Back Drawing

So, here are a few back drawn pieces. The learning curve was slow then a big improvement when I read some fellow OCA student's blogs and learnt some tricks.

 My first two attempts. I had an inked up plate already used for mask experiments and just improvised. The ink thickness / weight of paper combinations will always require practice for every new kind of ink or paper.

This example was drawn from life. I find it very interesting that a simple drawing like this takes on a completely new quality in this context. If this was drawn in pencil it would be very plain. I think the uniformity of the value of the marks combined with the patches of accidentally transferred ink creates a new aesthetic.

These are the first of a series of experiments drawn from life of gourds. The second print used two colours. I did not let the first layer dry before adding the second so a fine layer of the orange stuck to the black creating an interesting effect. I drew on the back of the paper with pencil so it was easy to add multiple layers.

I next tried to do back drawing over a masked print. The same combination of ink and paper did not work because the ink stuck to the already printed areas very easily.

I used less ink and got better results here. I traced the outline on the back of the paper but these were not as well aligned as I hoped.

For these better examples I used a copy of a drawing to create the mask. I then used a copy of the same drawing as a guide for the back drawing, giving me better alignment and keeping the back of the paper clean. I used a very lightly inked plate that was quite dry and a ball point pen. I love the subtlety of this despite the simple design and now feel confident to use this combination of techniques in more complicated designs.

Masked Monoprints

I've made a lot of progress with these. After my last post I lost direction with this as I just wasn't improving. I did a lot of research but got nowhere. There does not seem to be an enormous amount of information around about monoprinting, maybe I'm using the wrong search terms. I drew some value studies of coral and made these masks. The first prints are on cartridge paper. The colour scheme was inspired by Matisse Beats of the Sea.

I cut 4 masks for this. I cut a separate mask for each coloured piece of coral, then a new mask for the negative print which was the shape of all 3 pieces of coral.

Same idea with texture added. The trouble with bubble wrap is that it will always be bubble wrap no matter how you use it.

 I discovered the OCA printmaking Facebook group. This has been a complete eye opener for me. I quickly discovered ideas that have transformed my work. The most significant of these would be Japanese paper. I was very fortunate that I could get my hands on some of this easily, which is not always the case here in Saudi.

These prints are so much clearer. This is the discarded positive mask from the print above used in a new way.

 Can you spot the bubble wrap?

The Japanese paper really takes the ink well, maybe a bit too well as you can see the marks from the brayer in this print. I'm going to get some softer brayers to try this negative print again.  I'm really pleased with these, I feel like I'm back on track again with lots of new ideas I'm working on.