Showing posts with label Akua Ink on paper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Akua Ink on paper. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Inspired by Degas and Becker


Light on shoulder, Monotype Akua intaglio on paper , 10 x 15cm

Light on Hip, Monotype Akua intaglio on paper  10 x 15cm

I am reading the book from the MOMA exhibit in NY, A Strange New Beauty, (which is a catalogue with essays about a show on Degas' monotypes) after receiving a postcard about the exhibit from a friend. I have always made monotypes this way but seeing Degas 'experiments' has made me want to explore my method and beyond anew. I used a toothbrush, a rag, Qtips and the back of my brush to make marks.  I forgot my brayer , my water bottle and my release agent when I went to my life drawing group so made do with what I had and rubbed the back of the paper with a wooden spoon.  I made a few other prints, but these were the most satisfying and successful.  They were both drawn 'backwards' so the resulting image is as I saw things.


Afternoon light on birdbath, Monotype Akua intaglio on paper with pastel, 10 x 15cm
In the afternoon, it was splattering with rain so I stood under the front porch with my plein air easel and my water-based ink.  I couldn't find the release agent (I have now) or the transparent base but I did have my brayer so I worked removing the black to indicate the light. I worked backwards and had to move the flower beds a bit closer than they really are to I could get it all on the plate. In the evening I added some pastel and returned to it today when there was a bit of sun.

I've joined a group: 'Inspired by Becker' http://ibbas.co.uk and want to make a seires of works capturing Suffolk light in the landscape with energetic marks.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Exploring the rectangle

A few nights ago I woke at some ungodly hour and had one of those 'eureka moments'.  I realised that there was a way to feed my over-arching interest in breaking up the space of a rectangle with areas of colour and my need to work in lots of mediums and ways simultaneously that might not end up in an amateurish mishmash.

What if I hone in on motifs that break up the space in ways that remind me of what I like in my fused plastic collages and use those to draw from. Once I have a drawing I can use it as stimulus for whichever medium I feel the urge to work in.  It makes things simpler (eliminates lots of motifs) and hopefully will give me a body of work that holds together.

I took lots of photos in just that way while in Somerset and my home and studio are rich with material.  Today, to begin the theme I projected a photo of a hallway of a house we stayed in in Somerset on the wall of the studio and set up my drawing board some way away.  I tried to think of the rhythm of the place.  I wanted to get lots of information so I could make choices later. I was documenting the space first. I looked at Annabel Gault and Emily Nelligen.
I didn't want to use local colour as a starting point when I began my follow-up monoprint.  I looked at some Deibenkorn and tried to keep the rhythm idea and to select harmonious colours that would play in the rectangle in a believable way.  This was the first Akua Ink print made with wet paper in my new press. I rushed things a bit, because I was impatient to see how it would work. I am delighted with the intesity of the colour and can see lots of possibilities, even if this print is a bit lame. And I forgot to work backwards!
In a 2nd print (too awful to show), I used the ghost and worked with the leftover ink, working backwards this time.  I'm not too keen on the colours, cleaning brushes with Akua is a bit of a hassle and needs more determination on my part!