[BKARTS] Watercolor monoprints

["Felix E. Tebbe" <felixpress@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all—

I used the mylar method w/ a few changes—

1. used toothed mylar,

2. roll out some watered down (slightly) gum of Arabic w/ a roller & let dry. Then paint w/ normal watercolors on top of the gum. The gum layer should be quite thin but thick enough to cover the surface of the mylar. 

The mylar is great b/c you can take it anywhere to paint. And the tooth of it puts some texture into the imagery when its printed. It's to remind the viewer of the tooth of a litho stone. Doesn't trick us experts, but, it's a nice addition.

I always found the surface, on top, of the gum, after printing to be a bit off-setting & would finish off the drawing w/ some graphite, more water color to punch the saturation, or some pastel. Of course, this wasn't "see-able" by the naked eye–just the material-sensitive eye. 

Good luck.

It's a definitely fun & easy method for printmaking. I used it a ton for life-drawing & fromage (rubbings) when I didn't have access or the cash for real sub-straights, i.e., before grad-school.

felice

Felix E. Tebbe

Booklyn Artists' Alliance

37 Greenpoint Ave, 4th fl

Brooklyn, NY 11222

felix@xxxxxxxxxxx

felixpress@xxxxxxxxx

o. 718-383-9621

c. 917-599-7301

On Mar 3, 2007, at 12:00 AM, BOOK_ARTS-L automatic digest system wrote:

The other method (I haven't used this, but I have watched it in action) is

to used mylar as a substrate. Mix the watercolor and add a couple of drops

of liquid dish soap. This helps to keep the watercolor on the surface of the

mylar. Printing is the same as above (note: the obvious difference is in

substrate profile, the latter leaing much more embossment than the former).

It seems to me that layering works better with the plate. A lightbox comes

in handy when working on the plates. Registration is a snap as the matrices

are transparent and can be laid on top of one another during the "drawing"

stage to determine how well the imagery lines up.

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