Project 12: Collatype collage prints - Part 1 Industrial landscapes

For this project you will be working towards a series of representational images the previous section it was pointed out that detail has to be simplified when using collage to represent objects. With this in mind choose a subject where you deliberately have to reduce the amount of visible detail by selecting varied materials to suggest a texture.

I was disappointed that the course notes specified that the prints should be representational at this stage because I had decided to take my work in a more abstract direction. However, during the course I have attended several workshops. One of these at Leeds Print Workshop was experimental collagraphs using various types of tape. During this workshop I produced these images of industrial landscapes using duck tape, textured floor tape, masking tape and foil tape. What follows is a repetition of my account of this workshop:

When I attended the collagraph/monoprint workshop at Leeds Print Workshop, it occurred to me that the combination of tapes we used to create texture (duck tape, anti-slip tape, masking tape, foil tape and many more) would be ideal for creating the textures of an industrial landscape. The tapes themselves are also used by plumbers and in industrial settings so I liked the idea of using them to produce a print representing their usual habitat. 

I first created a collagraph type plate with several layers of tape. I didn't do any pre-planning of this plate - I just used the shapes I had in my head from previous attempts to represent this subject and let it develop as I went along. I decided to try to create a sense of depth to the landscape by using different tapes for the foreground, middle ground and background areas. I used the thickest tape for the foreground shapes which was the anti-slip tape. This is like thick sandpaper and produces a speckled texture on printing. 
I used duck tape for the mid ground elements which has a texture caused by the threads within it. For the background buildings I used masking tape which has quite a close texture. I attempted to create an impression of smoke from the chimneys by applying crumpled foil tape (the type used for sealing chimneys and ducts) I quite like the irony that I am representing smoke by using tape that is used to keep smoke contained!

I started off by printing directly from the collagraph plate onto cratridge paper. I first printed in process yellow then overprinted in process magenta and indigo. There were some parts of this print that I really liked. The bright yellow haloes around the foreground chimneys, the subtle gradation of indigo and red on the background shapes and the sky as well as the texture for the smoke all worked quite well (although the smoke looked a bit too solid). However I had not managed to register the print well enough and the slight offset created a bizarre effect with the foreground shapes. The offsetting of the little dots of colour produced by the anti-slip tape made my eyes go funny! It reminds me of a blurred photograph or interference on a tv screen and is difficult to look at. 

I took a second 'ghost' print of the plate onto wet cartridge paper (intaglio technique) - this transferred mainly indigo ink but with very small amounts of the magenta and yellow which remained on the plate. It picked out more detail of the texture of the duck tape.

Single layer collagraph print on soaked cartridge paper

I proceeded next to adapt this collagraph into a monoprinting technique by offsetting the image onto a monoprint plate to allow me to manipulate it further.  I re-inked the cardboard collagraph plate with a combination of yellow and indigo. I then placed a plastic monoprinting plate of the same size directly over it and sandwiched the two between layers of newsprint before passing them through the etching press together. This transferred the ink from the collagraph plate to the monoprint plate. There was still a small amount of red on the collagraph plate so this also transferred especially in the area of the smoke and age background buildings. 

After obtaining my offset image on the monoprint plate I was free to adapt it further. I used cloth and scrim to wipe into the sky and to break up the outline of the foil smoke shapes. I also used the tip of a sharpened pencil to draw windows into the distant building. I pulled the print onto cartridge paper using the etching press. I was quite pleased with this result. Note that the image is reversed by the offset printing process. 

Offset collagraph monoprint three colour print with subtractive
drawing on cartridge paper

I took a second print from this monoprint plate onto coated paper

Second pass 'ghost'  monoprint as above

I then cleaned my monoprint plate and re-inked my collagraph plate with plenty of red and yellow ink. I offset this again onto the clean monoprint pate. This time I decided to accentuate the foreground instead of drawing into the background. I rolled indigo ink onto the monoprint plate and wiped away to leave only foreground chimney shapes. I got a bit confused as to which chimneys were on which side of the print and plate so the shapes are not accurate reproductions of the printed shapes underneath but this adds additional depth to the foreground. The registration is slightly off. 

