Impressions, etc.

“I’m a scavenger” (a start)

2010-11-28T19:47:00.001-06:00

Months ago, I signed up for the Arthouse Co-op’s Sketchbook Project. Each participant (there are over 28,000) fills a 50-page Moleskine notebook, working in whatever media he/she wants and working according to their chosen theme. In 2011, all books embark on a traveling exhibition of nine U.S. cities. On the back of each notebook is a unique barcode, so artists can track how many times their book has been “checked out.”

I thought that signing up would be my motivation to get out and draw, but actually blocking out the time—and finding the nerve to start—took a while. I started today, finally, and I feel so out of practice. The theme I picked is “I’m a scavenger.” I like it, but I think I’ll have to take it beyond its most literal meaning (necrophagic creatures) and see what kinds of figurative representations of scavenging I can produce. With St. John as a setting, I should have no trouble filling my book. Its pages will eventually be scanned and cataloged online, but since my blog needed an update anyway, I’m posting the first couple drawings:

(desiccated crab)

(hole-y hermit crab shell)

Baby sling

2010-06-30T08:16:00.001-05:00

More on this later...my mom helped make this baby sling for friends on island who have a baby girl due in a few months.

One side of the fabric is cut from reclaimed cotton sheets from a hotel on St. John. I decorated by dyeing the cloth and stenciling baby turtles (and a mama) with pearlescent fabric paints.

Buttons

2010-05-28T15:49:00.001-05:00

This is considered printmaking, sort of?
Pendants made in 2004 at Maho Bay - we impressed native plants in clay, then cut out shapes which were glazed, fired and strung to form necklaces.

Had a "clay day" at home with a friend, which was cut short by a quick-moving downpour, but managed to start a new project--buttons inspired by the pendant-making. Figure they'll have many potential uses.

Method: Spiny lobster woodcut reduction

2010-05-19T20:25:00.002-05:00

Some insight into the process of yesterday's lobster print post.

I started with an 8x10" shina plywood block, woodcutting tools, a small rubber brayer, and rice paper.

I own four colors of Akua Intaglio and one jar of their transparent base modifier, which is just the ink without the color. I hoped that by adding it, I would thin out the first layers of color a bit. By the time I got to the darkest colors in the reduction, I added very little base.

The tricky part of woodcut reductions, especially those with more than a couple colors, is making sure the edges are exactly aligned each time a new color is printed. Most printmakers have their own tried-and-true registration technique. My system was rudimentary and hastily-configured, consisting of the back of a ~~Costco~~ Cost U Less-sized cereal box marked with pen. It performed adequately. Knowing several carpenters here, I should just ask someone to make a real registration that fits my shina blocks.

The (quite repetitive) REDUCTION process:

1. Carved out first area--i.e. my lightest layer, or all of the places on the paper that would remain white/the color of the paper. I used a brayer to apply my yellow+modifier mixture to the block, making sure the ink layer was thin and even. Since this is a relief print where the brayer rolls over the surface, no ink goes into the areas I had cut out (hence, the cut-out parts stay the color of the paper). Next, I laid paper on top, smooth side down, and rubbed with a wooden spoon to transfer ink. All of the areas I had carved stayed white, while the yellow became the background color. Repeated this for each sheet (7 total)

2. Carved away all of the areas that would remain yellow. Inked entire block with green and printed. Repeated for each sheet.

3. Third carving (areas that would remain green). Inked block with orange and printed. Repeated for each sheet.

4. Fourth carving (areas that would remain orange). Inked with red and printed. Repeated for each sheet.

5. Fifth carving (areas that would remain red). Inked with blue and printed. Repeated for each sheet.

6. Sixth carving (areas that would remain blue). Inked with black and printed. Repeated for each sheet.

See how it's a reduction--a relief print whereby I reduced the amount of wood on the block until all that remained was the bit of final layer of color. And notice how the lightest colors are printed first. If they were last, they wouldn't be visible atop darker colors printed below.

I ended up with six prints in the edition. One of them didn't register correctly. Looking at it makes me dizzy.

So, this wasn't the tropical-looking spiny lobster I envisioned, but with this basic ink set, I could never mix those kinds of colors. For now, I'll just keep working with what I've got.

Spiny lobster woodcut reduction

2010-05-18T16:22:00.002-05:00

I finished a Caribbean spiny lobster woodcut reduction series today. There will be either five or six prints in the edition. I'll post later about the carving and inking process. I used one block and six colors plus white.

They're drying now on the kitchen counter. The Akua ink doesn't take long to dry permanently...maybe an hour or so.

Who needs a press when you have feet?

