"Psalm 100" (draft 1)

(draft 1)

Today's posting is the beginning of Psalm 100. That will remain the title for now, but as in Psalm 103:1, the title changed in the final. The first draft is always exciting because it is a new beginning and even I do not know what the final will look like. I have no preconceived idea so that I can remain open to what I see happening on the paper.

Even though I do not have a preconceived idea, I am thinking about design. Staying true to my artistic voice which is to contrast opacity, translucency, and transparency in my mixed media works, I have begun with transparency. The colors I chose were based on a mexican pot painted with these same colors. And I chose Speedball Printing Ink as my paint and brayers as the way to deliver the paint to the paper which is a full sheet of 300 lb. HP.  (The final will be 18" x 24")

The dark blue was blue mixed with a bit of black. The turquoise was right out of the jar. The yellow green was green plus yellow. The orange was orange plus a bit of the dark blue. I mixed all of these colors on a glass surface with a palette knife and added a lot of water to each pile. To make sure it was well mixed, I sloshed the paint around with my hand (wearing thin latex gloves.)

By diluting the color a great deal, I am insuring the transparency. Using 1.50", 2", and 4" brayers, I began to apply the paint to dry paper. Because of the size of the paper, I did need to make at least 2 applications of color in each stripe. It is easy to do with brayers since you can see exactly how to line it up with the previous application. My desire was to include static and dynamic lines while preserving some white areas. Those white areas will add a lot of sparkle to the piece.

My next step today will be to create some mono printed papers using the same colors you see today. I will also be adding some black mono printed papers. Using black plus white and color and in different saturations will cover almost if not all of the values on the gray scale.

Color may be the most emotional of the design elements, but contrast is the most critical design principal. So today I have introduced a contrast of line (static and dynamic), a contrast of hue (or color), and a small contrast of saturation. Tomorrow, there will be even more contrasts in these same areas with an additional contrast of texture.

Also notice that all of the bands of color go edge to edge which grounds them to the design space and creates many great divisions of space. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Mono Printed Rice Paper Over Text"

March 23rd Posting Using Todays Techniques

Mono Printing Techniques Over Text

For the next three days, I will be showing examples of mono printed rice papers and the possibilities that can be achieved. Today I am showing you (5) examples of basic ways to mono print and how the method and amount of paint influences transparency. I have also included a previous posting so you can see how some of this is used in a finished piece.

The supplies are minimal for these techniques which makes them appealing and they provide a wonderful entrance into the arena of design. You will first need a printing plate which is the surface you use to brayer out the Speedball Printing Ink. Glass is the hardest and best surface in my opinion. 

The most economical way to make a printing plate is to take regular float glass like you see in framing a picture and tape around the edges with masking tape or duct tape.  (This glass can be purchased in standard sizes from Hobby Lobby.)

You will then need a rubber brayer, printing ink, and rice paper. Not all rice papers are created equal so my suggestion is to use Shanghai which comes in a roll and can be purchased from Jerry's. This paper is extremely thin, but sturdy, and created for printing.

In the first example (number one), I used barely a 1/4 of a teaspoon and brayered the Black Speedball Printing Ink out as thin as possible. Much of the ink was then removed with a section of an old credit card and also a wide palette knife. (Metal Palette knives will do a better job of this.) You can then see how transparent it is judging by the amount of text you see.

In the second example, I placed at least 1/2 tsp. of ink on the plate and brayered that out and then removed parts of the ink with credit cards and palette knives. The corner of the palette knife was used to make thin gestural lines in the paint as well. You can only see text where the paint was removed.

In the third example, I added NO additional paint, but liberally sprayed the remains of the previous printing with water. This gives you very soft and diffused edges with very little text showing.

In the fourth example, I added NO additional paint, but sprayed the previous printing area on the glass with more water. This gives you a lot more transparency and a "dripping" and "watery" look.

In the fifth example, I printed the edge of the remains of the second print...dried it....and stamped with a hand cut stamp. All of the samples were then sprayed with acrylic coating....dried with a hair dryer and adhered over the text.

For those in my mono printing class this coming Saturday, I need for you to study the different edges that you can create and the amount of transparency you desire. It is absolutely necessary to pay close attention to the amount of paint used and the amount of paint removed before printing.

Tomorrow I will demonstrate some other types of paint removal and mark making. For those who wish to take this class, I am offering an additional session on Thursday, May 2. Just e-mail me for the details. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Growth"

(unavailable)

"The fire of affliction creates growth." There is a caveat to this quote. Affliction only creates growth when the right attitude is displayed. The result is phenomenal!

By keeping a strong color at a minimum...it will actually have more power in the piece. All of the colors in this piece are very transparent. They are some of my favorites. Manganese Blue, Green Gold, and Pyrrole Orange are all Golden Fluid Acrylics. In this piece they are mixed with Liquitex Pouring Medium to create the pour.

