solar plate etching A la poupée

just doing some experimentation with spot inking very small plates.
this plate is only 2 x 2 inches (50 x 50 mm). It is a solar plate with a pen and ink drawing of a chickadee I exposed onto it. Here's what happened:

• I applied caligo carbon black first and wiped back
• then using tiny rolled up felt dabbers applied on Akua intaglio pthalo blue, red oxide and burnt umber. Spot wiped these with thin tissue and tip of my pinky finger.
• The first pass looked interesting but the black in the bird wasn't reading well. Cleaned and inked the plate again in black.
• Carefully set plate into the paper where it had slightly embossed and flipped it over on the press bed and ran this through a second time. Bird emerged much better with the additional black and thankfully the plate and print were lined up perfectly, otherwise I would have gotten a double image.
• Not sure how the got a textural effect in the blue background...maybe water drops on the paper, the way the ink was wiped? None the less I am not objecting to it...gives an interesting background effect.

translating a sketch into an etching

Downy
etching with hand-colour
2015

Chickadee
etching with hand colouring
2015

I recently made a couple of sketches based on early winter birds that are common in the area where I live. These are also inspired by the writings of Henry David Thoreau and his observations of birds and wildlife.


I placed a pencil sketch underneath a piece of wet media acetate film alternative. Using water thinned acrylic ink and pure ink line drawn with a crow quill pen and fine point pigment marker I adapted the sketches to monochromatic form. 

I then scanned the artwork and reduced it in scale. It was printed using black ink only on my inkjet printer on a clear piece of inkjet transparency film.

These were exposed onto small pieces of solar plate using ultra-violet light (a homemade unit I built using black lights). Unfortunately I wasn't afforded the luxury of a cloudless sunny day to make the exposure out of doors using sunlight.

I pre-exposed the plate first to an ultra-fine dot aquatint screen (for tonal variations and that would keep the etch shallow on the plate surface for about 45 sec. Then I followed by exposing the film based art to the plate surface for about 1 min duration. Each plate was gently scrubbed with an old toothbrush immersed in tepid tap water for about 2 min. I blotted the plate with paper towel and post-exposed it again to UV light for about 10 min. The post-exposure cures the polymer into a tough as nails material but keeps the etched areas.

inked small polymer plates ready to be printed

Carbon black veg. oil etching ink (Caligo Safewash) was wiped into the etched areas and the plates had the surface polished with thin tissue paper. 
I set the inked plates facing upwards on the press bed of my small Richardson press and set slightly dampened 250 gm Magnani Revere felt finish cotton rag over top. The paper is a warm white hue.
Blankets were lowered over top and having a tight pressure set passed the plate bed by hand turning the gear levers on the press.

I had built a home-made drying system out of some reclaimed wood, old picture wire, miniature stainless steel clips, plastic clothes pins. The prints were clipped and allowed a week to dry in a warm room.

I am now in the process of applying colour to each of these. I am using water thinned washes of daler-rowney acrylic inks and a synthetic sable brush to apply it with.

These will both printed as a varied open edition.



I have added both to my shop Borealart in Etsy if anyone is curious. The nice thing about prints is I can replace my sold ones easily as I will have a few of the edition in my print drawers ready to photograph and offer the art buying public.

The Boreal - Small Wonders - exhibition of small size original printmaking

a viewer looking at my work and also reading the short little stories that accompany each piece underneath.



Today my series of 24 new small studies on paper officially opened to the public.
The works are hung in the small corner public gallery space at the Baggage Building Arts Centre in my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
This project commenced in the late spring of 2013 when I applied for and received a Northern Arts new works project grant from the Ontario Arts Council. 
My vision was to focus on creating a series of small studies on paper examining elements of the Boreal Forests of our region in the scope of flora and fauna.

Here is the artist statement: 

An image can relay many things, even from the perspective of a small size in comparison to a larger counterpart. It is my hope these studies that originate from a variety of original print based processes will encourage the viewer to come closer and develop an intimate relationship with each work.

The idea of “small” relates also to the actual subjects being studied, especially delicate tiny plant, mammal, insect, amphibian and bird species native to this region that co-exist with other larger forms of life found within the boreal forest.

Natural environments have been the main component of many of the images I have created to date. With this series I have continued explorations on this theme but with greater emphasis towards personal close up observations of select components of the natural environment.

I have utilized a range of printmaking techniques to achieve the final imagery. These include serigraphy, collagraph and intaglio (drypoint from acrylic plate both drawn art and photo based imagery on the surface of polymer plates). I have also paired hand-colouring with the intaglio plate based images.

The forests of Northwestern Ontario harbour a wide variety of plant, animal and insect life that are unique to this region of Canada. Many rare species have been able to adapt and thrive here due to factors created by historical geographic disturbances and unique climatic factors due to the influence of location between the Canadian North and the Great Lakes. Proximity to Lake Superior has also been a significant factor as it keeps the climate somewhat cooler in areas close to the lake.

Unfortunately conditions favourable for many of these species are being altered due to influences occurring on the planet such as climate change and the presence of man through resource industries such as forestry and mining and others. These factors have been playing influence towards the survival of many species.

Predictions made by NASA scientists in the fall of 2011 indicate that the Great lakes basin area of North America will be one of the most affected regions during the next few decades in the scope of climate and there will be noticeable changes in habitats directly related to conditions that were once favourable for species to thrive in. 

We may indeed see the disappearance of many of these unique components of nature. I feel that documentation of particular components of the natural environment found in this

region is an important issue worth examining.

My role as an artist in this case is to present you the viewer with a series of studies that examine established relationships between environments and habitation of species as they presently exist. It may also raise awareness that the influence our own species has on other forms of life found on the planet.