2010-05-09T17:43:00.006-05:00

I came across this image that accompanies an article in the May/June 2010 issue of New England Home magazine. It grabbed my attention because I immediately recognized block printing going on in the middle three rows...but I wondered what the heck is happening in the bottom row. It turns out that another terrific photo explains.

The article tells the story of a printmaking guild called the Folly Cove Designers that was active throughout the 1940s-60s in Cape Ann in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The group was known for its block-printed fabrics whose designs drew from medieval craft imagery and nature surrounding Cape Ann. Their work became quite popular as it appeared in department stores in the form of placemats, tea towels, tablecloths, napkins and other practical and useful everyday items. I like this idea of art for utility's sake rather than just for its own.

The founder of Folly Cove Designers, Virginia Lee Burton, was a Renaissance woman of her time. She is perhaps most known as a children's book author and illustrator, winning the 1943 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in The Little House. For her printmaking, she used linoleum affixed to wood (it was inexpensive) as her medium and her sense of place and surroundings as inspiration. Soon, she began offering a printmaking course; by 1968, this had evolved into the Folly Cove Designers. "Graduates" of her class could submit a design, which, if accepted, was printed onto fabric and made into products.

I was most delighted by her method. Since she didn't have a printing press, after inking the cut linoleum, she would jump up and down on the block to create the print. Take another look at that bottom row in the image above--then see the photo below!). The group later acquired a 1865 Acorn Press. I still like the jumping technique, although I'd bet it works better on linoleum than shino wood. In the absence of a press, the back of a wooden spoon is still my go-to.

Apt timing. After a day of sailing yesterday, I was considering doing some kind of sailboat print. Understandably, this was a popular motif for Folly Cove. Time to start sketching...

(Due credit... Photos from The Cape Ann Museum, as seen in New England Home magazine, Vol. 5, No. 5, pp. 70-74)

Small woodcut reductions

2010-05-08T07:46:00.007-05:00

I have a few projects in the works including an oil painting, monotypes and two woodcuts. The painting (to be featured in a future post) was done in water mixable oils (Winsor & Newton Artisan), while my prints use Akua Intaglio water-based ink (made with soy oil). These materials make for nontoxic work and easier cleanup. This site is a good reference for more info on nontoxic printmaking.

Some proofs of the two-color woodcut reductions are below. They're small--between 2-3" wide. More on these later.

And here's the first layer of a spiny lobster reduction woodcut. It's about 9x12". I haven't decided how many colors to use just yet.

Off to the beach

2009-12-21T16:50:00.004-06:00

Departing once again for the Caribbean. St. John, USVI to be precise. Be back [insert date here?].

Pictured: crocheted bikini top made with Berroco Comfort DK sport weight yarn and size 6 aqua seed beads, alongside various shells and sea beans and lucky beans brought back from Lighthouse Beach in Eleuthera, inside an old wheel-thrown and glazed bowl made at Maho Bay Clayworks in 2004. You can read about the wonders of drifting sea beans here.

Bedazzling

2009-12-07T13:16:00.001-06:00

I went sparkle paint and rhinestone-happy on my 10-year-old pair of pink Chuck Taylors. Maybe not quite as pretty, but much more economical than the $98+ versions sold at certain stores…and already broken in!

Reworking fish prints

2009-11-17T16:54:00.002-06:00

I added a bit of color today to prints I did last fall. I had worked in drypoint on an 8 x 6-inch copper plate.

For the drypoint process, I just use a metal stylus to incise lines on the plate. In doing so, the copper is displaced, creating burrs that hold ink well, which results in lovely velvety blacks. This is a form of intaglio printing, so the ink ends up below the surface of the plate before going through the press.

Giant close-up:

After each time through the press, the burr is further flattened; thus less ink stays on the plate and the image becomes lighter in value with subsequent printings.

I used colored pencils for the little fish in the middle.

The bottom half could be developed more. An aquatint could be a better/less time consuming and hand cramp-causing choice than drypoint.

Are you living by your own standards of what’s right?

2009-11-17T13:45:00.001-06:00

Finished today:

NPR interview of Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals (2009).

A Rufus Wainwright weekend

2009-11-15T21:53:00.001-06:00

Jessica and I got a double dose of musical deva (and diva?) Rufus Wainwright this weekend, as he appeared on NPR’s “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me” quiz show yesterday morning (and won!), then held an astonishing concert at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hundreds and hundreds of boys’ hearts were breaking last night. If I were a gay man, I don’t know how I could have controlled myself--I could barely handle my emotions as it was. Kept thinking how his music, to use a trite yet apt expression, truly strikes heart chords.

