Demonstration at WYPW: Cath Brooke

On 6th December I attended a 'Printmaker's Toolkit Session' at West Yorkshire Print Workshop hosted by Cath Brooke whose work I had first seen at Leeds Print Fair. This was a two hour session in which Cath demonstrated and talked about some of the techniques she uses in her printmaking and allowed us to look through some of her prints as well as her sketchbooks. 

Currently, Cath is working mainly on the theme of industrial landscapes. She does a lot of her sketching around Redcar and Teeside which is where I lived throughout most of my childhood and my teenage years. Her work makes me feel nostalgic - not only because it reminds me of the landscape of my youth but also because much of the industrial landscape around there no longer has a function - much of the industry has been closed down. 

Cath uses a combination of drypoint, chine collé and monoprint in her work. Her sketches are mainly made on site and many of them are made in charcoal. 

Cath completes the drypoint (and chine collé if using) layer first and the responds to this with the monoprint aspect on top. The chine collé has to go on the first layer otherwise it will not stick over the oil based ink. 

Here are the notes I took on the day: 

• Sandpaper can be used to create a light all over tone in drypoint
• Cath uses soaked Fabriano Rosalpina paper
• As the paper dries out it can start to shrink which affects registration when printing multiple layers
• Keep it moist by layering between wet newsprint or keeping a pile of dampened paper in a plastic bag which is closed between retrievals
• Can rework it if dried too much as the oil based ink should stay put
• Paper should be damp and malleable but without too much surface water which will resist the oil based ink
• Cath uses Hawthorn stay open ink 
• Use a pad made of scrum taped up like a dabber to apply the ink - really work it into the grooves - can also use plastic or rubber to scrape the ink across
• Wiping the plate - start with gentle circular motion with softened scrim
• Hold plate up to the light to see the image developing-difficult to see when flat on the surface
• Use a piece of newsprint folded over to hold the plate at this stage to stop fingerprints appearing - afterwards handle the plate by the edges
• Varying the inking of the plate can make a great deal of difference to the appearance of the final print.
• Wipe some areas very clean with a soft cloth (bits of old tee shirt)
• Other areas can have a thin layer of ink rolled back over them. 
• She places the plate on the paper than holds it in place to flip it over for printing - repeats this process with the second layer to help get good registration. 
• Traces the key elements of the design onto a second plate (using permanent marker) which she then flips over to ink for the monoprint on the other side. 

Drypoint print, plate and second plate of the same size with key elements
of the design traced ready for the monoprint layer

• A small amount of linseed oil reducing jelly is mixed with the Hawthorn 'stay open' ink for the monoprint layer - this makes wiping much easier
• For the chine collé Cath uses inexpensive rolls of Chinese paper which are a bit stronger than normal tissue paper. 
• To create texture she uses textures placed under the paper and rolls printing ink over the surface - a bit like frottage but using printing ink
• Any textured surface could be used but textured wallpapers work well and free samples can be obtained from DIY stores
• Cath uses acid free permanent photo mount spray for her chine collé - this does produce fumes so care must be taken when using it but is less tricky and variable than using PVA or starch paste

Overall this was a good learning experience - I had no experience of drypoint or chine collé before this demonstration and I came away with lots of ideas. Cath was very generous with her time and gave a clear explanation of the process. I have booked to attend a day course with her at WYPW in March and am looking forward to it. 

Research Point: Back drawing

Find some printmaking artists who us back drawing. Examine how they use it and evaluate it. Does it work well? What can you learn from it? 

Paul Klee

As I have already stated in the previous exercise, I first encountered back drawing as a technique under the name 'oil transfer' when I visited the Paul Klee exhibition on an OCA study list back in 2014. My write up of the exhibition can be viewed by clicking here. For the purpose of this research point I will confine myself to his back drawn images. I have chosen three examples which I saw 'in the flesh' at the exhibition although Klee produced many more back drawn works. 

(1)Paul Klee 'City Between Realms' (City in the Intermediate Realm)
1921 Oil transfer and watercolour on paper

'City Between Realms' is in landscape format and it is apparent that the oil transfer was from a plate or piece of paper which was smaller then the finished monoprint because there are quite a lot of accidental marks from the printing ink and these stop abruptly where the edge of the plate must have been and are contained well within the margins of the paper. Klee has used watercolour in shades of yellow ochre and a dark green/grey with the darker areas towards the edge of the paper such that the drawing is contained in a bright halo. His line work is impressively precise and fine. This suggests the paper must be relatively thin. However, Klee would have had to use paper sufficiently strong to stand up to the use of watercolour. He must have used a fine instrument to draw with. There are also quite a lot of straight lines - I can't believe that he would have used a ruler to draw these as it would have left a mark where it was pressed down. It is most likely that he created the oil transfer drawing before adding the watercolour because he has embellished certain shapes within the drawing with light washes of the grey and the ochre. 

