Collagraph part II - using low relief dense foam

Shoreline

2007
Collagraph

In my previous post I showed a couple of prints of mine that combined various low relief materials to produce a print on paper. One of the materials that was used was low relief pieces of scratch foam printing plate. 

This material has the ability to embed other shapes into it's surface. It can be used to great effect for adding interesting details to a collagraph print.

I pressed medium grit sandpaper into the foam surface to give this a grainy texture. I followed this by stabbing the foam with a pen tip to give me slightly larger depressions. For some crack lines I drew across with the point of a bamboo skewer.
The objective here was to create a pocky hard rock surface which is very common to the region where I live. 
The mission with this collagraph was to convey a sense of the landscape and elements of Northern Ontario...lots of water with an abundance of Cambrian Shield rock interspersed with boreal forests.

I cut and glued down the foam pieces onto a thick paperboard substrate. Then using an xacto blade I cut away and shaped the material. Using a ballpoint pen tip I was able to press into the foam and create pockets for darker areas to be made when the ink would be applied.

I was able to coat the foam and rest of the materials on the plate using shellac. Once it was dry then thinned etching ink was applied to the plate and it was wiped back and printed.

This is a magnified detail from a section of a test print from another study (5 colour relief print) showing how the texture came about from the styrofoam.

Collagraphs Part 1

collagraphs produced by Grade six classroom drying on cardboard drying board
St. Bernard Catholic Elementary School, Thunder Bay ON


I recently have been exploring collagraphs again in the classroom via my art teachings. I thought the idea of creating a low relief plate using additive and subtractive methods would stimulate and challenge students. They get to use recycled materials and also print their plates using my press.
It is also a lot of fun.
Due to time restrictions we couldn't use shellac or varnish to seal the plates. Instead we opted to spray the service with an aerosol adhesive (done outdoors with masks worn). Plastic food wrap was stretched over top and the plate was passed under the press roller set onto a light squeeze. This forced the plastic to mold over everything and also added some textural effect to the prints. Students wore barrier gloves to keep their hands clean and using Akua carbon black intaglio ink they loaded ink into recessed areas  using old toothbrushes and wiping ink on the surface with their finger tip. We used bunched up pieces of interfacing fabric for wiping back of the ink followed by a surface polishing using yellow pages and gift wrap tissue. Dampened cotton rag paper was placed over top and it was passed again through the press.

My introduction to collagraphs originates around 2008. I viewed a lot of work online of people who worked primarily in this printmaking technique and was extremely motivated. Not having ever tried this I researched the process from reading art instructionn books and by watching online demos in You Tube. Hestor Cox is a UK based artist who is quite proficient in the medium. http://www.hestercox.com/
Another person whose blog I follow is Southern California based artist Belinda Del Pesco. Her work is stellar. http://www.belindadelpesco.com/

The first couple of small plates I made using scrap packaging board and glue showed promise but were a little too simplistic. I became a bit more adventurous. I tried adding other materials such as mat board, thin sheet styrofoam, modelling gel medium and liquid PVC glue, sandpaper, bamboo, scrap packaging card, dried organic materials like cedar needles, dried flowers added to surfaces. I also removed some areas of the base mat paper board using kraft blades. These areas would hold ink and allow for darker tones in a print. From all of this two plates emerged and the resulting prints were quite satisfactory.

One of these become a monochromatic piece that I included in an exhibition series titled Wilderness. It is a study of a stream meeting a low rise rock face and percolating down through a narrow cut in cambrian shield rock.

Passage
2008
collagraph (monochrome)


It is one thing to see the relief built on the base card but you won't know how this is going to turn out until you actually ink the plate and print it.
I still have the original plate for this study and I am tempted to print a few more by either inking the plate A la poupée (spot inking in various colours of inks) or applying hand colouring with wet media to the black & white print.


