I find that making abstract landscapes builds design skills in a fun and responsive way.

Composition can be a daunting skill to “learn.” But I think it is a skill that is honed over time. It is part instruction and rules and part instinct and ideas.

This combination leads to unique style and expression.

I think testing out concepts like:

• value change
• division of space
• rule of thirds

leads to an understanding of what you like and don’t like in your artwork. This can lead to more confident self expression.

This kind of experimentation with design concepts is one of the reasons I like gelatin printmaking so much. Gel printing is fast and I can pull several prints that are very similar quite quickly.

And yet often my gut says I like one a lot more than the others. My design skills and preferences are guiding my gut. I can see how:

• a slightly different division of space is more pleasing, or
• how a strong dark mark makes a print pop, or
• how just the right amount of white space gives the viewer space to rest.

This type of comparison and slight variations is possible because I work on lots of prints at the same time. If I get a couple of really pleasing prints in one session of printing, then I call that a success.

Often the keepers are a combination of:

• skill and knowledge,
• evolution of prior prints and
• happy circumstance

If you would like to explore this type of approach to gelatin printmaking and skill building, then join us in Monochromatic Mountain Scapes, online workshop. This focused approach will take your gelatin printing to a new level.

Lately I have been making small gelatin prints. I wanted to use the off cut paper ends from other projects.

The benefits of working small are:

• Quickly seeing what works and doesn’t
• Using up and not wasting paper
• Learning to adapt to scale
• Needing less ink

I have been pulling Monochromatic Mountain scapes these last few weeks. Check out the details of the upcoming online class.

I have been playing with how to divide the space into interesting shapes. This often involves going to far or too detailed and then over printing to simplify again.

I am exploring how to create a focus in these Mountain scapes. I have tried using moons in the distance and arching “branches” in the foreground.

Range of value is alway important to me. I find myself reclaiming light white areas and going very dark all the time. It is so easy to end up with a lot of middle gray values.

This kind of printing builds my design skills.

If you want to explore:

• Making Mountain Scapes
• Dynamic division of space
• Creating strong range of value
• Adding a focus

then check out the details of the online class, Monochromatic Mountain Scapes.

Today, I was walking on the beach and I noticed the salt lines in the sand and thought that they resembled mountain ridges. I tried to take a photo, but the sun was too bright.

I am thinking about mountain ridges because I have been printing abstract mountain scapes in preparation for the upcoming online class.

Then I noticed the way the slopes of the shoreline and the hills of the sand dunes created ridge lines too. Again what I saw in my mind was not really captured with my camera.

Maybe these everyday experiences are the catalyst for abstract art. Expressing, honoring this essence of a thing, place or happening in a very individual way.

I am sure other folks on the beach noticed different things about the beach this morning.

As artists, I think we:

• See and feel things others don’t
• Interpret those sights and feelings
• And then express them in a way that helps others to see and feel differently too.

What do you think?

If you are interested in making Monochromatic Mountain Scapes with the gelatin plate, then check out the details on the workshop page.

I find it freeing to work on several pieces at once. That way I can go with the flow.

And I can give each piece time to dry.

Having space to lay out the pieces in progress is important. Because I work small it is pretty easy to spread 5 to 20 pieces around the studio.

When screen printing I use a clothes line system.

When gelatin printing I use over sized pieces of foam core.

With book forms, I can usually get away with the 4 table tops in my studio.

Sometimes, I use the walls to admire work that is in progress or done.

If necessary, I have even used the floor, when I was in production mode.

Do you work on several pieces at once? Do you have special ways to expand your work space to accommodate drying pieces?

If you would like to explore binding prints or papers into books with a glued double fan binding, then check out the details on the workshop page. Class starts soon. This is a great way to use your piles of gelatin prints.