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More printmaking experiments
I have no idea if anything will come of what I'm doing, but I am certainly enjoying the journey. Here is an image of one of the polyester litho prints I was talking about in the last post.
What is occupying me at present is the technique of carborundum printing. I have been trying to find out as much as possible on the Internet about this technique. I love the effect, and have so often been attracted to images which are described as carborundum prints, or using carborundum.
Before using carborundum itself, I have started by using material I already have: a Liquitex medium mixed with sand painted onto acrylic to make a plate. Well, one plate, and also another drypoint plate to combine line with the texture. Below is an example of the first quick plate,
and a close-up to show some of the kind of texture I'm beginning to explore.
What is interesting, and perhaps worrying, is that each time I clean the plate, some of the medium comes off. This makes the subsequent print more textural and less dense, but eventually the plate will be ruined. All part of the experiments, of course.
I was initially inspired by the wondrous effects Howard Hodgkin achieves in his prints. (Click on What are Prints in this link to read a bit more.) Another artist whose work I admire in this field is Henrietta Corbett.
4 comments:
Interesting to read about your explorations in carborondum. Oddly, I never have tried it though so many of my fellow artists used it. It is great to use in collagraphs for a deep dark textured black. Keep on exploring and having fun!
As always, I enjoy the artists you link to, and the What are Prints - all new to me.
Yes, Marja-Leena, its the depth of colour and density as well as the painterly mark which I'm interested in. There are just so many variations in printmaking techniques - one can never realistically cover even most of them.
As well as techniques, there are endless wondrous printmakers too. I am certainly thoroughly enjoying all the discoveries - and I am particularly enjoying the effect on my designing.
Hi Olga
Interesting blog good to read about your experimenting with printmaking. Re your carborundum plate making. Are you applying the carborundum to a card plate metal or plastic plate? Its important that it is coated with varnish. The best to use although it takes a couple of days to dry properly is polyurethane varnish ( sometimes called Yacht varnish)
More recently I have been using the Lascaux A.R.E. - (acrylic resist etch) products. They are not cheap but very good versatile effective products.
The book "Intaglio" by Carol Robertson and Robert Adams (T&H) has a chapter on Collagraph making which offers lots of inspiration.
The fastest and most effective thing to use with the carborundum would be the Lascaux Acrylic resist hard ground liquid. It dries in about 20 mins .
That wouldn't come away each time you wiped the plate.
An alternative to using the carborundum altogether would be to use Lascaux pastel ground for dark tones - you can also dilute it to different strengths depending on the tone you are looking for. I write about plate making with these various products on my blog. Lovely work on your website - so much time these pieces must take...!!!
Aine
Hi Aine, thank you for your comments. I have been looking up Lascaux and the book you mentioned, thanks.
So far I have been trying out the Liquitex sand medium, painted onto perspex with no varnish. This has been great for working out my preliminary moves, so to speak. I still have a long way to go, and am grateful for any comments and advice!
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