in the studio

I started this week finishing up before. After loading in 5 paintings at Angel Hair the previous week, I realized I needed one more piece there. So before is now complete and installed and ready for their opening tomorrow!

before, acrylic and ink on canvas, 40" x 60"

The rest of the week was spent working on monotypes for #printoctober. I switched at the beginning of the week from gouache to acrylic and have just about gotten to the right level of how much paint is enough, without being too much. It's a sort of fine line. The last image is a ghost print, which is printing what's left on the plate after a print is pulled. You can see there's residual paint to print, but the image isn't really there to be a worthwhile piece. It can be reworked with drawing or painting, and that is probably what I will do.

Other printmaking ideas to tackle: collagraphs, watercolor pencil monotypes, paper litho, inocut, styrofoam plate relief prints. And, a small etching press is on its way to my house so apparently more printmaking will be in the future after this month's #printoctober is done. If you are interested in seeing other printmaking, I recommend you check out the #printoctober hashtag on twitter.

#printoctober: monotypes

Happy October! It's the beginning of #printoctober on twitter and I trialed a couple of monotypes at the end of last month. You can see them in last week's in the studio post. This is my official start for this project.

Here's my printmaking disclaimer: I am trying really hard to retrain myself to say monotype and not monoprint. I will probably use them both when I really mean monotype. A monotype plate has nothing on it that can be repeated in additional printings, and therefore each print is entirely unique. I don't know when this change in naming happened, but I have always called this type of printing monoprinting. Maybe I always used the wrong term. A monoprint has some feature, like an etched line, which can be replicated on each printing. To me, it seems like the names should be reversed, but no one asked me. I will try not be too confusing. You can read more about the history of montype here.

Anyway, it's sort of the anti-printmaking printmaking, because you cannot make an edition. They are all one offs. It's really drawing or painting but with extra work afterwards. On a small scale, it can be done without a press. And since I don't have a press, this seemed like a good way to start. I'm using a glass plate, which I pulled out of a picture frame. The first one was chipped on the side and these things do show, so I dissembled another frame so that I have potentially pretty prints for this month's project. While I am sticking with the #art365 concept, I am not promising to print everyday, but I will try to do it as often as possible. I have a collagraph idea that I want to try out, too. So this month there will be some experimenting.

I pulled three prints today. The first two were done with gouache and the third was done with acrylic paint with an extender. I am using damp watercolor paper. Gouache can be reactivated but acrylic is done when it's dry. I like the look of the acrylic one the best, but the drying time is going to be trickier. I've got pics of the plate, the print, and the plate again, post printing, for each one. The post printing plate pics are bad, but I didn't check them til the plate was already cleaned off for the next print. ( A small lie: I didn't actually clean the plate between the first and second print. You don't want to know how infrequently I clean my paint brushes while painting. Don't pick up my bad habits. )

See how narrow that yellow was on the plate compared to how wide it is on the print? Heavy paint oozes when it gets smooshed. On the plus side, I did get quite a lot of the gouache to transfer from the plate to the paper. 

So, better this time. That skinny little line stayed skinny. And most of the paint transferred, but still sort of not enough of it was on there in the first place. I did water the gouache down just a bit. I'm using cold press watercolor paper and you can really see the texture of the paper on this. I need to buy some printmaking paper. (Just remembered I have a ton of printmaking paper, which I have been schlepping around for over 20 years. true story.) 

This last print is acrylic paint with an extender about 50:50. I felt like the yellow stripe would have been better if I could have let the rest of it dry first, but that wan't an option with acrylic. I am also thinking that rolling it out on the top and bottom halves then wiping away a borderline (aka subtractive printing) to be painted back in might work.

I'll be posting daily any prints I do on facebook, twitter (with the #printoctober hashtag) and on google+ (which is my usual MO for the #art365 project) and when I try something different or if I do something brilliant, there will be blog posts for those with behind the scenes pics. If I get really ambitious I may film one day.

Have you tried monotype? What did you use for ink? Did you have a press? If you've done it, let me know what did or did not work for you.

in the studio

This week has been another long week. Began by starting a new piece! yay! This has to be done in the next couple of days because it's getting installed on Wednesday...no pressure. Here's a bit of the evolution of the piece. buh-bye roots and growth, say hello to before.

how do I get back to where I was before?

Someone on twitter decided that #drawingaugust (which I missed doing but enjoyed checking out) and #paintseptember really ought to flow right into #printoctober. I signed up. I've been thinking maybe to get back to it. The chances of me doing this without some sort of challenge are pretty slim. I have no press. I can't find my brayer. Or my woodcut tools. (which I never liked anyway) And the idea of doing one print a day for a whole month is really unlikely unless I go the monotype route, so I trialed one of those. The top image below is the plate on the left and the print on the right. The lower image is the following day's work. I repainted the plate and pulled the print from the floor so I could apply more pressure on it. More coming about this next week.