He started off the night with “Grey Gardens” (A reference to the East Hampton home of Edie Beale and the 1975 documentary. By the way, have you seen the 2009 Drew Barrymore version? Watched recently on HBO.) (And a digression…it clicked that the voice at the beginning of the Montreal-based Stars’ “The Woods” is Edie’s, taken from the film—realized this after hearing the intro to the recorded version “Grey Gardens.”)

Jess kept track of his set list, and he played many favorites. The audience was treated to three new songs during “Rufus rehearsal time.” And although photography wasn’t allowed, someone managed to get video footage last night of “Gay Messiah.” He ended with “Hallelujah” (which you might recognize from the Shrek soundtrack) and a song in French (“Les feux d’artifice”). The evening just flew by.

Hearing him play solo at Bass was quite a different experience than when I first saw him perform in Sargent Gym at Bowdoin, almost six years ago to the day (Saturday, November 15, 2003). That night, he played with an 8-person band and was joined by his sister Martha on some songs. I think I helped the Activities Board with band load-in. I will never forget how the band brilliantly recreated orchestral accompaniment in “Oh What a World.”

Sigh. Rufus’s abilities as a musician (in every aspect…vocalist, lyricist, pianist) are second-to-none, and his resulting music so brimming with passion that we couldn’t help but be moved.

Painting progression

2009-11-08T16:01:00.001-06:00

Design inspired by art quilts, colors chosen to complement poured concrete floor.
Acrylic on canvas (each 24x36”).

First panel progression:

Second panel, first coats:

Final result:

In the apartment in Houston:

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-01T11:08:00.001-06:00

Today kicks off the typing frenzy of National Novel Writing Month.

If you think you have a novel inside you, consider signing up. You’ll have until midnight on November 30 to crank out a 50,000 word (~175 page) work of prose.

Such a time constraint forces you to just spill your thoughts and not be concerned with editing. Or quality.

Admittedly more time consuming than writing by word processor, to me, putting pencil to paper feels more freeing and creative. The computer screen could be a good place to start, though.

And NaNoWriMo features an online community offering writers tips and encouragement along their first draft journey. Anyone up for the challenge?

http://www.nanowrimo.org

What’s new

2009-10-28T17:03:00.002-05:00

Not much to show for it yet, but I have been keeping busy with my time back in Big D:

- Working on a two-panel painting for friends’ apartment in Houston

- Tabbing a Carbon Leaf song for the mountain dulcimer

- Amassing items of clothing and embellishments to dye, paint, de- and reconstruct. I didn’t get the job I wanted at my favorite store, so I’ve decided to become my own costumier. I don’t know where this interest (er, infatuation?) with fashion suddenly came from (not to say that I’d be considered any kind of fashionista—especially in this city) and I feel the need to constantly justify my thing for clothes. I read some quote in one of those monthly Dallas société glossies...it was a quote from a fashion designer that said something like, humans intrinsically crave beauty, so if you must be an element of someone’s visual landscape, why not be an asset?

- Discovered bonanzle.com, a fixed price marketplace whose fees, compared to eBay’s, are much easier for sellers to swallow

- Learning to crochet (and trying not to ask myself why I’m making granny squares into the morning’s wee hours)

MIA

2009-10-24T19:36:00.002-05:00

Spotted at Miami Intl Airport. Love the Audubons (promoting an exhibit somewhere), the wall color chosen as the backdrop, the inset sea creatures on the floor, and all the fish sculptures (which I didn't get a picture of, but need to look up the artist!) Terminal D at MIA is impressive.

Photos forthcoming. Departing, so to airplane mode I go.

10/26 - Added photos, and looked up artist of the fiberglass fish sculptures: “Got Any Jacks?” (2004) by Donald Lipski.

And a small sampling of the fish. There are hundreds throughout the terminal. I can’t imagine how long it took the artist and his assistant on the project (a renowned taxidermist) to create these.

If I must spend time in an airport, at least this one gives me a sense of place.

I like that when I step off the plane, I know I’m in Miami.

Doggie + bag (so bad, I know)

2009-10-21T21:43:00.002-05:00

The title, I mean = bad; the painting turned out okay. Staying true to tendency, though, I overdid it…what I’d meant to be an Affenpinscher silhouette (like, all black) turned into this. Must work on lowering the realism level. Anyway, the bag is no longer boring and it’s large enough that 11-lb George can fit inside. Ooh…that just gave me an idea…

Tulip dimensional black fabric paint and Jacquard opaque acrylic in black and white on canvas.

