March 6, 2005 archives
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March 6, 2005
letterpress unbound!
by gl. at 11:03 pm
doing a workshop at the iprc probably prompted this, but i spent tonight finally unpacking the letterpress chas gave me over thanksgiving! three boxes later, and i have an almost-functional press and the use of one of my studio's kitchen counters again! i was thrilled to find two "new" rollers to replace the ones that had disintegrated, but dismayed to discover one of the "hook" arms to hold the rollers is bent in such a way that i can't pull it down far enough to add a new roller. i tried to bend it back, but this stuff is solid & old and made of iron or steel and isn't budging. i can't imagine what made it bend to begin with. so i'm stuck for a bit.
looks like i still need a brayer & a planer, too, but these aren't big deals at all.
getting rid of a lot of the letterpress clutter in the kitchen makes me feel less intimidated by the press (it's so cute!) and about the kitchen space. in general, we don't use the appliances very well in the studio, so they take up a lot of room i'd rather be using for storage. i'm considering storing the typecases in the oven. :)
posted by gl. | permalink | categories: printing, studio space
creata: directive vs. open studio
by gl. at 10:56 pm
not much to say: i've identified artist's way as a fairly directed activity, not just because of the book but because all the art sessions associated with them are detailed by me and are often designed with something particular in mind. i had never considered having an open studio session, though, and i might give that a go.
our directed activity was, essentially, to draw our happy place: i drew a summer night on the springwater corridor trail, with a full moon rising over mt. hood and a scarlet star twinkling in the sky. i was the only one with a night scene. :)
posted by gl. | permalink | categories: artist's way, classes & workshops
iprc: transfer printing
by gl. at 10:33 pm
i was 20 minutes late because i thought i was 10 minutes early, but all the techniques were demonstrated (and they are all reverse transfer techniques, so text needs to be mirrored first):
carbon transfer: trace item onto tracing paper using bold soft pencil. place carbon side down onto surface and burnish the image off.
crayon transfer: using water soluable crayons or possibly oil pastels or something of that ilk, color a block (or multiple blocks) on the -other- side of the image. place the crayon side down against the surface and trace the image.
ink blotting (mono print): use ink (or other mediums, but hurry!) on tracing paper over graphic. tape the tracing paper to the graphic and also to paper you want to transfer to, forming a hinge, then flip it over to the other piece of paper to "print" it.
oil transfer: add a thin layer of oil or acrylic or bodied ink on glass w/ brayer; a carboard frame bigger than your image but smaller than the glass; place paper on top of frame, place graphic on top of paper & trace it w/ a dry ballpoint or stylus. it should press the oil against the bottom of the paper as you draw.
ghost print: remove the paper frame from the oil transfer; press paper flat against the ink for the negative image.
heat transfer: color the surface of your graphic w/ fabric crayons, if you want. place graphic face-down against surface. set an iron to 5/6 (cotton) and press hard to transfer the graphic.
solvent transfer: place the graphic face down on the surface. add a small amount of solvent (like acetone -- fingernail polish remover -- or goof off, or a colorless blender pen, or citrisolve, the least toxic option) to a cotton ball & dab at the graphic with the cotton balls until the whole image has been moistened but not soaked. then burnish the image with a bone folder. (i've done this before and it never turns out as well as i'd like, but citrisolve worked great!).
caulking transfer: quickly paint clear caulk on a piece (this is especially good on a non-paper items like wood, canvas, etc), add your graphic face down onto the calk, let dry. when completely dry, soak the item in water to remove the original paper; the transfer will now live in the flexible caulk.
posted by gl. | permalink | categories: classes & workshops