Also this week, History Repeats came down from Intrigue Spa in Dyer and all the newer paintings went up at Angel Hair in Griffith. before will be heading there next week. Once I finish it. Before Wednesday.

in the studio

I still haven't managed to get back to drawing. Still working through #art365 landscapes to finish out twitter's #paintseptember.  All these new pieces will be able to refresh the Intimate Persuasions show at Paul Henry's Art Gallery, for the closing in November. And I still need to pick one to send off to the twitter art exhibit. These are all 4" x 6" so that I can choose from one of them for that. And while I'm not displeased with all of this, I feel like things are on hold. 

fall is coming

early oaks

autumn fields

fall prairie, afternoon

variations on a theme: fall prairie

equinox

This coming week I also have some art swapping to do at local venues. history repeats will likely be coming down from Intrigue Spa and something will be going up in a new business in Griffith. Still working on what exactly that will be. Either pastels from the Gary show or maybe new paintings.

in the studio

What a week! I almost forgot to post this. I am still doing small paintings for #paintseptember on twitter. I am determined to see that through. Still really wanting to get back to drawing, and inadvertently inspired myself this weekend while doing a couple of quick pear studies on reclaimed paper. I think I need to revisit the domesticity mixed media work I was experimenting with before I did the large scale work. 

So out of order this week, the first two are from this weekend. These are watercolor pencil line drawings, edged in acrylic, on previously painted canvas paper. The second piece is on a scrap which reads the ties that bind are strangling me and I can't breathe. These are going somewhere but I'm not sure where right now.

Earlier in the week, I did #art365 landscapes. These are all 4" x 6" because I'm still deciding what I want to send for the twitter art exhibit.

haze

studio view, morning

cloudscape

 

morning, eastward

pokeberry

haze and studio view, morning were both done early enough in the week to be included in the installation of Intimate Persuasions: Small Works by Dawn Diamantopoulos and Brabant Lenting. The show looks great and I look forward to working with Brabant again in the future. 92 of the #art365 landscape paintings were included. 92! Saturday's reception was great, and I sold 7 paintings, which is pretty amazing. My website has been updated for the #art365 pieces, and those still available at Paul Henry's Art Gallery are listed as such. You can see the whole collection here. Today, I was recognized and approached by 3 separate strangers who told me how much they liked my work. 

Feeling the love this weekend.

in the studio

This week was full of #art365 landscapes as I am now working through the #paintseptember project on twitter. A painting a day for the month of September. Big paintings are on hold right now. I am getting ready for Intimate Persuasions: Small Works opening Saturday. I've got a lot of figuring out to do, as far as what will be included. Adding in new pieces each week is counter productive, really. Oh well. 

This week began with 2 pieces based on a friend of a friend's photo. I was not actually in Vermont. Then a few of the prairie. insert is north of 80 heading east. pleasant view is a cemetery I visited on the road trip last month. Also this week, I made 5 small encaustic paintings. You can see those here.

west woodstock, vermont, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6"

treeline, proper road, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6"

goldenrod, acrylic on paper, 5" x 5"

sunflower prairie, acrylic on paper, 5" x 5"

insert, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6"

pleasant view, old lincoln highway, acrylic on paper, 5" x 6"

sunlit, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6"

Friday was the opening of TEXT:Louder Than Words at Studio 659. seneca was part of this show, and I didn't bring a camera, so I have no pics. I did meet another artist, Arlene Tribbia, who is also a writer. Two different people commented how much her work looked like mine. Unfortunately, her work in the show isn't on her website (and again I didn't take any pictures...) There is a lot of really good artwork in this show. The show is up through Saturday, September 28.

Next up: This week I'd like to get back to some drawing, as well as the continuation of #paintseptember. 

Intimate Persuasions: Small Works by Brabant Lenting and Dawn Diamantopoulos opens Saturday, September 14 4-9pm at Paul Henry's Art Gallery in Hammond. 

encaustics, part 2

Tomorrow was planned to be another encaustics play day, but through some Labor Day-no-work-on-Monday weirdness, we've all been thrown off a day. Although it should be a day behind and not a day ahead, but, whatever. So, encaustics happened today. I was not prepared for this so there are no work in progress pics. This also spares you from seeing the hideous mess I made on one of them. Incising will require a lot of practice and patience on my part. I made two attempts today and they both failed miserably. I just loaded the piece up with more wax and more wax and...I think I saved it, but was scolded for painting over it. What can I say? I really hated it.

today's first painting, 3.5" x 6"

my favorite of today's work, 2.5" x 3.75"

2.5" x 3.75

I thought the red was too harsh at first,
but now I kinda like it. 1.75" x 3.25"

the one I think I saved, 2.5" x 3.75"

Next time I am going to practice the incising. ugh.