St. John - a color palette and picture-perfect view

2009-10-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

Inspired by Wear Palettes, which I found through lookbook.nu, I assembled this palette (which was pretty much already there) from stone blocks in the wall of a sugar mill ruin at Reef Bay.

Towards the peak of Bordeaux Mountain, nearing the end of my (10+ mile!) hike, I chatted for quite a while with a self-employed stone mason whose family has lived on St. John for several generations. He calls his masonry techniques "unorthodox" and attributes this to being self-taught. When he's not working on clients' projects, he's busy building his own wall, which will connect to four large pillars along the road backing his property. The pillars are a little irregular--not at all like what you'd see around Peter Bay, for instance--but they work and they're cool. Every rock, shell, piece of glass and other inset object looks like it's meant to be exactly where he placed it. He has this idea to gather rocks of various types and arrange them in matching "families" in the wall. I imagine it will be part mural, part sculpture. I'll have to check back.

I also learned about "gut sand," ate some guavaberries (and learned how to make guavaberry Christmas rum and varieties of guavaberry tarts), and heard some of the history of "Picture Point," which is steps from his family's land. I didn't get a photo of his under-construction wall, but I did snap plenty from Picture Point overlooking Coral Bay and Tortola, including this one. I'm not sure if I believe his statement that Africa is visible on a clear day, but supposedly the clearest time of year is late November and December. =)

Free Swim, a documentary by Jennifer Galvin

2009-10-17T21:05:00.013-05:00

From 2006-2007, I taught science at the Deep Creek Middle School on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas. DCMS is a private school supported mainly by generous donors and founded by The Island School in 2001.

While I was there, filmmaker (+scientist +artist +educator) Jennifer Galvin was working on a documentary film about the island's youth and their relationship to the sea. She was focusing on the phenomenon of how over 80% of Bahamians cannot swim despite living in a location where proximity to the water is never more than half a mile. In science class, I tried to connect as many lessons as I could to the place we lived. The sea was a source of endless intrigue and many kids harbored misconceptions that led to fear of the water. I feel fortunate to have been a teacher there. And teaching marine science was my favorite.

Advisory swimming trip to the Gully Hole
P.E. class at Wemyss Bight beach

To learn more about Jen and her projects, including her book We, Sea, which highlights many former and current students' photographs and poems, check out reelblue.net and freeswimmovie.com.

AND, if you're unable to view the film at any of the international film festivals where it's being featured (!), you can watch it streaming here: (but I suggest going to cultureunplugged.com for a larger-sized video)

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

P.S. I have a little commentary at 42:39 and cameo at 43:24.

:-)

Chandelier concept

2009-10-06T01:40:00.000-05:00

Tonight I worked on a possibility for a light fixture in a new friend’s bedroom. The room’s color scheme is based on a Japanese embroidery that hangs on the wall. I thought colored beads and hanging origami cranes folded from vellum or lacquered paper would be fitting.

I must admit, making the mock-up is half the fun. Paper, vellum (the bowls), glass seed beads, thread, embroidery floss, watercolor pencil, crayon, pen, and tiny printed out photos of the crane I folded from vellum.

Salad

2009-09-24T20:50:00.003-05:00

I have a weakness for heirloom tomatoes.

Buster Brown

2009-09-20T18:13:00.001-05:00

Here is #2 in the dog shirt series. One of Jess’s bulldogs, Buster. Sweet little snaggletooth!

Painted freehand with Jacquard textile colors on cotton t-shirt, about 8x8”.

Baby banana bread muffins.

2009-09-20T00:14:00.001-05:00

I’m a sucker for a sale. Especially when it’s for something as cute (and practical…) as baby bananas. Unfortunately, I tend to overbuy--not the best idea for tiny, perishable fruit. I ate one bunch in time. They were the perfectly-portioned pre- and post-spinning snack. The second bunch, which turned over-ripe before its time, became the star ingredient in some miniature muffins (ha, how fitting).

Sometimes I feel bad when I tweak a recipe so much it bears little semblance to the original. But, in the name of nutrition and experimentation, I did make multiple additions and substitutions. The muffins turned out to be delicious. And you don’t just have to take my word for it. Alex (of the seldom updated delicious bowdoin blog) agreed.

Ingredients:

Dry mixture:	Wet mixture:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour	6 very ripe mini bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup ground almond meal	2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat flour	2 tbsp canola oil
1-1/2 tsp baking powder	3 tbsp applesauce*
1/4 tsp baking soda	1 egg, room temperature, beaten
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg	Fold in:
1/8 tsp ground cloves	1/4 cup chopped pecans
pinch of salt	unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

*made mine in the Blendtec with Granny Smiths

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F
In bowl one, combine all dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle.
In bowl two, combine bananas, sugar, oil, applesauce, egg. Add this mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir until just moistened and slightly lumpy. Fold in nuts.
Spoon batter into (pre-greased) pan of choice. I used mini muffin tins.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of pan or muffin comes out clean. Mine took about 12 minutes.

