tools

I have decided that it is better to buy just what I need and not to stock up on art supplies, especially if they are “perishable.”

It is hard to resist a sale. Hard to not up the online order to get free shipping. But if the ink dries out before I can use it then it was not really a savings.

I love ink in tubes. It is so easy to dispense just a little and they don’t dry out as fast as jars.

Sometimes I even cut the tubes and use every last drop.

With the speedball water based block printing ink I can cover the open end with plastic wrap and a clip and make them last even longer.

It is hard to make good prints with globby ink.

Is your studio filled with:

• things that you love and use
• things that inspire you
• things that you might use
• things that you have had for years and not used yet?

No judgement here.

When I look around my studio I realize that I have a lot of all those things. My plan is to get rid of the “might use” and “had for years” to create space for what I do.

This desire also informs my buying decisions. Because when I throw away dried up and unused supplies, if feels like I am throwing away money.

Off to sort through the good, bad and the ugly in my studio.

 

I love back to school supply sales.

I love buying note books, markers, glue and gadgets for art making.

Here are some of the school supplies that I stock up on at this time of year and what I use them for:

1. Composition  notebooks – daily journalling
2. Erasers of all sizes – carving into small relief blocks
3. Page protectors – storing stencils and surface for drying stencils with wet glue
4. Plastic binder folders – stencils to use for screen printing
5. Pencil head erasers – stamping circle and soft erasing
6. Copy paper – practice prints, newsprint pickups, and sketching
7. Big glue sticks – collage and piecing together prints
8. Crayola Markers – quick color sketches
9. Sticky notes – tiny sketches, to do lists and labels for sorting prints
10. Index cards – printing on, idea sorting, sketching
11. Push pins – piercing sewing holes in handmade books, hanging work to be admired.
12. Little scissors – cutting little things
13. Bull Clips – hanging art work and inspiration, holding pages together while making books
14. Pencil sharpeners – for nice sharp points
15. Manilla file folders – making stencils, organizing stencils and prints.

If it is back to school sale time where you live, you might want to get some good deals on some “art” supplies.

Looking for a bit of ART SCHOOL?

Join us in an online class – check out the current offerings.

 

I found a few new tools at Extra’s for Creative Reuse this week. I had my eye out for blocks with clean raised edges and patterns.

Above you can see I did some test prints on dry cotton fabric, with screen printing ink. I am quite happy with how crisply they printed up.

If you are hunting for found object rubbing plates, look for:

• level blocks
• strong raised marks or patterns
• sizes that you can easily handle

I used a stencil to make the flower shape and then the white rubbing plate to make the random interesting line. I like the ragged, frayed edge. I would like to figure out a way to use it in the final design.

I took a bookmaking class on Saturday at the University of Southern Maine – Making a Side-Sewn Book from Start to Finish With Stephanie Stigliano. 

We experimented with some simple marbling techniques. We used Suminagashi inks. But she also showed us how to size the paper with alum and water, let it dry and then india inks would work as well.

So I got some alum at the spice section of the grocery store and pulled out the old india ink and experimented. I had to size the paper by wiping it with the alum and water mixture and then wait for the sizing to dry.

I used:

• a recycled plastic tray for the water bath
• diluted detergent as a dispersant
• two small paint brushes
• various print papers
• Arches worked the best and I am not really sure which arches paper it is.

I enjoyed the process even though most of my prints “failed.” So I have ordered some of the suminagashi inks and I look forward to experimenting with them.

Even though ink was not sticking to my paper, I was learn about how to use the brushes and very gently touch the surface and create designs.

I am soaking some new leaves and ferns in a glycerin and water bath. Just mix 2 parts water to 1 part glycerin and fully submerge fresh, strong leaves for a five days. The leaves absorb the mixture and stay flexible for a long period of time.

They do not last forever, but they are much more pliable and make better stencils for making prints with the gelatin plate.