Multilayer collagraph monoprint

I took a ghost print from this and then overprinted again with additional yellow. The registration was not great but his gave a dirty smudgy effect which I think is quite appropriate for the subject matter. I realised it was time to stop at this point before I managed to create mud from too many layers of mixed colours. 

Multilayer collagraph monoprint

 I hope these are sufficient to satisfy the representational aspect of this task as I have decided to pursue the line of inquiry I am more interested in at this stage and move ahead with more abstract responses to microscopic and macroscopic forms in nature.

What I learnt

• A makeshift collagraph plate can be used to create landscape textures
• Offsetting the collagraph onto another plate allows additional manipulation of the image
• Spontaneous working without too much planning is sometimes better that having too fixed an idea of the outcome you want as it allows you to respond to what actually happens when you print

Experimental mark making on lino (Part 2 : Etching)

A while ago, I attended a weekend course about lino etching at West Yorkshire Print Workshop. It was run by Jenny Thomas and Fabian Osborne who were wonderfully informative and really encouraged our creativity. I thoroughly enjoyed this course so am including notes and photographs here because it is relevant to the current area of study. 

The Lino is etched using a combination of water, caustic soda crystals and wallpaper paste. The wallpaper paste adds body to the etching mixture so that it stays where you put it. 

It is very important to wear protective clothing, gloves and eye protection when doing this because the caustic soda will eat anything organic including human tissues. Also, when mixing up the paste be prepared for the fact that the chemical reaction generates heat. The paste can be stored in a sealed glass jar for up to 4 weeks - it is at its strongest when first fixed but gradually loses its effectiveness with time. 

The caustic mixture can be painted onto the lino using a synthetic paintbrush Natural hair brushes will be destroyed by the caustic soda). How deeply the plate is etched depends on how thickly you apply the paste and how long you leave it on for.  The paste can be manipulated on the block using tools or cardboard to create designs. 

The other way to create designs is to use various substances as a resist. For example wax, electrical tape, copydex glue, or stop out varnish for traditional etching. 

I tried out several of the different ways of resisting the etch and drew quite freely on the lino plates with my chosen resist but loosely basing my designs on some of the organic shapes I'd been looking at in my small sketchbook: bacterial cultures, chordae tendinae of the heart and so on. After applying the resist and waiting for it to dry I applied a thick layer of the etching paste. As the paste etches the lino it turns from grey to brown. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes to take effects but can be left longer for a deeper etch. 

When the plate was sufficiently eaten I washed the paste off with water and a nail brush and then poured vinegar over it to neutralise the NaOH (caustic soda). 

Print from lino etched after applying a resist of melted wax using a
tjanting tool for batik

I especially enjoyed playing with the melted wax. I dripped wax onto the plate in an attempt to recall the images of bacterial colonies I had drawn in my sketchbook. I also tried drawing with the tjanting tool. The drawing was very imprecise but great fun. The wax was allowed to set solid before etching. after etching most of the wax was scraped off and then the residue was removed by ironing the plate under multiple layers of newsprint. As well as showing the design, the brush marks from the application of the paste can clearly be seen in the resulting print. 

I decided to also try a type of subtractive method with the wax. This time I painted a thick layer of wax over the plate. When this had solidified I used various tools and a scalpel to remove areas of the wax. This allowed the etch to occur only in those areas where I had removed the wax.  Some buts of wax chipped off where I had not intended but this didn't really matter because it was a completely abstract experiment. 

Print from lino etched after cutting away wax
which had been applied widely to the surface

Another way to create an interesting image , this time without any resist, is to etch the Lino multiple times in succession. Each time the etch is repeated, it becomes progressively deeper and therefore progressively lighter on the final print. In the print shown below, I have applied the etching paste to progressively smaller areas with each successive etch achieving this concentric tonal gradation. I really like this effect, it gives an illusion of three dimensions and reminds me of contour maps. It could also be exploited for tonal gradation by etching deeper in areas which are to remain lighter and less so in darker tonal areas - this would be worth experimenting with. This particular image is reminiscent of fungal cultures.