In addition to the transparent color, I also used line engravings printed on silk tissue paper underneath and on top of the pour. By using them underneath and on top of the color, more depth is created. The combined techniques of pouring medium and transparency gives a similar look of an encaustic without the hot wax. It's a great look and I hope you will try it sometime. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Skill"

(unavailable)

"Focus and practice equal skill." Another one of my favorite quotes is..."Wishing will not make it so". Only focus and practice will get the job done!

We have all learned that placing the focal point in the middle of the piece is never a good idea unless it is a vignette. The way the pouring medium flowed and the way the piece was cropped made all of the directional lines of the moving color go right to the center. Placing the focal point anywhere else would have been akin to moving the eye of the hurricane to the periphery. (no pun intended!) It would never work because the force of the "pull" of the lines is too great. So in this case...if you can't "lick"'em"....join them.

I hope you can imagine what that central image would have looked like if it were not transparent. It is so much more effective to use transparency whenever possible because it totally marries that image to the background. The viewer is still able to see quite clearly the total movement of the color.

Another reason this works harkens back to the traditional layout of many documents where there is a heading or seal and the lettering right below. Even the dark shape at the bottom acts as a border and conclusion to the piece. And there you have it....just a few more things to think about.

"Slow, Silent, and Invisible"

($40.00.....6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Growth is slow, silent, and invisible, and then the flower appears." Growth is all about process and most of us would like to skip the process and go to the reward. With flowers beginning to bloom, it is a great reminder that growth is slow, silent, and invisible. That's the process and no one gets to jump over that and experience the reward without the time, effort, and energy.

Echoes are those design elements that are repeated in some other part of the piece. They are very important in creating artwork because the eye has this insatiable desire to make connections. For instance, if there is violet in the piece, the eye automatically looks for other areas with violet. By echoing the color again (in this piece I echoed it again in the flower in a darker value). I also echoed the subtle curving line by writing the quote in a similar line created by the blue green line underneath the flower. However, if there is an abundance of detail and other things going on, a straight line of lettering is probably the best choice. Simply following the line of a shape can look contrived rather than convincing.

Other echoes can be created by having lines, shapes, and colors disappear and reappear. For instance, I created some erratic lines on the paper before the pouring medium and they are creating a subtle dynamic with their appearance and disappearance.

Another important reminder is to take your shapes from edge to edge which allows for more dynamic shapes than having something stuck in the middle of the design space. The flower, for instance, was placed so that the brown and blue green curving lines are connected to the flower and integrate well on those moving lines. The flower printed on transparent tissue is also better integrated because the blue green and brown colors can be seen right through the image. These are just a few of my design thoughts for the day and something else to ponder or think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Change Agents" (unavailable)

(unavailable....in the permanent collection of dee day)


"Words are just words until they are applied to life as change agents." There are bits of wisdom buried in books, speeches, and sermons that have appeared in my mind like neon signs. One of them I recall quite vividly from my own pastor...."If I haven't obeyed, I haven't listened." Ouch! That one hurt a bit, but it keeps coming to mind and has actually helped me at times when I needed to do something that was difficult, but right.

Transparency is one of those elusive things in art that artists everywhere have tried to incorporate into their layering process. In this piece, as in others, I have printed onto very, very thin tissue paper. It is difficult to find, but if you need just one word or line, you might try printing on removable tape. Just be sure you lay it down into gel matte medium on your piece so the bit of adhesive is not making contact with your paper. (Over time, it can eat a hole in your paper...but acrylic emulsions do resolve that problem. I thank God for them every day!)  Also, don't forget to spray your print with acrylic spray coating or it will rub off.

If you desire to see lettering or imagery, but want it to be imbedded in your piece, diluted gesso or acrylic glazing medium are good choices. You can add water to both of these products and apply thin coats (drying in between) with a sponge brush or credit card until the degree of transparency is reached.

For those persons new to lettering or layering, it may be difficult to overcome the fear of writing or adhering something over another image. There is a strong tendency to avoid doing that and place elements on a solid background instead.  However, it is necessary to realize that layering, especially transparent layering creates depth. And if the truth be known, all art work is lettering to a greater or lesser degree. Just a few more things to think about.

"Love and Friendship"

($40.00...6" x 6"...mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Transparency in relationship is a prerequisite to deeper levels of love and friendship." True intimacy requires not holding back. Hopefully, we all have a few relationships where we can "let our hair down", so to speak. These persons are rare. If you have more than one or two in your life, consider yourself blessed.

In this piece, I added another technique to my repertoire. I bought a set of Derwent Graphitint pencils. They are a water soluble graphite that yield neutral color when applied. They were used extensively over this photograph after I sprayed it with spray acrylic coating (3x). By first applying pencil marks where you want more of a color boost, followed by going over those marks with a wet brush, you can get the most subtle effects. The most obvious place where I used one of these pencils is in the neutral red heart on the right hand side. The berries were also given a boost with the same color. The set comes with 12 pencils ranging in various shades of grays...some leaning towards red, green, or blue.

The most obvious blue in the background was created by monoprinting with Caran d'Ache Carribean Sea Ink. Both of these techniques work very well with transparent imagery or any photo that has a lot of subtle color to begin with. Just one more thing to try or think about.


Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.