Stencil print for #SeeDrawPrint challenge

monotype print / /

Today for my 30 day challenge I cut a stencil out of a manilla folder of my sister’s dog. I reduced the size of the image to fit on a 3 inch wooden ornament.

dog stencil for quick printmaking

I cut is slowly with a sharp blade, being careful to keep all the interesting negative shapes in the ears, tail and legs.

hand cut stencil of dog on monotype

I used a circle cutter and cut some circles from my gelatin plate monotype prints. Then I stenciled the dog on the papers. Then I glued the papers to the wooden disc. I drilled a hole in the disc and threaded some ribbon through he top.

dog holiday ornament

Want to learn how to stencil the “JOY” ornament get the FREE tutorial below.

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Thermofax screen print of stylized leaf

monotype print / /

I have extra time to print and play, so I did a few drawings of some stylized leaves and turned one into a thermofax screen.

leaf drawing for screen print

I think the SEE part of my 30 day #SEEdrawPrint challenge is about seeing the everyday stuff with artist’s eyes. I hope to notice things that I would not normally.

Thermofax screen of leaf drawing

A thermofax screen is created by placing a carbon copy against the emulsion coated screen mesh and running it through the Thermofax machine. The machine “burns” the emulsion away where the carbon is and creates a screen for printmaking.

It is a great way to get a detailed line drawing matrix. I bought the machine about 4 years ago and thought I would use it a lot more than I do.

screen printing fabric with thermofax screen

I did a random all over pattern of this abstract leaf on a flour sack. FUN!

Leaf print on fabric

 

 

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Dry point etching – winter tree

drawings / /

Today, I was inspired by the trees that are loosing all their leaves. I did a small 4″ square sketch and reduced it a little so it would fit on my plexiglass plate.

dry point etching on plexiglass

I reversed my image with the “window light box”. Then scratched in the lines. This image was a good choice for this method of printmaking.

Pasta machine printing press

I dampened some masa paper and some rice paper. Using Akua Intaglio, I inked the plate and ran a few prints. I have not done this process much. The “pasta machine press” is small and the 4″ plate has to be eased out the bottom.

winter tree dry point intaglio print by linda germain

This process is not how I usually work. I have to wear a mask, because I am sensitive to the inks. The inks are messy and harder to clean up than the speedball water based block printing inks. But all the same, I had fun with the experiment.

Day 4 of my #SEEdrawPrint challenge and I am already trying new things. The drawing is the hardest part of the challenge for me. I usually make marks with found tools and stencils. If you would like a drawing tutorial then check out my drawing with Matisse lesson below.

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Trace Monoprint – drawing of my car

trace monoprint / /

I am doing a challenge #SEEdrawPrint for the month of November. Today I did a trace monoprint of my car.

drawing of car with sharpie

As with most forms of printmaking the image get reserved when you print it. So either you reverse the matrix before printing or you have a backwards image.

Well I made a discovery. If I draw the image with a sharpie, it bleeds through to the other side and I can use that side as my tracing matrix. It came in very handy when I was printing the words in reverse.

trace monoprint of car

I was pretty happy with this quick little monoprint. I used rice paper and speedball water based block printing ink. It is a Toyota Yaris.

Trace Monotype print of Toyota Yaris by Linda Germain

I did a little rubbing with my finger to get the gray values on the seats and the nose of the car. This is a good process if you want to just do one line drawing print of an image.

If you have not tried this process before then check out the weekend workshop coming in February.

 

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Beach rocks inspired print

relief prints / /

I love beach rocks. This past summer I collected some with stripes and circles in them.

beach rock inspired block for printmaking

So for day 2 of my #SeeDrawPrint challenge I drew out the the basic shape of the rock with the white circle on the edge. Then I transferred it to the eraser block and carved it out.

hand printed card with an eraser block

I printed a note card. I let the abstract stones tumble on and off the page. I did a ghost impression to get a change in value. And I let my design fall on and off the edges.

I thought about adding words to the card, but decided against it. I thought the words would then become the focus and take sway from the stone shapes.

Now to the average viewer, she may not know that it is a stone, but that is ok with me. I like the block as an abstract mark anyway.

Note cards can make good gifts – join us in the new online printmaking class – Printed Gifts. Get the online printmaking workshop details here

 

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