Print from lino repeatedly etched in progressively
decreasing areas

In the print below I painted stop-out varnish onto the plate as a resist in an abstract pattern inspired by mu work on the chord tendinae of the heart. While the etch was proceeding I also scratched into the surface of the etching lino using various tools. This is overprinted on a coloured background I found this one of the less successful images but it was useful for learning this technique.

Resist created using stop out varnish. texture in the etched area created
by scraping with tools during the etching. Overprinted on a coloured
background

The other technique we tried, was marbling. This involved floating stop out varnish on the surface of water (with a little wallpaper paste). Breaking up the surface tension to make the varnish break up into interesting shapes and then applying the lino plate to the surface of the water. This meant the varnish would stick to the plate. Some amazing results came from this although my pate was a little disappointing as the drops of varnish were quite small so they just gave a grainy texture to the surface as seen in the sketchbook page on the left hand side below. 

Left side: print from lino etched after applying stop out by a marbling
technique. Right side: lino etched after applying melted wax using a
tjanting tool

After preparing and proofing our plates, we experimented in printing multiple layers. We used inks that were not completely opaque in primary colours in order to allow some colour mixing and overlaying of patterns to show. Some of the results were great. The only drawback was that the lino blocks were not cut completely precisely to size so some of mine were slightly off being square. I did the best I could to align them but as you can see there are quite a lot of issues with the registration. If I were to want to display these it would be necessary to window mount them with mat board to conceal the edges.

What I learnt:

• Lino etching can be employed with a variety of resists which each give individual character to the marks made
• repeated etching on the same plate can create gradations of tone
• How to mix up caustic soda paste and how to use it and neutralise it
• Health and safety procedures for working with caustic paste
• If you plan to print in multiple layers always make sure that your plates are precisely the same size and shape before you start. 

Drypoint and Monoprint Workshop at WYPW

Last year, before I stopped work on the course, I attended a drypoint and monoprint  day course at West Yorkshire Print Workshop. The course was taught by Cath Brooke Click Here to link to the artist's website. The teaching was excellent. Attached is text from the course notes. 

It was also very valuable to see other students working in the same medium as we all produced very different work. 

Unfortunately, I was already starting to feel unwell at this time so my choice of subject matter wasn't particularly inspired. Nevertheless it was a useful day to practise with the technique. 

Drypoint plate

I particularly enjoyed the fact that the image could be changed considerably depending on how the plate was wiped. I am especially drawn to the very dark effect obtained by selective wiping. On the image below I didn't wipe a lot but I picked out the flowers using a cotton bud. On the second one I wiped more ink away so the lines made by the drypoint tool are more distinct. The third image was printed in two layers one layer with monoprint and another with drypoint. Unfortunately, the plates weren't exactly the same size, but it was a useful experiment.

Drypoint with selective wiping

Drypoint wiped more completely

Two layer print: Drypoint and Monoprint

Drypoint Workshop at Artison in Masham

I recently attended a one day drypoint workshop taught by Hester Cox at Artison in Masham. Hester was a great teacher - her explanations were clear and in depth and she was patient and encouraging to all of us - most of us were complete beginners with the technique. 

I had chosen to try out drypoint because I enjoy drawing and this technique seems to be a way of incorporating lots of ways of mark making into my work.

Hester provided us with a resource sheet describing the technique and also with lots of reference material - examples of works in drypoint and also drypoint with chine collé were spread around the benches at the side of the room and she also provided links to the websites of numerous artists working in drypoint: 

Of the artists listed, I have selected a few whose work particularly interests me:

Bridget Farmer.

I love the simplicity of Farmer's drypoint prints. The quality of the line is delicious and flowing like that obtained with rapid continuous line drawing. Some of her designs are quite minimal such as her three finches - she has simplified the forms in a very satisfying way - excluding extraneous details. Others such as her coot (which is actually an etching rather than a drypoint) cotton multiple vigorous  lines to suggest the form. Wonderful. 

