Wanderlust 2024 - weeks twenty-five to thirty-two - Printmaking

I was looking forward to this theme of the Wanderlust 2024 course and I have enjoyed it. The first week included some rust dyeing which I had not done before, so that was an interesting start.  We incorporated the images into the page.  There was also making a printing block using crumpled packing tape and doing some gel printing.  The focal image was a print from a polystyrene tile which we incised.  I was pleased with how the page came together. 

Week twenty-six was all about carving our own stamps set and we had to create three squares which would be printed over each other.  The next thing was to print a repeat pattern which I found a bit of a challenge and I didn't get it quite right on the finished page, but I still like the end result and enjoyed carving the three stamps.  

I went full on grunge with my next page, using household objects to print on a gel plate.  I used a few lids and a plastic cover from a plug, as well as some bubble wrap.

Creating fern prints was the focus of the next week, using the fern leaves on a gel plate as well as using the leaf as a stamp too. We then had to cut the prints into strips and weave them. 

Making our own foam stamps was the next focus and I liked adding the bright neons to this page which is one of the most vibrant I have made this year.

Making transfer prints from photos and magazines was the technique here.  The photo which I transferred onto a book page (on the left) shows three of my great uncles, around the time of the First World War.

We had to find a photo of a person which appealed to us for the next week. I chose this girl as I like her attitude.  Once she was cut out of the background, we had to fill it in with descriptions of ourselves - Chris provided the words for mine.  We could then add colour to the image and other details as we wanted to. I really enjoyed this page and using old photographs.

For the 'artful musings' week, I chose to create a grid showing some of the techniques I have been using during the course this year.

Our next theme is 'Drawing' so it will be interesting to see what is featured and how I get on.

Collagraphs - a simple version

I enjoyed the Wanderlust Live weekend at the beginning of September where teachers from next year's course gave us some tasters of techniques and journal pages we may be doing.  I decided to make a little journal with an example from each teacher.  I was particularly taken with the simple collagraph with Claudette Hasenjager.    

I had made collagraphs (colla meaning glue and graph meaning draw) before, when I did my Foundation in Art and Design course.  These are plates made using collage with different textures, varnished (with shellac in my case, I remember) and then inked up and printed using a press.  As the press squashed a little more detail out of the materials with each printing, they were a limited use plate, which I liked, as it made each version more special.  I really enjoyed the process  although it was quite a time consuming one to create the plate, then varnish it, wait for the first layer to dry then varnish it again.  However, I was really impressed with the end result and the detail that was captured using simple materials, such as tin foil. (I enjoy all of the printing processes I have tried so far - lino printing, collagraph, simplified screen printing, block printing, hand carving my own stamps and printing with them, and monoprinting, using the gel plate).

Here are some photos of my collagraph from the Foundation in Art and Design course. This was the original photo I used to create my collagraph.

I then traced the image and reversed it for the plate.

This is the plate - I cut into the surface to create the dark areas, then used foil, string, paper and card to add the texture.

This was the first print, which worked really well.

This was the last print where you can see how much detail has been lost.  It was really interesting looking at these again after fourteen years since I finished the course!

However, during Wanderlust Live, we were shown a simplified version which was created on cardboard, using self adhesive foam, string and lace.  I don't have any self adhesive foam, but I did have ordinary foam, which I used instead, sticking it to the cardboard base with pva glue.

Here is the plate ready to be inked up with acrylic paint.  It is much bolder and with less detail than the collagraphs I made on my art course.

Here is the print on the left and the right hand one was coloured with watercolour.  I was really pleased with how these turned out and with  the detail from the different materials. I would like to try other designs using this technique as I think more detailed images could be created with finer cutting of the foam.

More gel plate printing

 I have had a project in mind for a while and having been inspired, I finally started working on it, using my gel plate, which has been somewhat forgotten recently.  It was time to get it out again!  The first thing was to create some layered backgrounds on tags.  I used a mixture of opaque acrylics and iridescent ones to add some interest.  I was trying to make a rust-type background for three of these and the fourth was darker blues and purples.

These were some of the ghost prints I created during the layering process.  (Ghost prints can be used to clear the ink off the gel plate in between colours.)

 Sometimes, you get some really interesting looking prints...

 or interesting patterns...

 This print has gel prints and areas where I was cleaning the brayer (roller) in between colours.

 I do like the texture that the gel plate can provide too.

 I was also cleaning my stamps on this page too.

 I also watched a Youtube video on tape transfers using the gel plate and knew I needed to try that.  Colours are layered onto the plate and each layer is left to dry, then stamps, stencils, acrylic paint pens etc. are used to add patterns.

 When the paint is completely dry, you place sticky tape over the plate, make sure it is well pressed down and lift it off.  It brings all the lovely patterns you created off in a strip which can be stuck down to paper.

I stuck mine onto music pages and book pages and was so pleased with how they turned out.  I did find that iridescent paint was not the best for the layers as it took a while to dry and then came off the plate before I wanted it to.  Also, I stamped one set in dye ink, which didn't work as well as stamping with acrylic paint.

I really like these and will use them in my journal.  I am going to make some more and also I will finish the tags in the first photo too.

More creativity... cards and playing with the gelli plate

 I have been continuing with card making (just as well because I have amassed a large stash in a relatively short space of time) and have made a few more cards including thank you, get well and hello.  I like to decorate the envelopes too.

 This was made using a two layer stamp which gives a lovely result.

In my other news, I have discovered the joys of a Gelli plate.  This is a polymer based gel printing plate which can be used to make monoprints.  They have been about in the crafting world for many years, particularly in America, but, as usual, I am a bit behind the trends.  I watched lots of videos on the internet and decided that I needed to get myself a plate and have a go.  I have always enjoyed creating prints, whether these were monoprints, screen prints or lino prints, so I knew I would enjoy this.  Acrylic paints work really well with the gelli plate and distress inks can also be used, so it can cross into the papercrafting and card making too (hoorah!).

 Here are my first attempts, using marks, bubble wrap, stencils and stamps, in my favourite cool blues.

 I like the way the gel plate gives you a positive print and then what is called a 'ghost print', which is a negative sort of image.

More mark making and bubble wrap.

 Bright and bold colours blended on the plate and then stencils, bubble wrap and marks again.

 This is the ghost print.

I really liked the smudginess of this print which was actually a 'cleaning up the roller' waste piece which I put the stencils onto to remove most of the paint and then used a baby wipe to clean them - the baby wipe caused the slightly smudgy look to the stencil.  This is one of my favourite prints and wasn't even a 'proper' print. So often the way!
I have been watching more 'how to' videos and have been taken with some layered prints using more sophisticated colour mixes than I have used so far. 
I really like the process, it is fast, some great effects can be created and it is easy to clean up, so I shall be enjoying lots more playing and creating over the next few days/weeks/months.