Shoreline (pictured below) was a study of a section of pond I observed during one of my nature hikes. The foreground rocks were created by cutting and gluing thin foam sheets to the base plate. I pock marked it and then pressed in fine grit sandpaper to create textural elements into the rock. The cat tails were created using shavings off bamboo skewers and liquid bead of PVC glue. The background was dried fern ends, cedar needles and gel medium applied with a small brush tip. The dark water was created by cutting and peeling off a thin layer of the mat board. I then added some fine lines of gel medium into the recessed area. These were in reverse of the built up cat tail stalks and would create a reflection effect when the plate was inked, wiped and printed. The plate had several layers of Shellac sponged rolled over top to seal and waterproof it.

Shoreline
2010
collagraph (monochrome)

experimentations with miniature plate prints - various approaches to colour application

Conifers, Moon and Aurora
Drypoint with relief roll
varied edition
plate size: 7 cm square (2.75 inches)
paper size: 11.5 x 14 cm (4.5 x 5.5 inches)


I have been inspired the last couple of days to experiment a little more with a couple of small acrylic plate drypoint prints.

Today I threw all caution to the wind and just decided lets play with various things and see what does and doesn't work.

I decided to try a unique approach using the small organic conifer tree shapes (see my previous post) that I had scratched onto a small 7 cm square plate. That is 2.75 inches for my US friends and yes even some Canadians.

I wiped a bit of Caligo Safe Wash carbon black etching ink into the scratched linework on the plate. Once I had the plate surface clean post wipe with yellow pages I applied Akua Intaglio ink rolled onto the surface with a brayer. This was a bit of Pthalo blue mixed with a drop of blending medium to make it a bit more transparent. I then used another roller with a bit of a lightened green and rolled it across the surface of the plate into the blue. Then using a small brush I worked and blended this. Using a cotton swab I removed ink from the lower section of the plate. I then applied a deep violet of Akua intaglio ink using a small synthetic bristle taklon brush. I placed the plate onto the press bed and put a small piece of damp Canson Edition rag over top.
The press bed felts were placed over top and it was passed under the top roller (tightened earlier).

The black ink came out a bit light however the colour background was kinda nice. I cleaned off the plate, once again applied the carbon black ink to the scratched line and cleaned off the surface by wiping with a bit of coated tissue paper. 
I carefully set the small plate on top of the print (it set into the slight embossing created by during the first passing under the roller earlier). I carefully flipped this over so the plate was facing upward and the print on top, once again I set the felts over top and passed this under the roller. This gave me a deep rich black from the scratched lines which contrast nicely against the colour background. The effect I wanted to achieve was that of aurora borealis. You be the judge?

I did a second version of this but placed a small paper circle from a three hole punch between the trees.

I had a another study of a small tiny 5 white petal flower (skunk currant) and for this one I did two approaches. The plate size was again 7 cm square. The first approach was to scratch lines into the plate surface, then wipe some ink into the scratched areas to reveal the linework in black, Using a lightbox I set a piece of tracing paper over top of the plate and traced the outline of the flower shapes using a 6B pencil . I also marked on the tracing paper where the edges of the plate would be. I flipped the tracing and set it over top of a piece of goldish-green thin oriental gampi paper. I then went over the pencil lines once again with a firm lead pencil. This transferred the 6B lead onto the tissue and I used it as a guide to cut the small shapes out with a triangular blade x-acto knife. I then sprinkled a little wheat paste powder on the surface of the paper. 
I set the same size square piece of gampi with the cut away sections over top of the inked plate. I misted it with a fine spray of atomized water (to moisten and activate the wheat paste powder). A piece of a damp rag paper was set over top and again with felts lowered was passed under the top roller of the press. 
Unfortunately something shifted when I placed the rag paper over top so there was a slight off registration of the collage colour paper background.

The second version was made using a relief roll of green akua ink and the white areas of the petals were created by again using a cotton swab to remove the green ink. I applied a bit of golden yellow to the plate surface on the tip of small brush.