The subject of the drawing consist of simplified architectural forms. A circle at the top right may represent the sun. There are shapes which look like bells on bell towers as well as several 'tombstone' shapes in vertical and horizontal orientation. In the top one third of the drawing there are crucifix shapes. Dark zig-zag arrows point upwards and more prominently downwards. Do they point towards heaven and hell?

(2)Paul Klee 'Comedy' 1921 Oil Transfer and watercolour
on paper

I like the collection of elongated part-humanoid creatures in Klee's 'Comedy'. This again is in landscape format, the creatures appearing to be in procession across the page. As well as the finely executed lines, in this drawing, Klee has used small marks to introduce a textural element. There is a lot more transfer of oil around the figures in this one which can be clearly seen where the background wash is lighter at the bottom and the top of the page. This adds even more of a textural element to the drawing and clearly shows the texture of the paper itself with its laid lines. This makes me wonder whether Klee has chosen the darker background wash with lighter tones on the figures to prevent the figures from getting lost amongst the accidental marks. The graduated dark green was reaches its darkest at the upper 1/2-1/3rd of the paper which focuses the viewer's attention here due to the highest contrast and the heads/faces of the players being here. The figures are accentuated in white, pale yellow and pale grey. The interplay between the dark background and pale figures certainly serves to accentuate the figures. Most of the figures are in vertical orientation but one seems to be lying down with another standing on top - have they fallen and are being trampled or are they acrobats performing a stunt?

(3)Paul Klee 'Ghost of a Genius' 1922
Oil Transfer and Watercolour on Paper

'Ghost of a Genius' is in portrait format and depicts a single figure. The line work is characteristically fine and there is less accidental transfer in this drawing. Maybe he had refined his technique somewhat or maybe this is deliberate so the figure looks isolated within a blank space.  The background wash is a dull putty colour with the figure in shades of pale yellow with pale blue eyes. 

Is this a self portrait? It looks a bit like Klee as can be seen from the photograph shown below. The large head with receding hairline and the small pointed beard give a striking resemblance. The figure has a puppet-like quality with its oversized head and mitten-like hands. Did Klee feel like a puppet or was he just attracted to puppet forms (he used to make puppets) (1). The figure appears melancholy with a dejected tilt of the head and eyes - maybe he feels 'washed up' and is recalling past triumph? 

I was trying to work out what was going on with the figure's nose and Adam's apple area there are several parallel lines in the nose area - it struck me that they look like the frets or strings of a guitar or a violin (the latter being more likely as Klee was also a musician and played the violin)(1). In fact the whole of the figure's head could be read as the body of a violin with the chin rest on his forehead and the strings in his nose area. The neck of the violin becomes the violin's neck. Klee was inspired by music in his visual art. 

(4)Photograph of Paul Klee 1911

I was drawn to Klee's backdrawn monoprints when I first saw them but now that I have attempted to do some myself I am even more impressed by the fineness of the lines he managed to achieve. The watercolour is not just an afterthought but an integral part of these drawings and adds to their impact. When I saw the exhibition, I thought that this was a technique invented by Klee but having done some more research I now think that he may have adapted the technique from work by Gaugin. 

Paul Gauguin 

Gauguin is credited with having invited this technique during his period spent living and working in Tahiti around 1899.(2) We know how Gauguin produced these monotypes because he described the process in a letter to his patron in 1902. He produced about 89 drawings using this technique between 1899 and 1903. Some were simple sketches while others were large and resolved drawings (such as the examples shown here)

He was using a printmanking technique but did not have access to large printing plates or a press where he was working. He therefore applied oil paint or printing ink onto a large piece of paper which essentially takes the place of a plate. He would then place a second sheet of paper over this and draw onto that piece of paper. He drew with hard graphite and soft coloured pencil and he noted that the harder the point and the thinner the paper, the finer the line he could achieve. He often used more than one colour of ink - starting with black for the main and most distinct line work. He would then replace the coated sheet of paper with one coated in a different coloured ink before continuing to draw. (2) (3) In the Tahitian woman image below (Figure 5) the marks in olive green/brown are much softer than the black lines.  

