Cricketts Inky Art Blot

I used my time at the studio today to add pattern to some of the print backgrounds that I had started earlier. Here are the patterns that I have added to the "blueprint" style background: Other patterns have been added to monoprints and monotypes. These prints will be a one off image as opposed to being part of an edition. Here is an example of a couple that I printed over today: Both have similar elements but will be completely unique. When I have completed the prints and paintings, I might post photos of one or two from start to finish. They all look very unimpressive in a randomly unfinished state, so it might be fun to have the process on one post.

Due to impatience, I was unable to wait until the prints were truly dry enough to overlay with more ink. I only needed to add white to the hour glass at this point, so I threw caution to the wind and printed. I think they survived the ordeal relatively unsmudged. I am particularly pleased with the slight 3D effect. I hoped that it would work, but results are inconsistent. The pace is pretty intense at the moment and I find myself pretty tired each night from printing by hand. I have considered more than once in the last few days, that it is time to think about buying a press. I usually find the labor quite Zen like, but it is a killer when there is a deadline!

Today we had a Wildflower Nada Dada meeting to talk about rooms, rules, publicity and suchlike. There were lots of new and old faces and by the variety alone, I can see WND will be a huge success. Before and after the meeting I did a little painting and printmaking. This morning, I painted a few cog like doodles in white over the canvas to help add pattern and texture. I used white for contrast, but this will be glazed in layers to blend out in a more subtle manner. In the evening after the meeting, I came back and printed. This tiny relief print was dry enough to add an additional 4th layer of color. I masked off a hand carved section of a matrix and printed it in a similar color to the timer. This is the mask and carving. In this photo, I am hand rubbing (with very sparkly nails!) the carved matrix with a small wooden spoon to get all the details. Here is the print so far with the carving added. Hand carving and printing is a slow process. I finally finished at around 12.30 Saturday ...

I had a great printmaking session in the studio today. I just finished cleaning up and see it is 13 hours since I started! Phew, I need a sit down!! Things were going well and inspiration was flowing. At one point I decided the boots I arrived in needed to be printed too. As my phone ran out of battery, I don't have photos of everything I printed today. I do have my boots here: I thought the pattern was suitably subtle! I printed a series of small (tiny!) backgrounds in similar tones to the painted canvas tones. I also worked on some decorative carving in lino for printing. After this I moved on to add a second colour to some rose prints. It was still quite warm in the evening, so I took a quick walk to take a break. I finished up with adding some background patterns in relief, over a few screenprinted monotypes: More to add on these later.

Spot prints on my canvas! I added glycerine to my paint to get this pattern to print. I will probably knock it down with some glazes once I have the subject outlined.

I'm giving the decorative cog carving a workout this morning. It is a little 70s looking, but I can live with that. I was thinking about those Klimt swirls as I carved and gold seemed the right color choice. First print:

I painted a background layer onto the recently gessoed canvases. They are fairly small pieces, but big enough to offer room for experimentation. I may try screen printing or even pressing a relief matrix onto the canvas.

I have printed the blue backgrounds by hand and will give them a few days to dry. I am not sure if the color will be too strong for overprinting or not. I am hoping for subtlety with the later layers. Here they are on my micro drying rack. I hope the rack grows up to be 5ft tall one day, maybe he needs more iron.

I have mixed a blue that reminds me of old fashioned blueprints. I am thinking of putting lighter blues and whites over the top to keep with that blueprint feel.

I don't normally include painting projects here, but I might be printing over my canvas to add some pattern. I stretched the canvas this morning and am putting the first layer of gesso down. I have some ready stretched and primed canvas' waiting in the wings. My intention with these canvas panels, is to treat them like a print. I will paint a background, print/paint a pattern or texture, then finish with a foreground detailed painting. They might be useless, or they may turn out ok, either way it is good to experiment.

Yesterday morning, I printed a few more backgrounds. I have some small green and Indian yellow backgrounds and threw in a few large maroon/brown backgrounds to experiment with. I am using speedball relief inks for this process.

I signed up for Nadadada 2012 at Wildflower Village earlier this week. I have been spending time sketching and playing with the colour wheel, coming up with plans for this exhibition that shows in June. I was originally going to paint a series of temples, starting with Stonehenge and ending with a Burning Man temple. Since playing in the sketchbook, I have changed my mind and will now probably do a mixture of painting and printmaking of a more frivolous nature. The scenery outside the studio window was very drab and grey today. The pond has now fully dried up and snow in on the forcast. Perhaps that will keep me in the studio working as I come up with my plans.