Lars Nyberg

This artist's use of drypoint is much finer - some of his drawings resemble botanical or scientific drawings. Many of his drypoints feature a single tree or plant surrounded by open and almost featureless space. These make me feel slightly melancholy as they seem to speak of solitude or loneliness. 

Mikael Kihlman

Kihlman uses many different printing modalities in his work including drypoint. His drypoints are very heavily worked which is contrast to the two other artists above. In many of his works the mark making covers almost the whole of the plate - he creates a dark atmosphere in which patches of light stand out dramatically. Reflections of the sky on the surface of puddles against a dark pavement are particularly evocative. The dramatic difference between the work of these three artists shows the versatility of this medium - there is a lot to learn and try here. 

Mary Cassatt
Cassatt was a American Artist who worked in France through most of her adult life and exhibited along with the impressionists. Like the other impressionists, many of her works depict people going about their everyday activities - capturing a moment in time. Her work is special because it mainly depicts women doing everyday things such as caring for children or hanging out the washing: Subjects which would not have been considered suitable for 'high art' before this period. Her drypoints are charming and are a suitable medium for conveying the fleeting nature of the moments she captured with the energy contained in its lines. 

Olivia Lomenech Gill
I have included Gill here because I admire the energy of her linework - particularly in her depiction of animals. I also find her use of Chine collé interesting - she has used pages from books as well as brown paper - this gives me more ideas. 

Catherine McDonald's work has a satisfying velvety inky blackness about it which I really love. Her silhouetted landscapes with telegraph poles have an air of mystery and again isolation about them. 

Hester first gave a us each a small piece of drypoint plastic to experiment on and try to make as many types of mark as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I mainly used the drypoint needle provided but also had a try at using a roulette and a diamond tipped needle which gave texture and a different quality of line - the diamond tipped needle was easier to mark the plate with - especially for curved lines. 

The subject matter for the day was to be birds. I had brought some photographs with me for inspiration. I decided to use a photograph of a juvenile black heron having a 'bad hair day'. I really like this quirky looking character. I had already had a couple of tries at drawing this bird freehand without a resounding success so although it felt a bit like cheating I simply placed the photograph under the clear plastic and drew from the photograph. I spent a lot of time hatching to create the very dark tone of the lower part of his body. I was quite pleased with the marks I had made although I felt overall that the composition was a bit imbalanced with everything in the top part of the paper and very little to balance it lower down. I hadn't quite known what to do with his feet as they were missing from my cropped photograph so I'd just randomly put him in water with ripples around his legs but it hadn't occurred to me to put any semblance of shadows into the water. 

I really should have gone back and worked into the plate to alleviate this but the day was nearly at an end (the hatching had been time consuming - as well as the numerous stops for coffee and cake and a delicious lunch!). I really wanted to try the chine collé using some of the coloured papers that Hester had brought along. Time was running out so my effort at this was somewhat haphazard. I also used too much glue which squished through the tissue and made quite a mess without actually sticking the paper to the print properly. - this is something to try again at a later date. Hester suggested getting some reversible PVA glue - this means you can pre-glue your chine collé and allow it to dry before using it. The glue becomes tacky again on contact with the damp paper and sticks without the gluey mess everywhere!

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and came away with lots of ideas of further things to try such as using DIY tools or even a soldering iron to make marks on the plate as well as dying my own chine collé papers and using reversible PVA. 

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. 