Drawing directly on the back of the overlying sheet has two effects. The first is that there are two drawings on the sheet. The verso drawing is a finely and carefully executed drawing in soft coloured pencil and in graphite. The recto drawing is the oil transfer drawing which is much more dark and mysterious. There is always a certain element of chance in the production of such an image and accidental marks add to the appeal of this to me. The darkness and grainy texture of the oil transfer image on the recto side seems much more in keeping with the dark, mysterious and apparently primitive subject matter and to my eyes, therefore is a more successful drawing than the verso. 

The second effect of drawing directly on the back of the sheet is that it helps avoid problems with registration - I might try this!

(5) Paul Gauguin 'Tahitian Woman with Evil Spirit' c 1900 Verso: Graphite and coloured pencil; Recto:
Oil transfer drawing

The subjects of the first two drawings here are a female figure, naked to the waist and a second male figure with a mask or stylised features with horns. The male figure represents an evil spirit - perhaps a christian devil or a figure from Polynesian myth. The female figure's gaze doesn't reveal emotion - she does not appear overtly fearful. Gaugin based the head of the evil spirit on a wooden sculpture he had already created. The woman in figure 5 came from a photograph of a woman from Tonga. (2)

(6)Paul Gauguin 'Tahitian Woman with Evil Spirit' c 1900
Oil transfer drawing

In figure 7 'Changement de Residence' cher are four figures, three of which are clearly female and the other of which has its back to us, the gender of which I cant determine. The female figure furthest to the left averts her eyes and turns her head away and has her hands together either in an attitude of prayer or applause. The next figure has her eyes downcast. A nude female figure rides a horse - her eyes are also cast down but her gaze seems directed towards the figure with their back to us. The figure whose face we cannot see has their hand raised perhaps in a gesture of leave-taking, waving goodbye? The downcast or averted gazes of the three female figures suggest great sadness or perhaps shame.

The palettes of this drawing is darker than the two above. Perhaps this is deliberate to illustrate the gloomy subject matter of parting? The line work as before is in black but there is extensive use of shading with transferred dark brown ink. There is also a lighter orangey brown shade but I suspect that this is not another colour of ink but leakage of oil into the paper - perhaps he used oil paint for this one? To my eyes, this is somewhat less successful than the two drawings above as the excess of dark brown ink makes the figures more difficult to distinguish. On further research I have found that Gaugin made other versions of this subject in woodcut and also a more preliminary looking sketch in oil transfer in which the figures are distinguished more easily

(7) Paul Gauguin 'Changement du Residence' 1902 Oil transfer
drawing

The crouching Tahitian woman is a motif seen more than once in the work of Gaugin. It seems to emphasise his concept of primitivism with the woman crouching unselfconsciously naked. This iteration in oil transfer seems to have been rapidly and energetically executed. On this occasion, the black lines are thick, velvety and prominent as are the lines that represent shadow. The orangey brown marks which describe the shadow on the shoulders, down the spine and around the buttocks and lower back are fainter and thinner hatching lines which must have been created with a much finer and harder drawing tool. 

(8)Paul Gauguin 'Crouching Tahitian Woman' 1901-1902
Oil transfer drawing 

Tracey Emin

Emin has used backdrawn monoprints extensively among her many other means of self expression. Her drawings are rapidly executed to which this monoprint technique is ideally suited. Her lines are straggly and sometimes jerky suggesting a nervous energy and the back drawing suits this style. 

Most of Emin's work is autobiographical and this includes her 'monoprint diary'. The drawings refer to occurrences in her daily life. They are sometimes drawn on lined notebook paper or file paper. (4)

'Sad Shower' Click here to view on the artist's website  shows the artist as a small isolated figure  standing dejectedly with downturned eyes and slumped shoulder under a trickle of water. 

Many of her monoprints cotton a mixture of print and text. For example 'Terribly Wrong' Click here to view on the Tate Website which perhaps refers to one of Emin's well publicised abortions or a misscarriage. There are echoes of Frida Kahlo also here who covered similar subject matter. Emin's handwriting is irregular and there are often misspellings and letters reversed. 

In a few of her monoprints I have also found references to religious imagery for example 'Woman with Child Scroll' 1991 Seen here on the artist's website. In her drawing technique and the aesthetic of her figures I can also see the influence of Egon Schiele. 

There may also be direct reference to the work of other artists for example this untitled monoprint from 1991 with its embracing figures seeming to levitate and indeterminate figures and shapes around them reminds me strongly of Chagall - but maybe I am over interpreting. 

Backdrawing certainly suits Emin's raw style of working and subject matter. It is suited to rapid execution which is also a benefit for such a prolific artist. 

Richard Downs 

Is a contemporary American artist who works in a variety of media including sculpture, painting and monoprint. 