I did not use relief carving this time due to a shoulder injury that affected my drawing hand and arm. Holding a cutting tool and attempting to carve away a surface for prolonged durations proved to be extremely painful and I was forced to omit using this approach intended for creating a few of the images (that was part of my original vision). Therefore following approval of the changes for my project grant funding from the OAC more emphasis was directed towards exploration of photo images translated to plate etchings. After some rehabilitation I found that I was able to spend time applying watercolour and acrylic inks to these studies with less pain involved. I can happily say that I believe my injury is making a great improvement and I should hopefully soon be able to find full use of the arm for my artistic pursuits.

Caribou Lichen

photo etch with hand colour

closer view

I used the following techniques to create the 24 studies that are listed below:

• serigraphy
• collagraph
• drypoint on acrylic plate
• drawn/painted original artwork on film exposed to polymer plate
• photo positive on polymer plate

The 24 studies feature represent five species that include mammals, insects, birds, amphibians and plants that are found in the boreal forests of Northwestern Ontario. They are:

red fox
bobcat
woodland caribou
red squirrel
great horned owl
canada jay
red-breasted nuthatch
american white pelican
northern flicker
pileated woodpecker
loon
american toad
western painted turtle
caribou lichen
scarlet waxcap mushroom
starflower
blue flag iris
wild rose
nodding trillium
fireweed
smartweed (polygonum amphibus)
marsh calla (berry)
stonecrop
monarch butterfly
flower longhorn beetle
bee

you can view all 24 images in gallery 6 in my website:
www.brianholden.ca

There is an article on the show in our local culture publication called the Walleye. Print copies are available free at many different locations around Thunder Bay and region but they also have the issues available online to view.
Here is the link to the most recent issue with the article about yours truly on page 29.

http://www.thewalleye.ca/Digital/october2015/index.html
 
This project was made possible through funding from the Ontario Arts Council.

Forthcoming solo miniature print exhibition - final stages of preparation

For the past two years I have been developing a series of small print-based images on paper that are based on a common theme. Each one falls under the category of miniature art. The collective series is known simply as The Boreal - Small Wonders. It explores flora/fauna unique to the region of Canada that I reside in.
I utilized four techniques to achieve the series. These include serigraph, collagraph, drypoint on clear acrylic plate, polymer plate etching using both originally drawn artwork on film and photography. With the inclusion of hand colouring using watercolour and liquid acrylic inks with brush it became mixed media.

Woodland Caribou
image size: 8 x 10 cm
serigraph
2014
edition of 15

I decided to pursue this project from a small print perspective for several reasons:

• working within a preset budget determined the number of works that could be produced
• the viewer is forced to look at each from a close proximity and perhaps develop an intimate relationship in an understanding of each subject
• This personally challenged me to work in small scale and make decisions about elements like composition and fine details.

Loons (drying on board and awaiting inclusion of water base media)
photo based polymer plate etching
image size: 7 x 10 cm
open edition


My belief is that small works of art can say as much if not more than larger counterparts.

I will be uploading the entire series to my website to coincide with the exhibition towards the end of this month.

On Sunday Oct 18 I am giving a one day workshop at the gallery space to those who would like to make their own miniature polymer plate etching.

Teaching at KidVentures Summer Art Camp Pt. 2

Picture Book Art Journal
created by James
Kidventures summer camp program
Aug 10 - 14, 2015
Baggage Building Arts Centre
Thunder Bay, Ontario


I completed the second and final week as an instructor working with young artists through the City of Thunder Bay's KidVentures summer camp program. 
This week 18 young talents explored the theme of "Around Thunder Bay" and created a multi-page "Picture Book & art journal".

Here is a daily breakdown of this week's activities

• Monday, sketch in pencil then fill in with acrylic paints on rag paper.

pencil sketch on paper held onto plasti-core board with green painter's tape. The young artist decided to explore the theme of rivers and fishing in this piece.

applying primary acrylics with brush to the pencil composition

the beginnings of a forested area in brown and orange

a floral theme being explored by this young artist

• Tuesday, search for imagery from various sources (ie. magazines, newspaper) then cut and paste these onto the painting to create a visual story.

this artist decided to do collage first and paint later

a small collage element (local retailer logo)

a bit of birds added and persons in watercraft in the lower areas

what one would see while canoing down a river

fish 

wildlife in the forest

• Wed, onto heavier board map in pencil another image then using air dry sculpting medium and liquid white glue construct a low relief composition.

rolling out clay-like air dry sculptng medium on plastic sheet with a wood dowel

the artists had the chance to use texture pressing plates (the colourful plastic squares you see at the top of the photo

applying the sculpting medium with liquid white glue onto the heavier paper board 

(this will become the cover of the picture book)

book cover with no colour added, the artist liked the effect just as it was in white.

• Thursday, apply paint to the dry sculpting medium.               Begin sketch on paper and transfer onto thin styrofoam plate by tracing through using ballpoint pen.

painting the dry sculpting medium on board, don't worry the board will lost it's curl when the paint has dried.

using a ballpoint pen an artist is drawing into flat styrofoam plate that will become a relief print on paper

• Friday, using soft rubber brayers roll water soluble relief print inks to the foam plates and print onto coloured papers. Create small stamps from scrap pieces of styrofoam and print on paper.

printmaking station - graphic chemical water-soluble inks (non-toxic, easy wash up with water. Good open air working time (up to 2 hours). We used plexiglass to roll our inks out with soft synthetic rubber brayers.

two colours of ink carefully rolled on the plate ready for printing

relief prints drying on a sunny ledge

student stamping using different designs and arrangment

relief print page in the Picture book



We took all of the work and assembled it in a book form using drilled holes and decorative string. A few extra pieces of blank rag watercolour paper were included as additional pages for doing an at-home activity with wet or dry media.