Part Two: Project Four – Experiments with printing and painting. Stage Two. Experimenting with techniques

Stage Two: Relief Printing

 The idea was Ok but the performance was abysmal. In order to have the relief printed on another surface  such as paper, ended up with more paint than it could handle by filling up the cracks, too thin and ended up very messy. Not enough thought went into the preparation. Next time I will be more cautious and be much clearer as to what I was trying to achieve.

Making images on the face of a potato when at primary school meant that I wanted to move on from block printing to something that I thought would be more expressive and creative – hence experimenting with the other option – relief printing. I did persevere however.

 Moving onto predefined templates where an image is cut from a cardboard square and stuck to another surface such as cardboard. The idea that by applying paint to the surface an imprint can be made on any other surface once or as many times as required and in as many positions as wanted. However I left the imprint on the base board too long and when I went to remove it, it was stuck and consequently had to be torn away ripping both the template and print a sunder. Never the less I can see that there are more possibilities arising from the ‘unhappy experiment’ next time don’t leave the print too long other wise the paint dries and…………………………. I can at least see some resemblance to the object I was trying to make a print out of.

 By hardening up the material used for the base board and for the relief, the outcome was more successful except that the spaces in between did not have enough paint and pressure to end up in the overall print. The varying heights of the bits and pieces stuck on the base board does affect the print. The flatter they are gives a greater surface to apply the paint and the more successful the outcome. The undulating surface is more applicable to moulding than block printing.

Stage Two: Block Printing

 Preparatory work for block printing involved making up a printing pad and selected cutouts.

The printing pad was a carpet off-cut with calico stapled to the surface and a computer mouse pad was used for the printing blocks. These were glued to thick cardboard and then to a block of wood. The shapes were more forthcoming than I had imagined for the reason that a simply drew a shape on the surface and cut it out with scissors. The balance of the shapes came from what was left of the computer pad. Separation of the shapes meant that I had a variation to choose from when printing them on to calico with acrylic paint. These are easy to make using recyclable materials and basic art and printmaking supplies, although I need to use a stronger all-purpose adhesive like ‘UHOO’ to apply the shapes and patterns as some pieces of textile fabric came off when the paints and inks were applied.

The following images were of a craft nature and provided an opportunity to explore and experience the outcome from block, relief and stencilling.The main emphasis was on the application of the process rather than focusing on the substance of the outcome – textile and fiber art. I have definitely had a change of mind set based on the idea/theme/expressive purpose as a consequence of talking to Penny of Bodkinz Ltd., (see Learning log – stage two.)

More work needs to be performed with changes to all the variables such as fabrics, art and fabric paints, textile and drawing inks. The images speak for them selves so that more samples will start to show better application and outcome with the various materials and mediums.

                                                                               To keep on keeping on with sampling each technique becomes so inquisitorial that I was held in suspense awaiting the outcome each time. Apart from the fluidity of the paint and the application by a small paint brush the incentive remains to continue the process by building on to each stage – time permitting. The urge to make good some form of resolution is incessant. Other ideas gradually evolve for example to elaborate in sketchbook mode and with either fibre of fabric. Patterns and shapes suggest themselves and just simply need working through.

Obviously transparent colours look much darker when wet than dry. Differences can also be noted between paper and fabric when wet and dry.

In the facial pattern the figures are tied together by the continuation of the diagonal lines formed by the hair piece and lower neck outline. The whole design has greater unity because the visual texture in the background adds more continuity. If the background had been a solid colour, the whole wouldn’t seem as unified. I like designs that confuse the viewer because the more equal the visual weight in the positive and negative figures if they evenly distributed then it is harder to tell which is which.

Stage Two: Hand Painting on Fabric:

 Changed over from calico to polyester lining and tried to apply textile ink to a lace template with the idea of the ink being transferred through on to the base fabric. Used a soft, long bristled and a hard, short bristled paint brush to apply the textile ink through the lace doily. Perhaps a roller would have been a better tool to use but my guess is that the polyester fabric was the problem in that it did not accept the ink being a synthetic thread. Next time perhaps a cotton fabric will be a better medium and recipient of the textile ink.

 The textile ink has not been diluted and applied as a thick paste. The surface area of the doily has soaked up much of the ink and allowed it to create marks on the fabric through the holes in the lace. Because the edges of the apertures in the lace doily are not sharp the image has appeared as blotchy but the design is reasonably apparent. Still needs some further testing and  variation of other types of fabric and textile inks. Definitely not as sharp as the image on a wooden block stamp – yet.