His monoprints seem to mainly depict couples who are connected in some way or embracing. There are all executed in black and red ink and the red rim of ink around the margins of the paper reminds me very much of Klee's drawings with his watercolour haloes. The couples themselves vary in terms of their degree of abstraction. 

from fairly straightforward simple figure drawings to more abstracted consisting of simple shapes but still recognisable as human - in this latter print, the two faces in profile almost merge to become one and they are also joined by the infinity symbol of hair on top of their heads. Suggesting that their connectedness has gone further than being a couple but each has lost their individual identity. 

The more abstracted images may reflect Downs's interest in Russian constructivism. 

I particularly like the regularity of the parallel lines or dots he uses in the area of the hair - I wonder haw he achieves such precision in these areas - perhaps he uses some kind of tool which draws multiple marks at the same time.

Michela Sorrentino 

Is a Canadian artist. I came across her 2012 series of monoprints by chance when researching monoprints online. 

These monoprints are monochrome and contain lots of repetitive mark making wait subjects ranging from a Shamen's tools to cellular structures. I love this style of working. She manages to achieve quite fine lines by using thin handmade paper. 

I think I am drawn to this work because I thoroughly enjoy Radom doodling and repetitive mark making as a meditative process - for example my random sketchbook doodle shown below. 

What I learnt

• It is possible to achieve finer drawing than I have manages so far
• I am not limited by the size of my plates as I could try rolling ink onto paper in the way that Gaugin and Klee did
• Drawing directly onto the back of thin paper may help produce finer lines and will also eliminate the problem of poor registration when working in multiple layers
• Harder drawing implements with produce fine lines and softer ones produce less distinct lines. 
• As well as rapid sketches it is also possible to produce more finished or resolved drawings

Things to do and try

• Drawing directly on the back of Japanese paper
• Using paper coated in ink instead of a plate
• Drawing on a larger scale
• Drawing in multiple colours in layers
• Mark making with various implements 
• planning and executing a more resolved drawing

References

(1)Friedewald, Boris. Paul Klee: Life and Work  (Prestel 2011).
(2)https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2014/04/16/metamorphoses-paul-gauguins-oil-transfer-drawings/
(3)https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/gauguin/techniques
(4)http://www.traceyeminstudio.com/homepage/
(5)http://www.downs-art.com/?section=gallery&gallery_id=29
(6)http://www.michelasorrentino.com/w-2012.html

Image Souces

(1)https://www.pubhist.com/works/20/large/paul_klee_city_intermediate_realm.jpg

(2)http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/N/N05/N05657_10.jpg

(3)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Paul_Klee_-_Gespenst_eines_Genies_(Ghost_of_a_Genius)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

(4)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Paul_Klee_1911.jpg

(5)https://www.moma.org/wp/inside_out/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Gauguin_Tahitian_Woman.jpg

(6)https://www.moma.org/d/assets/W1siZiIsIjIwMTUvMTAvMjEvMTgxM3ZwNGg2aF9nYXVndWludGFoaXRpYW53b21hbi5qcGciXSxbInAiLCJjb252ZXJ0IiwiLXJlc2l6ZSAyMDAweDIwMDBeIC1ncmF2aXR5IENlbnRlciAtZXh0ZW50IDIwMDB4MjAwMCJdXQ/gauguintahitianwoman.jpg?sha=db1dc165bf7c20a7

(7)http://www.simondickinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/GAUGUIN-Changement-R.jpg

(8)http://1uyxqn3lzdsa2ytyzj1asxmmmpt.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Gauguin-Crouching-Tahitian-Woman-recto.jpg

Backdrawing

I first encountered back drawing as a technique when I visited the Paul Klee exhibition at Tate modern in 2014. I was very taken with his 'oil transfer' technique. I found the quite simple line drawings enchanting and I particularly liked the accidental marks made when the oil picked up the texture of the paper - see the next research point for more information about Paul Klee. 

At the time that I saw the exhibition I was just starting out on in my studies and I had no idea that 'oil transfer' was a monoprinting technique and had a different name (back drawing or trace printing). I tried to work out how he had done it. I had not done any printmaking at that point and was not aware of printmaking inks or how to use them so I came up with my own way of doing it. I would draw the image I wanted to reproduce on a sheet of acetate and then put oil pastel or Windsor and Newton oil-bar on the back of the acetate before placing the acetate pastel-side down on a sheet of paper and tracing over the image with a pen or a pencil. I really liked the quality of line that this produced - it was quite velvety and voluptuous. I also liked the fact that I could transfer quick sketches and continuous line drawings in this way without them stiffening up and losing their apparent spontaneity. An example is shown below of a very rapidly executed line drawing of a bewildered elderly Japanese tourist with smartphone who I captured on a trip to Sorrento. I reproduced this in backdrawing and watercolour in an homage to Klee when I got home.

