a doodle and an intaglio print

top one is the intaglio print in browns with

added watercolour

the face another doodle in ink on acetate...



a quick doodle before

a quick pen and ink doodle on synthetic paper

before chaining myself back to the etching press

to continue work on the Venice intaglio print

old door on Venice revisited

the top image is one of my favourite watercolours

and I have never quite worked out how it happened.

As I was messing with textures for printmaking

I realized they would suit the old walls and doors

of Venice that I like so much- the lower image is

part of a drawing for an intaglio plate I am

hoping to print this weekend - probably in

reddy browns 

texture test sheet

still messing with ways of getting textures

for printmaking - I like thegraphite powder

in gum arabic- on left third down! 

nude

ink on synthetic paper -

again playing with textures that might

make for an interesting intaglio print

making marks

just doodling around trying to find marks

that might work well in printmaking...

this small invention is in ink and

watersoluble graphite on synthetic paper

akua inks

am starting to do some printmaking -

really to see if I can get used to using Akua Inks

which are waterbased and interesting

http://www.waterbasedinks.com/

the base images are solarpates (intaglio) and the colours

rolled out on plastic squares then rubbed back

to get different tones etc (relief or monoprint)

the figures have two coloured plates added

and the murky harbour  three....

I think I need to rethink the first plates

in this porcess and make them simpler and

more contrasty

a rough nude

I have always been drawn to female beauty-

in my dotage I want to try and get a free

of my interest in likeness and accuracy.

Perhaps looking for a bit more creativity?

done with

probably need to stop this one now....

pen and ink start

this is in pen and ink on draft film...

I feel there is a lot more work to

be done on it but I am done for today!!

ink on drafting film

thought I should start some drawings on

a transparent base so I can expose them

direct onto solar plates for prints...

this pen and ink on drafting film

photoshopped

this is the last drawing after a mess around

in photoshop - a guitly pleasure for me

might make a decent A3 digi print

study for print

strange that a blue and white jug has been

entering my creative thoughts recently so

I bought one and this is the first study

to include it.....

along with my favourite table cloth....

the still life bits in pen and ink

and then the figure added digitally

from a recent drawing....

this is a study for a print which will be

either a photolitho with relief/monoprint colour

or a solar print with ditto 

some changes

another unfinished unresolved study

in pen and ink on synthetic paper......

I think it is time to concentrate on

printmaking for a while and want to

use some processes that allow for a 

rougher experimental result......

will work with models at times but

I might be about to bore you all to pieces.

i can do mess better than most......

back to pen, ink, paste and synthetic paper.

This got into an absolute dog's breakfast

and still may be a bit of a cat's lunch

whatever all that might mean....

Z*ACRYL polyester plates

I recently mentioned an interest in

polyester plate lithography - but felt that

the commercial plates I was using were a bit

crude and limiting......read about

Z*ACRYL D2P plates so got some from

Intaglio Printmaker in London...

did a simple photographic plate without 

any tests etc and the result is above..

the plates are lovely and sensitive and

ink quickly...

then did some doodles using various

suitable drawing media....

again the plates inked easily and I was particularly

interested in how easily the biro doodle printed-

as did the Future floor polish and dilute

screen filler......

but I can imagine how easy it will be working

direct from a model drawing in biro on these plates

then printing small editions of the better ones

The top image was printed on dry Arches 88

and the photo image on damp Hahnemuhle etching paper.

http://www.zacryl.com/ppFrame2.html

todays unfinished ink

so far so good, as they say...

trying to decide whether to do

something more dramatic for the dress

a bit more paste

a bit more work on this image -

added the dress just to try out

the paste mixture...

even if I don't like the dress

I like the texture I got

amazing what you remember at 2:55am

I had vague memories that John Sell Cotman

used to use flour paste with his watercolour

during the later stages of his career -

not really anywhere as breathtaking as some

of his early work ...

and I have been trying ways of getting brushstrokes

in the ink drawings... so tried this out

and though the dress shape is a bit heavy

that and the lighter marks behind the face are

a paste mixture... it takes pen work on top

ok and is tougher that ink and gum arabic

ink doodle on synthetic paper

a quick play with pen and ink on

synthetic paper....

effects in the hair by scrubbing ink with small

hog hair to take advantage of slick surface.

sometimes get more pleasure from these trifles

than the main course!

polyester plates over the years

about eight years ago I read George Roberts

book on using commercial polyester litho

plates for hand drawing and printing....

every year or so I would take out a plate and doodle

then print then put the plates away....

 (top plate) I have gotten interested again...

and tried masking film as a stencil to find it bonded

with the plate and refused to remove itself

hence black areas.....

Basically you draw direct on plate with greasy

medium, damp the plate, roll with litho ink

and print.... good and direct  ....

I want to try one or two colour experiments

It is hard to get half tones and shades

but the simplicity of the process attracts me.

I keep a book with all my recent printmaking

experiments so the lower examples are from that..

It is possible to do photolithography on these

plates so that opens out the possibilty of

mixing photographic images with handdrawn.

done

I think I have had enough of this for the

time being!

pen and ink a bit further

it's always interesting how quickly

the image starts to emerge -
thats enough for today I think!

a start in pen and ink

once or twice good folk have asked me about

my working processes, so I thought I would

try and keep track of how this pen and ink would develop .

The secret is that I have no idea how work

happens and it is a matter of luck whether it

will end up decent or other wise, but I do

know that the start should be messy enough

to panic me a bit - it should give me

something to fight against....so in that light

so far this pen and ink is a success!