Aw, adorable! My blog is becoming a bit of a hodge-podge. Returning to its artistic roots soon enough.

Collaboration

2009-09-17T21:48:00.002-05:00

This was finished months ago, but today is as good a day as any to post.

Somewhere between its shipping origin and our house in St. John, the glass portion of a certain chandelier meant for our entryway broke. The metal frame part remained intact, so my mom asked if I could make a replacement from clay. It took some crafty manipulation and ingenuity, and my mom ultimately did most of the work piecing everything together so it held up. I also couldn’t have done it without Gail’s care when it comes to handling and firing pieces at Maho Bay Clayworks. We decided to just bisque fire, no glazing. Here is the end result:

Batik bean bags

2009-09-15T19:01:00.005-05:00

I finished these bean bags today using the fabric I batiked using soy wax a few weeks ago.

I'll be bringing them with me to St. John, USVI to use for the preschool kids' activities for Just Play Day on October 12, part of the Using Sport for Social Change initiative.

A perspective on happiness

2009-09-13T23:24:00.007-05:00

The past few months have provided plenty of time for contemplation (or brooding), and sometimes when the idea of pursuing happiness arises, I’m reminded of a project from a few years back. Some graphic design work and collaboration with the town of Brunswick, Maine resulted in the installation of bronze plaques commemorating four individuals significant to the town's history (see articles here and here). The following piece, which I worked on, was mounted in the sidewalk of Maine Street just outside Red Dragon Toys. It contains a quotation by author Nathaniel Hawthorne (Bowdoin c/o 1825) that reads: “Happiness, in this world, if it comes at all, comes incidentally.”

Something to think about, and maybe something to pursue...to be more cognizant and recognize happiness, whatever its form, in those moments when it does appear. Is it more likely to arise when one isn't so deliberate? Is it easier to elicit by being inventive, free-spirited, a bit impetuous? I will keep these thoughts in mind as I approach my work.

What? A completed project?

2009-09-11T17:09:00.002-05:00

I finished the George shirt this afternoon. (…only needs to be heat fixed and washed. Then—really—done.)

Adventures in dyeing

2009-09-10T08:03:00.010-05:00

I'm writing from the road after a bit of a hiatus. Returned from a trip to California, now in San Antonio and Austin for a few days.

Recently, I've become enamored with fabric dyeing and painting. I don't have extensive experience in either area, but it is fun to apply some printmaking techniques, and the patterns that emerge are always surprising. (It also lets me legitimize my shopping trips. A lot of the pleasure comes from seeking out the perfect 100% cotton "canvases.")

Below are the results of a few recent projects:


Affenpinscher portrait. A work in progress. White fabric paint.	Freehand soy wax batik and powder dyes

Vacation

2009-07-27T17:30:00.001-05:00

Been gone from Dallas and haven’t been to print studio in a long while.

Had a birthday recently. Got a new bag and a camera that takes awesome pictures underwater.

Also, dyed a shirt today.

George: a woodcut

2009-07-17T18:10:00.001-05:00

An 8x10” woodcut reduction of little George, the affenpinscher. Notice the Texas tag! He doesn’t wear that one anymore.

We all be pirates

2009-06-30T17:34:00.005-05:00

I admit, I totally ganked this idea from an artist friend of a friend, but I liked it so much I had to try a few for myself. I realize that she, too, used the word "pope"--or a variation thereof; hey, it's common enough crossword vocab. For the real deal, check out her site: NY Times Crossword Drawings. Ink and colored pencil on completed crosswords.

Over-bitten

2009-06-30T17:23:00.003-05:00

Fish spent too long in the acid (less than 6 minutes!) and was over-bitten. The plate also became streaky in places, maybe because of irregularities in the ground application. Still working on this project.

Non-toxic ground

2009-06-19T14:38:00.004-05:00

The 18x24" black plate has been etched after drawing into it over soft ground. Today I went in and did drypoint work (etching directly into the metal with a needle). I also applied a layer of hard ground, mixing Future floor wax and water-based ink directly on the plate with a foam brush. Needs to harden for 30-60 minutes, then can be drawn into. I tried this ground once before as an alternative to the traditional asphaltum (petroleum-derived), beeswax, and solvent-based hard ground.