Mini print - a mix-media art project for elementary schools

I am commencing a project with a grade 5/6 classroom in a few days time. A few challenges have been presented for this project including the limited amount of time I will have to work with the students and small budget we have for materials.

I proposed an idea to the teacher to have his students create mix-media artwork using a simple intaglio printmaking technique (drypoint) and combining this with collage of thin coloured papers. 

As a multi-discipline visual artist the miniature size is something I have explored in the past and have had a few small prints included in miniature exhibitions both here in Canada and one in Denmark.

Superior

hand-coloured photogravure print

2005

plate size: 8 cm

varied open edition

I drew a simple landscape study of organic tree shapes. My idea was to incorporate colours and shapes through the collage application of thin asian colour tissue papers (known as chine-collé). My design is loosely based on a block print I created several years back titled Moon & Forest. 

Moon and Forest
block based relief print
image size: 10 cm x 10 cm


Due to the size of the plate this presented a challenge for incorporating very small pieces of the paper.
However it wasn't impossible and I am pleased with the results I have been getting using this.
Below is a short video I made from the intial simple sketch on paper through the scratching with the result linework in the surface of the plate. You will notice that placing the clear plate against a black background reveals the details rather nicely.

My plate is made from a flexible type of clear thin acrylic plastic that is used in the packaging industry. I was able to place my pencil sketch underneath and view it through the plastic. Using a sharp needle point tool I basically traced my sketch into the surface using scratching strokes.
Akua intaglio carbon black ink was wiped into the scratch marks and then using wiping fabric (a thin web-type material I sourced from a local fabric shop) I removed excess ink from the surface of the plate. A piece of thin paper (old yellow pages from a phone book) was pressed and rubbed using a circular motion to remove additional surface ink. This is the same process many printmakers use when inking a plate (etching) in preparation for printing.

First I made one test print on rag paper using just the black ink to show me how the scratch line would reproduce. Akua intaglio ink was used and I added a little bit of mag-mix (magnesium carbonate powder) to thicken the rather runny ink (which is vegetable oil based).

I used the plate edges as a guide to trim the small pieces of asian paper to the same dimensions as the plate. The tricky part was then to determine where each piece would be placed. I put the plate (ink side) facing upwards on the press bed. I carefully placed the tissue thin paper on top and moved it into place using the point of an x-acto blade. A fine mist of water was sprayed onto the plate surface to slightly dampen the tissue. A fine dusting of wheat paste powder (strained through cheesecloth stretched over the opening of the jar it was in) was applied. 
Finally I set a slightly moist piece of  250 gm rag printmaking paper over top.
A piece of newsprint was put over top and then the three layers of wool felts were carefully lowered over top of everything, I manually turned the press handles and passed the plate, papers and blankets underneath the top roller which I had set earlier to produce a fairly tight squeeze. 
The pressure forced both the tissue thin asian paper on top of the plate and the rag down into the areas holding the ink. This left the ink on the surface of the colour papers and the pressure fused these with the fine layer of adhesive onto the rag paper. It allowed me to incorporate colour and texture through the simple application of collage. So far I have produced 3 test prints. Two of these use the collage application. You will notice in one I carefully cut out a circular shape to allow me to have a moon behind the tree.

This artistic endeavour in the classroom should prove to be both exciting and challenging for the grade five and six students. I will follow up on this post soon with photos of what they have been producing.

Teaching art in elementary grade school – mix media and relief print murals (Jr. primary grades)

In the trees
Brodie Resource Library
April 2015
created by grades 1/2 students
Hyde Park Public School
Teacher: Susan Lieske
Art Educator: Brian Holden

I have been giving art instruction to a grade one/two split class at Hyde Park Public School in Thunder Bay. I have been very fortunate to be paired with a highly creative minded teacher, Susan Lieske. These eager and enthusiastic young artists have undertaken a few projects with me since November.

