a coarsely woven cloth called a tarleton.

"Detroit Techno"
-Sold-
This is a variation built on the first original collagraph.
This version has a the Detroit skyline and Detroit techno DJs placed on top using the gum arabic transfer method.
One print is available in a dark blue color.

Monotypes

"Vintage Red"
This is an abstract monotype I created last year.
I rolled red ink onto an acrylic plate. I also used pieces of lace and mesh for texture.

"Paris"

"Falls"
This is an abstract monotype I created last year.
I rolled black ink onto an acrylic plate. Then I wiped away the ink with a cloth and Q-tips.



"Animal Screen"
This was created the same day.
This time I used some old mesh material and laid it on top of my plate.

Another in the same series of monotypes...



"Valentine"
I created this last February with doilies, feathers and heart confetti.
The plate went through the press twice, first with black ink, second with red.