Mini mahi mahi

2009-06-17T20:42:00.016-05:00

Below are a couple small prints (about 2.5" x 8") of a mahi mahi that I did last fall. Just two different proofs of the same plate--one with black ink, the other, yellow and green.

The large print I’m currently working on will focus in on the fish's head.

Multi-plate printing

2009-06-16T19:51:00.008-05:00

An addition to my first post about the multi-plate printing process.

Here are visuals of the plates I started with and what it looks like after each has been printed.

Clockwise from top left: black (key plate), magenta, blue, yellow.

First through, yellow...

then red...

blue...

and black.

Why classical music is growing on me

2009-06-16T15:48:00.002-05:00

Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" on violin? Heard yesterday on NPR: David Garrett.

The print studio

2009-06-15T19:52:00.013-05:00

I did editions of my two smaller four-color prints today. Pulled 9 prints in all! Phew! Ready to start the next one. I cut my large plates and applied soft ground to the one that will be my "key" plate, or black plate. I'll draw on it and etch tomorrow.

Here is a quick tour of Brookhaven's printmaking studio:

Two etching presses: Takach (behind the large work table, with crank handle) and American French Tool (with the captain's wheel):

Another view of the work area:

Hot plate, where soft ground application happens:

One of the two acid baths:

Sinks:

Etching inks:

Inking area & water bath for paper to the right:

Preparing for next print

2009-06-13T12:20:00.007-05:00

Purchased two sheets of 26 gauge steel. Preparing to do another 4-color print, this time working in a larger 18x24" format and a thinner gauge.

So far, have sanded down both sheets (400-, 600-, and 1500-grit) and applied contact paper backing. Will cut each in half next.

In the photo below, the top sheet has been sanded:

Game Fish

2009-06-11T11:12:00.013-05:00

While in Washington, DC this past weekend, I stepped into the Renwick Gallery (Pennsylvania Ave. @ 17th), part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Its collection focuses on crafts and decorative arts.

Thought this was such a fun sculpture:

Game Fish
Larry Fuente
~ 4'3" x 9'5" x 11"

Composed of hundreds of found objects, including combs, dice, billiard balls, figurines & action figures, yo-yos, beads, Scrabble tiles, refrigerator letter magnets, paintbrushes, dominoes, badminton birdies, rubber darts, mini pinball games

Multi-plate color etching on steel

2009-06-02T09:44:00.014-05:00

Yesterday, I completed an 11-day workshop with visiting artist Tom Reed from Washington University in St. Louis, who demystified a process that had always seemed too complicated to try on my own. It was my first foray into the worlds of multi-plate printing, color etchings, image transfers, and working on steel (instead of copper).

I’m going to describe how I produced my second image of the workshop. My first was a 9”x8” print inspired by a photograph of my parents on the beach in Florida in the late 1970s. The subsequent print, which I’ll detail, was also inspired by a photograph taken by my dad around the same time; this one is of my mom with their Irish Wolfhound, Sheelagh, at beach on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio.

Inspiration:

With both prints, I attempted to capture feelings of nostalgia and melancholy invoked by looking at photographs. Today, digital cameras can instantaneously load photos to the web, and shots can be taken and retaken until they’re perfect. They also signify impermanence, as the photographer can easily delete those pictures he or she doesn’t care for. And, even those that are saved are simply pieces of data visible on a screen. When browsing through old photographs, I was struck by their uniqueness. As I perused my chosen two in particular, it occurred to me that they were taken at a moment in which the subjects weren’t overly concerned with perfection and the option of a redo probably didn’t cross their mind—let alone the possibility to “undo.” To me, these pictures are simpler, more honest, sincere and authentic, which I feel is a reflection of the time, too, when a photo may have held more meaning. Rather than being something digitized, destined to be computer data, a photo was tactile and held value to the subject, the photographer, friends, etc. While photos taken today can chronicle passing minutes and the same photos can be found in different Facebook albums, older photographs are more singular, more staggered, less sequential and, at least at our house, less organized. Maybe I romanticize…anyway, the idea to turn this photo into a color print came from a desire to showcase the sincerity and beauty of real photographs and bring about a feeling of nostalgia, maybe even for those with no relation to the subjects. I did not want to allow my images to become extremely photorealistic; I hoped they would reveal an atmosphere that connoted the past through the graininess of aquatint, use of light, and muted, earthy colors rather than those that were vibrant and super-saturated.