Urban Sketchers Workshop Ischia 2016

Day 1

Morning:

The morning was about 'reportage' with Simo Capecchi (an architect and illustrator and one of the organisers of the workshop) as our guide. We were privileged to be allowed to go out on a glass bottomed boat to observe the underwater archaeologists excavating the roman port at Ischia Ponte. One of the archaeologists gave us a brief explanation of the work they were doing before we got onto the boat. Once on the boat we we made rapid sketches using a 'trattoria pen' which is a water soluble pen with black ink which gives a lovely violet colour when it is mixed with water. 
The drawings are very rapidly and roughly executed because the divers and the boat were constantly in motion. I made notes all around the drawings with snippets of information that we were told (translating from Italian into English because my written Italian is rubbish) 

Some of the drawings took on the appearance of a comic strip of 'graphic novel' as they are now called because I chose to use the glass bottom of the boat as a frame and draw the divers' body parts or the bubbles the produced as they went past this small window. The main part of their job seemed to be removing sediment with a large hoover - like contraption. It seems like should destroying work because out at sea when the weather is rough for a couple of hours it shifts the sediment around and can undo two days' work in as many hours. 

After drawing on the boat we went back to the office where the divers change their clothes and where the archaeologists catalogue all of the finds. There was diving equipment everywhere and wetsuits hanging around. I like the way that the wetsuits seem to have a life of their own - they hold their form and look like people hanging around. 

We also documented some of the finds. The archaeologist was very casual and wasn't perturbed by us all crowding around and sketching (although she did nip out a few times for a nicotine break so I included her camera and packet of cigarettes in my drawing)

This was a thoroughly enjoyable start to the workshop - but also absolutely exhausting! UI think it was the combination of the concentration on rapid sketching and keeping up with the commentary combined with the motion of the boat, the sea air and the sun overhead - followed by a large lunch which made me very tired so the afternoon was much less productive....

Afternoon:

We sat on the beach with our small sketchbooks and made sketches of the Castello Aragonese. I only produced a couple of sketches this afternoon. One using the 'tailors chalk' solid ink sample that we were given by Artgraf. I love this stuff - it can be used dry like a hard pastel or can be used with water which converts it into a thick black ink. - There is a lot of potential for experimentation with this. 

Day 2

Morning:

On the morning of day 2 I was in the garden/allotment of the Castello with Caroline Peyron. Our first task was to spend a whole hour on a single drawing on A3 paper using a fineliner. I was dismayed at the outset because I normally like to sketch rapidly. I chose a bunch of onions hanging from an old wooden pole as my subject. In the end I found this exercise quite rewarding despite my initial anxiety. The prolonged working period really allowed me to get into the subject and I became completely absorbed in the activity.

For the second part of the session we used ink and bamboo pens and brushes with water. I love the way that the ink flows in the water. My efforts here were not as successful as my previous drawing - they became more about playing with the ink than an actual response to the environment. (As Caroline would say - 'a small masturbation!' - Harsh but fair.

In the afternoon we took a boat a bit further up the coast. While waiting for the boat I made some rapid continuous line drawings of the seagulls on the jetty - I thoroughly enjoyed that and the drawings had a lot of character even if they were not entirely accurate. 

This afternoon we were given a sample of the Art Graf water soluble graphite putty to play with - this is great fun and extremely messy. It can be used dry in various ways - for example I found that it made interesting marks when rolled around on the paper. It is also water soluble and gets much darker when mixed with water. I was working on A3 paper but I think this material would work very well on a larger scale. - I would like to get a larger pack of it to experiment with.

Day 3

In the morning, my group had the opportunity to work with Ch'ng Kiah Kiean our guest from Malaysia. 'KK' showed us his method of working. He uses a small pot with gauze soaked in ink to avoid spillages and draws with a sharpened stick. He also achieves some shading by using an old tatty brush with a very small amount of ink which he stumbles vigorously onto the paper. I struggled with this way of working - the ink seemed too thick and didn't flow well. Then I got frustrated and started to tighten up - I wasnt very happy with anything I produced this morning - this will take a lot more practice! Compare my efforts with th lively and flowing lines of the drawing by KK of the same subject. 

My effort

KK's drawing of the same subject

In the afternoon it was pouring with rain so outdoor activities which were planned had to be curtailed. some of sat in the church and made sketches of each other in a sort of 'portrait party'. I soon got bored wandered around the castle making sketches of tourists, cats and sketchers. 

In the evening we exhibited our work in the church at the Castello - we were all exhausted after and intensive but very enjoyable three days:

View from the Castello Aragonese at Sunset