Two projects that were recently completed in this particular classroom are currently on display at the Brodie Resource Library here in the city of Thunder Bay. I was approached by a committee from the library who saw the vision of public and school based art on a few walls in the library system.

Yours truly assisting a student to make a cut paper shape and modified acrylic paint monoprint.

The first project is a series of panels that have the option to be displayed either in a vertical or horizontal presentation. In the first of the 2 art displays I had long open shelf tops available in the venue and  thus arranged the panels in one long panorama style display.

This particular series explores Animal Totems in the theme. Students chose animals indigenous to this region and working from photo references made a sketch onto a thin flat plate made of dense styrofoam. Water based block printing inks were applied to the plate surface using synthetic soft rubber brayers. Prints were made onto pre-cut squares of black mulberry paper. I mounted the prints onto black mat board panels.

I also connected the animals to regional first nation culture and we learned the name of each of the creatures from the Ojibwe language.  The full list of createures are listed on the last panel that is included below.

Eagle 
Migizi

Bison
Mashkode-bizhiki

Hummingbird

 nenookaazi

Goose 

nika

Raven

niiwin

Moose

mooz

Black bear

makwa

Woodpecker

baapaase

Bobcat

gidagaa-bizhiw

Owl

gookooko'oo

Marten

waabizheshi

In a related pursuit Susan Lieske had her students research their animals, look at their significance from a first nations connection and put all of this into hand made little accordion fold booklets. These are also available for the public to look at and read just below the panels in a wall pamphlet system.

The second more recent project I have this class was the creation of a mix media collective mural.  It began with me drawing 2 large tree shapes over a 4 x 7 ft arrangement of bristol board pieces into a grid of 4 up by 6 across (for a total of 24 rectangles). I encouraged each student to retain the bare branch shape passing through their rectangles but to bring each part of the tree to life using drawing, painting, relief stamping and collage. The mural is titled In the trees. It is a large colourful mosaic of colours, shapes and textures and also the viewer can make out the tree shapes that define everything when it is assembled. I think that each individual panel is a work of art unto itself.

Challenges of teaching printmaking to very young artists

students making prints off styrofoam

I have learned during my recent placement in a local school as an art educator that there have been a few challenges involved with teaching printmaking to young primary school students.
With grades one and two level they are just beginning to learn about colour.
My first recourse before we are fully engaged in an activity has been to first explain a little bit to them about colour. Using the colour wheel as a visual aid has been the best way to do this. I try to make a little game out of this by telling them terms and then see if they can remember the terms.
Using word and number association is a clever way to help remember. I tell them that the three primary colours them are the first or #1. Mixing of the combinations of the 3 makes secondary colours which become #2. Tertiary or third colours are #3. Showing them the opposite colour in a straight line across the wheel helps them to recognize the complementary colour.

I also am finding that some of the key learning aspects with basic printmaking are shape and texture. Surfaces such as cardboard, modeling clay, craft foam and styrofoam are used as the means by which students can explore both of these.
Drawing skills are of course key to any artistic discipline so we also focus on this. I show them examples of line and related ie. dots, cross hatching, spacing of linear elements, weight of line, etc...
I also talk about key concepts such as repetition, pattern, contrast of colours, colour harmony, balance of elements in a composition. These require an explanation in it's simplest form so that the young minds can grasp what I am saying. I achieve this by drawing an example on the chalk board or pointing out a particular concept by showing them a famous work of art and how it illustrates and incorporates this.

I explain to them that what sets printmaking apart from other types of art approaches is the ability to make multiple images from a single source.

Challenges are discovered though the application of ink onto a surface (either too thin or too thick) and determining the correct amount of pressure to apply when printing using hand rubbing or stamping ( not enough yields a spotty print or too much pressure and you get a blob with no details).

My visits have been limited to less than one hour. This has forced me to deliver projects that can be accomplished either in one visit or in stages over several visits. It means I have to set up materials ahead of class and not dwell too much on discussion but give students engagement time to be creative.