Having attended school in Maine, I had the opportunity to visit the art museum of Colby College, our school rival. Their museum has a fantastic collection of Alex Katz’s work, and, although I don’t emulate his style or particularly marvel at all of his work, I remember so distinctly the feelings of nostalgia—even heartache—that resulted from viewing his paintings and prints. Even with no connection to his subjects, I longed to know them, to remember them, to live in their planar world in a seemingly less complicated time. Here is an overview of the process I used to make this print:

A. Preparing the Plates

Using plate cutter, cut 16-gauge weldable steel in four 6”x6” squares. I also had to recut the “factory cut” edges of the steel, since when I bought it, the corners were not exactly 90 degrees.
Used a large steel grinder to grind down the edges of the plates so they were exactly the same size.
Sanded one surface of each plate using hand-held power sander. Started with one sheet of 400-grit for each, then one sheet of 600-grit. Imperial wet/dry sandpaper, found at auto body shops, is ideal.
Backed each plate with con-tact paper.

B. Making the Register

Cut a sheet of Mylar and, using a permanent marker, traced one plate.
Measured two inches up from the top of the plate and drew a line that paralleled the top of the plate.
Marked this line to match the center of the plate. (This is where I would lay the top edge/center of my paper).
Taped the Mylar to a piece of Plexi so that I could simply turn the Plexi 180 degrees after running it through the press. I always wanted the top of the print to run through the press first.
Note: I actually drew my lines on the underside of the Mylar so that the marker would not dissolve if I were to clean the Mylar with a solvent. This also means I wrote “TOP” backwards on the underside.

C. Soft Ground Drawing, Etching, and Proofing of Key Plate

Cleaned and degreased each plate with copper-glo and whiting.
Applied a layer of soft ball ground to each plate, working it on evenly with brayer atop hot plate.
Placed drawing over my first plate (“key” plate, or black plate) and traced over the drawing. Using an H drawing pencil, I drew with the same pressure as if I were drawing normally on paper, giving different values and shading to different areas. Areas where I pressed harder would pick up more of the soft ground than areas where I pressed more lightly. I checked every once in a while by lifting the drawing to see where the soft ground had come off the plate and adhered to the drawing paper.
Etched the plate in 1:20 nitric acid for approx. 15-20 minutes (acid was a bit weak that day).
Removed plate from acid, rinsed with water and used mineral spirits to remove soft ground.
Cleaned and degreased plate.
Inked plate with Vine Black mixed with a bit of Burnt Sienna, transparent base and EZ wipe. Proofed on Rives BFK.

D. Image Transfers from Key to Color Plates

Next, it was time to transfer the image from the key plate onto the three other plates. I was so glad to have had this process demystified for me! However, next time I do the transfer, I will cover the three plates in hard ground rather than soft; or, I’ll not put on a ground at all and transfer in black ink and use a stylus to trace.
Cleaned the black ink from the key plate and degreased once more.
Inked the plate with White ink mixed with a bit of EZ wipe. The white ink is especially viscous and messy.
I thought that using a smooth paper would better transfer the image—after all, it had worked with my previous print—so, I placed the key plate on the registration and printed onto Domestic Etch paper. It printed fine; however, when I placed my first transfer plate (which, if you recall, I had already prepared with soft ground) on my register and ran it through the press, the paper stuck and pulled up most of the soft ground from the plate. Luckily, the image still transferred, but I had to throw away the paper.
I re-inked the key plate with white. This time, I printed it onto a piece of Mylar, thinking that because plastic is smoother than paper, I wouldn’t need to worry about it sticking. Wrong. The Mylar also picked up some of the soft ground. Luckily, the transferred image was visible in white atop the remaining ground. I repeated this process with the last transfer plate, not re-inking the plate in white.

E. Aquatinting the Color Plates

Starting with my first plate, which I determined to be for my red, I took my drawing for the red plate that indicated, sort of in a color-by-number style, each area that would be aquatinted and for how long. For example, the areas I marked with a “1” were those that would be covered with ground first and not be etched at all. They would not hold any red on the print since the plate would be completely smooth—not bitten into at all and therefore unable to hold any ink. The areas marked with “5” would not be covered with ground at all, and might etch for a cumulative 20 minutes.
Working into the soft ground with a pencil over my drawing paper (I used drafting vellum, which has a good tooth for picking up the ground), I didn’t realize until halfway through that so much ground had lifted during the transfer, that there were areas that would be etched where I really didn’t want any red. I decided to work with it, and let these areas have a bit of red tone. I would be able to intensify the blue and yellow, or add enough transparent base to the red ink later on that it wouldn’t make a big difference.
Not wanting to make the same mistake with the blue and yellow plates, I decided to cover each of these with a layer of hard ground, then mark off my areas to aquatint with my needle. Fortunately, I could still see the white transfer once it was covered in hard ground. Then, I matched up my blue and yellow drawings to the transfer on their respective plates and, using my needle, traced over the areas on the vellum where I would aquatint.
I then proceeded with my aquatint, doing about 4-6 etches for each plate. These gave different intensities of colors to various areas. For example, an area that was covered with hard ground from the beginning on the yellow plate, was covered from my 3rd aquatint on the red plate, and was not covered at all on the blue plate, after being placed in the acid cumulatively during the several etchings, will print predominately blue with some red, making a purplish-blue.
When my aquatint was finished, I cleaned and degreased each of my color plates, then went back to work on my key plate. I needed to add more detail and definition to the black layer that would print over all of these colors.

