Pigment prints on Hahnemuhle

You might remember that a few posts back it was my 200th post and a I gave away three prints to celebrate. Now that they have safely arrived in their new homes, I thought I would share them with you all.

They were pigment prints on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag using the imagery I developed for my book, "Judy and the Jacaranda". Although many of the components appear in the book, these prints are unique in bringing the imagery together on a single surface, rather than layering it on translucent vellum. These compositions also differ to a lesser or greater degree from the book.

 Spring 1, 2009

Autumn 1, 2009

 

Autumn 2, 2009

I’m planning to sell these as a limited edition, printed on A4 Hahnemuhle Photo Rag. I’m working on a new website with paypal facilities, but if you can’t wait, just email me at potsrme at hotmail dot com.

Self Portraits - finally in progress

I have been wanting to get to my blog for days now, but things just seem to be getting in the way. This is just a brief update to post some photos of my Self Portrait piece as it is in-progress.

I started on this work months ago and this is my first attempt at putting all the pieces together in a studio space and assessing how they are working.

Day 1

These pictures show the first stages of the work, which is one which involves allowing a particular process to occur in the gallery (if it gets that far). Above is the first day: a self portrait made from wet clay and an inkjet print.

Day 2

This image shows day 2, with the clay cracking and the print fading.

The work will be followed day by day to document the process it undergoes. Originally I intended to simply contrast the active process of the clay portrait with the stable, preservation of the waxed portrait (see here). Now I can see that documenting the entire process and perhaps binding it into a book would be a better option.

I have also done some digital photos of the clay process as you saw here.

Flag Book - maquette

This is a rough maquette of a flag book I plan to make as part of my masters. The white concertina spine will be blue sky in the finished book, and there will be imagery on the front and back outside covers as well. The next stage is to write the text, which will be on the back of the flags.

The concept for this book is based on the idea from Buddhist meditation that thoughts, feelings, sensations are constantly changing, drifting across the mind like clouds in a sky. To cling on to our states of mind is as futile as expecting the weather to be constant.

From what I have read, it is typical to make a mock-up or maquette of an artists book to help ensure that things like size and materials are consistent with the artists meaning. After constructing the middle section I realized that it would add to the meaning if the flags were attached to "sky". I also discovered my flags are too far apart for my liking.

I would really love to make this book in a large size (A3 or A2) to fit with the idea of an expanse of sky. That would mean having it professionally printed and to achieve the quality I want, I might have to apply for a grant to fund printing. I spoke to a printer yesterday about offset printing and they said they did not know anyone who would do such a small run - so that means I would have to send it interstate. Hhmm!

Inkjet and mixed media tests: Part 2

I have been reading the wonderful "Digital Art Studio" by Schminke et al. As the subtitle indicates, it explores techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials. I am searching for ways to incorporate my photos into my artwork and this book is a terrific source of technical know-how in this area. With the improvement in the archival qualities of inkjet print now available, there is no reason not to incorporate them into fine art projects.
A product they use in many of their works is InkAid. This is a brush-on medium which allows you to print on any surface which will pass through your printer without the loss of colour intensity or durability that is seen e.g. when inkjet prints are made on fine art papers. Sometimes the softer effect you can get by printing on say watercolour paper may be desirable, but at other times it is not. InkAid is the answer to this. BTW I have no affiliation with InkAid(!) I just think its a handy product.
It also allows you to print over collage or mixed media surfaces. This is the process that I have experimented with. I first printed a very low opacity version of my image onto watercolour paper to use as a positional guide. Then I added gesso and artists pencils to achieve a handworked texture. I then applied two thin coats of semi-gloss clear InkAid (my 1 litre bottle is going to go a long way!). When dry I ran the watercolour paper through my printer again, applying the image at 100% opacity this time. Here's the result - hopefully you can pick up some of the textural effects.

Next I thought I'd try a transfer as my initial layer rather than a low opacity print. I thought this would add more character and texture. Using Petitts method, I made my transfer of the sea over a print of the times. I love the rough effect at the edges but a lot of detail has been lost, as you can see (apart from the poor photo - sorry!)

Next I added gesso and artists pencils (below)

Finally I applied the InkAid and running through the printer to add the final layer. Unfortunately I wasn't happy with the result at all! As you can hopefully see from this detail shot (below), I lost the lovely rough edges (of course!) and the effect of the InkAid over the acrylic gel medium that I used for the transfer is quite plastic-y. It really doesn't work with the textural effects I was trying to achieve with the gesso. So... that isn't a process I will be bothering with again. Nevermind, you have to try these things to know.