Print in Translation

The monotype workshop has encouraged me to spend a couple of experimental days in the print room. Would the marks achieved in one print medium translate into another?

Monotype gestural mark making



Etched gestural mark making



This etching was the exciting result of dragging the resist across the plate and then observing some of the monotype marks in aquatint. The mark making in the etching is a little tighter, but the length has made the gesture more emphatic. I'm very pleased with the scored lines in the principle mark, but this technique will need to be used wisely in the future:

Other people in the print room saw waves and plowed fields in the resulting image. For me it was the feeling of my hair getting snagged on a branch!

MiniPrint

Its been a busy couple of weeks sorting out and finishing a Mini print for the MA course at UWE. I have made an etching and printed it in a graphite coloured ink so that I am able to establish a firmer link between my drawing and printmaking work.

Many miniprints laid out for the final drying day



The finished print 'Steps' 11cm x 6cm,
named for Steps Lane, the subject matter of the print


The prints are made so that each member of the final year of the course receives a commemorative set of prints. Some prints are then archived with the university and the remainder are made available for sale to raise funds. This link will take you to the UWE page where you can see previous years MiniPrintcollections. www.uwe.ac.uk/sca/research/cfpr/MINI%20PRINT/index.html
The finished prints will be on show, and for sale, at a new venue this year - the Bristol branch of Foyles Booksop at Cabot Circus from Saturday 3rd December.

Monotype Mark making

I had a treat yesterday - a whole day playing with monotype - at a lovely workshop at the RWA led by printmaker Ros Ford. It was arranged by Bristol Drawing School who are now based at the RWA. It was a great opportunity to do a practical workshop in such inspiring surroundings - we were able to go and look at the exhibitions for inspiration as we worked.
It was a very productive day, this is one section of one of the walls of prints that were made:

The workshop was directed in avery experimental way, but Ros encouraged us to break through our safety zone which was just what I needed at the moment to keep moving me forward. I didn't come away with a finished piece, but I did leave with the knowledge of how to work with monotype and how to avoid some basic errors. I also left with a bundle of intriguing starting points and more of the fascinating mark making which I think will direct key aspects of my practice over the next year.

Here are some of the marks I was encouraged to make during the day, some of them are sumptuous, and were made using surprisingly basic drawing materials such as blocks of wood and bottle tops:





I like the fact that even if you try hard to write backwards neatly, it still prints with awkwardness about it.
Marks were made with a plastic fork (and spatula)