Rapidly executed line drawing made in situ of
a tourist with smartphone

Reproduction of the same image as above
using back drawing and watercolour

This time I have used the more classic backdrawing technique. I like this technique especially for rapidly executed drawings because it is important not to touch the paper other than her you want to transfer ink so the drawing has to be quite free. I first decided to use the technique for some life drawing / gesture drawing practice. I did have access to a model so I used the website https://www.quickposes.com/en which has a vast library of photographs. I set the timing of the poses variably at either 30 seconds or 1 minute. 

I started with cartridge paper and a plate inked lightly with a vibrant green oil based ink. The poses were at 30 seconds each. I made a few sketches on each A3 sheet. I did not re-ink the plate between the two sheets so the ink transfer is less vivid on the second sheet. Despite trying to touch the paper as little as possible with my hand There was quite a lot of oil transfer around the figures. Perhaps my inking of the plate was a bit too thick. I like this as a feature of backdrawing but also wanted to try ways of avoiding it. However, firs

30 second backdrawings. Oil based ink on
cartridge paper

30 second back drawings. Oil based ink on
cartridge paper

Despite trying to touch the paper as little as possible with my hand There was quite a lot of oil transfer around the figures. Perhaps my inking of the plate was a bit too thick. I like this as a feature of backdrawing but also wanted to try ways of avoiding it. However, first I tried a few drawings exploiting the pressure of my hand as a way of shading. 

60 second pose. Backdrawn in oil based ink on
cartridge paper

I didn't re-ink the plate between drawings so some echoes of previous drawings can be seen. On the second one I overdid the shading a bit so the figure is indistinct and emerging from a green fog.

60 second pose. Backdrawn in oil based ink on 
cartridge paper

I tried the same technique using white ink on black paper in a sort of negative of the previous green drawings:

60 second pose. Backdrawn in white oil based ink
on black paper

Again I overdid the hand shading on the second one so the figure is almost lost - this is heading more towards abstraction but I like it. 

60 second pose. Backdrawn in white oil based ink
on black paper

I was conscious that the re-scheduled course "beautiful birds in drypoint' was coming up so I decided to practice drawing some birds for ideas. First I tried a technique that had been suggested t me by Mick Welbourn at Leeds Print workshop when he saw me struggling with some back drawing - he said that to avoid too much unwanted oil transfer around the image it was possible to dust the plate with talc. This would have the affect of drying the surface of the ink but would still allow ink to transfer on the lines when hard pressure was applied. The results were not as good as I had hoped (the two owl drawings on the sketchbook page below) because the talc meant I had to press very hard to get any line at all and the lines produced were grey rather than black. I reverted back to plates without the talc at this stage (although I plan to try again with less talc and more ink). 

Sketchbook page showing backdating onto cartridge
paper from a plate coated with ink and dusted with talc
(owls). The drawings below (squab and sparrow) are
back drawn onto Japanese paper

Next I tried backdrawing onto thin Japanese paper. This was a more sensitive technique and I found I could achieve lovely very deep black marks but a trade-off for this sensitivity was that even the lightest of touch with a fingertip would show on the paper

Backdrawings from sketches of seagulls and a
hoopoe on Japanese paper with lots of
unintentional fingermarks

Backdrawing on Japanese paper - bird of
paradise - lots of unintentional
finger marks

I think that it would be a good idea to find a way of fixing the paper over the plate without having to steady the paper with my fingers - then I could draw with a long handled implement (such as a pencil on a stick or the stick itself. This would help the drawing to be more gestural and better avoid the temptation to touch the paper. 
I have only just scratched the surface of the potential of this technique . All my drawings so far are from photographic sources or previously made sketches. I need to try drawing in this way from life... more to follow ...

What I learnt

• Backdrawing is good for quick gestural drawing
• Some degree of unintentional transfer is the norm
• Thinner paper is more sensitive for ink transfer - so gives lovely dark marks but great care must be taken to avoid unintentional ink transfer
• The side of hand or fingers can be used for subtle shading - but don't overdo it
• Talc dries the ink for precision but greys out the transferred lines

Things to try

• Drawing from life
• Drawing on a larger sale
• Fixing the paper in some way to reduce the temptation to touch the paper with fingers
• Multilayers and multicolours 
• Using different drawing tools (so far I have only used a hard pencil, a biro and my hand)