F. Hard Ground Etching and Proofing Key Plate

I decided to forgo the toxic solvent/asphaltum-based hard ground and experiment using a less toxic substance made with Future floor wax and a bit of water-based ink.
Squeezed some Future directly onto the plate and evenly spread it out using a foam brush. Then, I added a bit of Akua water-based black ink and mixed it onto the plate using the same foam brush. I let this dry for about an hour (though it may have been dry sooner).
I drew into the ground using a needle and was happy to see that it my drawn lines were very clear. It did flake more than the solvent-based ground, which was not unexpected, given that the beeswax makes that ground so smooth. But, the Future did smell much better than the solvent-based stuff! When I finished drawing, I etched the plate in the nitric acid for about 35 minutes, brushing it with a wide soft-bristled paintbrush every few minutes to remove the rust that accumulated on the surface. I took the plate out of the acid and rinsed with water. I was so excited to clean it off without inhaling paint thinner! I poured some salt on the plate and then added vinegar until I had a paste. It did take some scrubbing with a blue shop paper towel, but this mixture took off the ground fairly easily. Here is how the proof turned out (again, inked with Vine Black, Burnt Sienna, and a bit of transparent base and EZ wipe):

G. Running My First Color Proof

After beveling and burnishing the plates' edges, I was ready to proof my print in color. Before I started inking my plates, I placed a piece of Rives BFK paper in the water bath. I had already torn it down and marked the top center in pencil.
Inked my plates using the following colors, each mixed with a bit of EZ wipe (except for the black, which I wanted to remain more intense)

- Yellow: Yellow Ochre
- Red: Indian Red with some transparent base
- Blue: Midnight Blue with some transparent base
- Black: 70% Vine Black + 30% Burnt Sienna

Inking involves working the ink to the right consistency using a metal spatula, then spreading a thin layer onto the plate, working it back and forth into the etched lines using a piece of cardstock. The plate is then wiped gently using tarlatan (netting), silk or newsprint, and finally the side of one’s hand to remove excess. The plate is ready when the surface no longer feels sticky and one’s hand can glide over with no friction. I use a bit of whiting on my hands to keep them dry, and also use whiting to remove ink from the edges of each plate.
It is also important to ink all plates at once so that whey they are run through the press, the paper does not dry out or shrink while waiting to run the next color.
I arranged my register on the press with the “Top” closest to the roller. Since I needed to work from lightest to darkest, I placed my yellow plate in the square, matched up my paper at the center top, and used two small pieces of blue painter’s tape to secure the paper to the Plexi so that it would be in exactly the right spot for the next three plates. I ran the plate through the press, flipped the Plexi 180 degrees, lifted the paper and replaced the yellow plate with the red. I repeated this process for the blue and black plates and had finished my first proof! The entire process from degreasing to the finished print takes about one hour. I hope that with practice I’ll become more efficient at inking and cleaning up, as these are the parts that are most time consuming for me! I also need to work on keeping my paper extremely clean. Working with four plates and several colors of ink, it is not hard for an unintentional mark to make its way to the paper.
The photo below is of my second proof. I wiped the yellow ink a bit more and didn’t wipe the red so much the second time around, resulting in a more natural, less yellow skin tone.

Final Notes:

All in all, I am pleased with this print so far. will return to the red plate and maybe do an additional aquatint. I’d also like to go back in and rework the key plate with some burnishing and drypoint, particularly around the subjects’ faces and on the blanket they’re sitting on. It has a watercolor-wash quality now, and while I like the atmospheric quality, the scene doesn’t feel “finished” to me. I don’t want to touch the light on the figures because I am glad with how it appears now, but I do think I could do some burnishing in the water and sand areas to bring out some reflections.

One more note about working in steel: I LOVE that you get fabulous aquatints without needing rosin or spray. The nature of the metal lends itself to perfect open-bite aquatinting. I did have to watch it pretty carefully, as my first and second aquatints only needed 15-30 seconds when the acid was fresh. Plus, steel is more economical than zinc or copper. So fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!