CARDBOARD CUT UPS!

I received this e-mail from Bonnie, one of my favorite students (who become new friends!)
"Today I was meeting with some other artists...and I was raving about your newly organized studio---how inspiring it was to see on your blog.

So, until I took your San Diego class and learned about texture, etc., mine was neat as a pin, also. Now its a mess, and overflowing. Your fault! Some stuff is even in boxes in the pool house. And the stuff piled on the floor, and the rolling file cabinet, there is just no place else to put it that I can think of."

Nice try but I only accept responsibility for my own messes! I should have a disclaimer: Work with me at your own risk!

The good news is I have discovered a wonderful use for corrugated cardboard in a new book "Art From Intuition" by Dean Nimmer, Watson Guptill Publications. Among lots of wonderful ideas was this cardboard printing idea. I have photographed the tools I used. First I drew the design onto the cardboard. I easily made corrections knowing they wouldn't show in the final print. Then I had to decide which parts to leave solid and which to cut away. Using an exacto knife, I scored the cardboard and peeled away the paper. I found one of the tools to a cheap clay sculpting set (Michael's Craft Store) was perfect for cleaning off the paper between the ribs. I felt like a hygienist at the Dentist office...nice to be on the other side of the scraping for a change!! I forgot to reverse the drawing but will try to make a note for next time. In my enthusiastic haste to see how it would print, I forgot to coat the cardboard with gloss varnish medium. After wasting ink and several sheets of paper, I decided to reread the directions. Ha! I guess I skipped an important step. I put two coats of varnish on. Amazingly, I didn't have gloss but I did have what is in the photo. It worked pretty well. I think the gloss will give a smoother surface for the ink. It's on my shopping list. I originally used red oxide for the ink so that color is under the varnish on the plate. I did the final print, with decent results, using Ultramarine Blue ink. The image I designed doesn't look that exciting, so I will do something more with it tomorrow. The barren I used to burnish the back of the paper, transferring the ink from the cardboard to the paper, was found in the cake decorating section of Michael's. It works very nicely for my purposes.

I think this cut cardboard has interesting potential and I have plenty of this material to work with. Check out Belinda Del Pesco's blog (click on my blog title for a direct link). She is a real print maker and has a great way to use scrap foam board for printing. Her images are stunning. Ideas abound!

MONO PRINT SELF PORTRAIT

I decided to do a self portrait today to mark the beginning of my 67th year. I work on a MacBook and there is a built in program called "Phone Booth" which is the camera and then some variations. It works better than a mirror because when you are looking at the image you are not looking directly into your own eyes because the camera is in the top of the lid. You get a different perspective. It is a cruel, cruel camera. You wouldn't believe the lines it added to my face!

I found a wonderful blog by a terrific artist who does a lot of print making. Her name is Belinda Del Pesco and you can find her by clicking on the title of this blog. It will take you right there. Belinda posted a mono print she made using Caran D'ache watercolor crayons. I was intrigued. She put it through a press which I don't have. She was kind enough to e-mail me encouragement and a few helpful hints, so I thought today would be a good time to try it out. I found a piece of glass to draw on. I always tape the edges of glass for protection. I started with the crayons but some were resistant to marking on the glass. Curious that some were easier to use than others. I decided to try some of the Stabilo pencils I bought and found them much more user friendly for this project. Unfortunately, I don't have the wide range of colors with the Stabilo, I wet the paper, blotted it and layed it down on top of the painted glass. Belinda suggested I put a sheet of wax paper on top of the paper. Then I used a French Rolling Pin (baking item) and put as much pressure as I could. Anyway, you see the results above.
Not great but it has possibilities. I need to practice this technique and try some variations. I have the new Daniel Smith stick watercolors. I think that might be a very interesting product to try with this process. Belinda also paints on top of her prints and adds other mixed media. Can't wait til tomorrow to experiment further.

ICONOCLASTIC ARTISTS...HOW TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

I have fallen into a pattern most days. I try to read for about a half hour in the morning before I get out of bed. Reading often acts like a sleeping pill at night, but I can focus better in the morning. Right now I am excited about this book "Iconoclast", which is someone who is an original thinker. I also check my e-mails on my computer while I eat breakfast. I signed up for this Artist A Day service. Each morning there is a new artist to check out. Many times I am not too taken with the art but today I was blown away. Talk about an iconic thinker! This guy does amazing things with a sheet of typing paper. Click on the blog title and it links to his website. He also works with bigger pieces of paper....much bigger. I always love when things link up unexpectantly, like the book and the Artist A day website.

In the afternoon I went to a terrific demo and hands on session sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society, with a representative of Atelier Interactive Acrylics by Chroma. I have been very curious about them and actualy bought a trial set but was waiting for this session to figure out how they work. They are in competition with Golden's Open Acrylics but I think these are more versatile. They are highly saturated and thick bodied but can be diluted with just water to a spray bottle consistency without loosing the acrylic bond! One set of paints can be used for the entire gamet of viscosity. You also can rewet the paint after it has dried and you can speed up the drying time as well as slow it down dramatically.

I have been wanting to try mono-printing for a long time but after reading the books on this process, I didn't want to invest in the various paints that it required. I thought slow drying acrylics might just do the job. So, that is what I played with this afternoon. I painted the image (guess who) on a piece of glass and then placed the paper on top. The first image was slightly marred because I used a brayer on the back of the paper and you can see the uneven marks. I repainted the glass and this time just rubbed the back of the paper with my hand. This print looks like a woodcut. The eyes are startling. I like the effect. There was still lots of paint on the glass, so I sprayed it with the unlocking solution (how you rewet dried paint) and got the last print. I think this one will look interesting with lines drawn on top. I am going to explore this technique further. Lots of fun and always a surprise when you pull of the paper. Isn't it nice that art is always full of surprises!