Burnishings Featured on a "Top 50" Bloglist

Wow! I was just advised that Burnishings has been featured on guidetoartschools.com in their Tips & Tools section of their website under their "50 Must-See Print Design Blogs". My goodness, I'm blushing.

Thanks for the nod!

Printmaking How To - Monotype

This month, Horsley Printmakers' Carol Nunan of Carol's Original Prints has requested that printmakers post a "how to" on their blog about monotypes in May. So I thought I'd take her up on her suggestion (a little early, whatever!). If you're a printmaker and want to do the same, make sure to link back to Carol's blog and send her a comment on her post so that she knows to add your link to her list.

Here's a clip from my website talking about monotypes:

These terms [monotype and monoprint] are often used interchangably; however, I like to think of them as completely different techniques. Both printmaking techniques result in a "one-off" image; you can never repeat that image. Some people have difficulty understanding how this can be a print if only one is produced, but it is the method of production that makes it a print. Probably the best description of the differentiation between these two techniques can be found in Monotype - Mediums and Methods for Painterly Printmaking by Julia Ayres:

"...the term monotype is used for work developed on top of an unaltered plate, utilizing its flat surface, while monoprint refers to monotype work that also includes elements of another printmaking process such as etching, woodcut, lithography, silk screen, and so on."

(Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991, page 8)

I use either watercolour or acrylic paints to produce monotypes. I paint onto frosted Mylar, and while the paint is still wet, I make the transfer by laying a registered sheet of paper over the Mylar and pressing gently by hand on the back of that paper. I repeat the process until I've completed the image. There is another method whereby you prepare the surface of the plate so that you can paint the image in its entirety, leave the paint to dry, then use a moistened sheet of paper to lift the image. I find this method more restrictive, but many artists prefer it because there is an added level of control to how the printed image will turn out.

Embrace, acrylic monotype

OK, so that's a basic outline of how I do it. The above print Embrace was created by painting acrylic onto frosted Mylar and transferring to the registered paper while the acrylic was still wet (i.e. really fast!).

I have my original sketch taped down to a surface, then I tape the Mylar (frosted-side up to paint on) on top of the sketch. I hinge the paper I'd like to print on usually along the longest side. This print was printed on a really heavy hot-pressed watercolour paper (I think Fabriano), and I quite like that surface & weight for doing the acrylic monotypes. I started with the lightest colours first (e.g. light yellow, light green), and work quickly, painting the acrylic on the Mylar then transfer the paint to the paper by flipping the hinged paper down on top of the Mylar and burnishing the back of the paper with my hand. I keep doing that repeatedly until I've got the final image I'd like. This sometimes requires that I let some layers dry a little first, but with acrylics, that doesn't take long at all.

Here are some other images that I've done that way:

Promise of Spring, acrylic monotype

Coming Storm, acrylic monotype

Bamfield Dory, acrylic monotype

As you can see, the results of monotypes can be extremely painterly. I remember my mother, upon being introduced to monotypes, thinking to herself "If I'm going to paint it, why on earth would I go to the trouble of the double work of painting then printing?!?" Then she tried it and discovered the textures that you can achieve only through the transference of paint from the plate to the paper support. You can't get those textures any other way: the surface tension breaking between the plate & paper makes for some wonderful textures that wouldn't occur right off your paint brush.

I do the same process with watercolours; however, I find the acrylics are easier to build bolder, brighter colours with. Here's a monoprint that started with a watercolour monotype to get the colours, then a block print on top for the black part:

Fraser Foreshore Morning, monoprint

This "working wet" technique, of course, is not the only way to make monotypes; it's just the way that I have discovered that I prefer. Here are a (very!) few other printmakers who use monotypes to create their work:

Bruce Waldman
Lori Dean-Dyment
Heather Aston

Thanks Carol, what a great idea. I look forward to seeing what other printmakers send you!

Print Mosaic Project - Work in Progress #6

I've been out of town over the weekend; while I've not been idle sketch-wise, I've not had time to post up to the blog. So here are some further additions for the print mosaic project.

One more for the Algae collection:

Algae pattern #4

and some variations on the Tubeworms (although these look a lot more like shells):

Tubeworms pattern #2

Tubeworms pattern #3

Tubeworms pattern #5

This one being especially in the spirit of the Zentangle process:

Tubeworms pattern #4

Print Mosaic Project - Work in Progress #5

So another thing that I'm really enjoying about this process is that I was feeling kind of stifled in my typical style: I was literally interpreting an image into a print. While there's nothing wrong with that, and I really do enjoy puzzling out how to get from start to finish of a reduction cut, I was craving a more abstract approach, but couldn't quite figure out how to get there.

I often manage to combine the best of both worlds: realism with abstraction. But I wanted to somehow introduce simplification into that abstraction.

This project is enabling me to be a little more creative: I'm starting with a very literal interpretation and breaking it down into a simplified pattern, and even getting to play with that original pattern to achieve various results in differing values. From there, it'll be broken down even further as it gets deconstructed and reconfigured in the collage process.

That, and I'm just having a heck of a lot of fun!

Here's today's contribution to the print mosaic project (6"x6" ink on paper sketch):

Tubeworm pattern #1

There'll be quite a few riffs on this one, I can already see it... stay tuned!!

Print Mosaic Project - Work in Progress #4

One of the things that I'm finding really entertaining about this project so far is that the images that I've used as a start for the patterns I've created can be looked at in a lot of different ways. There are so many natural sources that those patterns could have come from. The "Aggregate Anemone" sketches could be based on stoma (under the leaves of plants), cactus, limpets, etc. The "Tortoise Shell" sketches also remind me of the Bungle Bungles, a huge geologic formation in Western Australia. These "Algae" sketches could be based on algae, lichen, coral, all sorts of wonderful natural patterns. So you decide what you see in the end result!

These are 6"x6" ink on paper sketches for the print mosaic project:

Algae pattern #1

Algae pattern #2

Algae pattern #3

Print Mosaic Project - Work in Progress #3

More sketches (6"x6" ink on paper) for the print mosaic project:

Tortoise Shell pattern #3

Aggregate Anemone pattern #1

Aggregate Anemone pattern #2

Aggregate Anemone pattern #3

The (Potential) Pitfalls of Fame

Thanks to another Printsy member, I was pointed to an image that was featured on a recent Etsy Finds post, which looked remarkably like my Hibou here:


Somewhat surprised, I contacted the seller and expressed my concern that the seller's image was significantly similar to mine, could be construed as copyright infringement, and requested that they remove their work from their shop (and any other online location). The seller responded very quickly and very positively, and has not only agreed to remove the work from their Etsy site but have done so very promptly, and has apologized for any problems that it might have caused.

The only negative aspect to this exchange is that their opinion is that their work was influenced by Jacques Hnizdovsky, and that the image was more similar to his work than mine.

I can understand being influenced. It's entirely possible that the connection between my work and Hnizdovsky's could have been made here (and boy am I ever flattered to be even mentioned on the same page as him!), since when you find either of our owl images on Google Images, chances are pretty high that you'll find them via that blog post.

Obviously, though, I'm not the only one who thought that the seller's image and mine were remarkably similar, otherwise no-0ne would have thought to tell me, and it would never have cropped up as a potential issue.

So, I post this because of a few points that I'd like to make:

1. Artists, please be very, very careful where you garner your source material from. There are some excellent, fully open use reference photos available in various places, but make sure that the image you're using as your starting point has had all rights removed and that you're free to use it as you please, especially in a commercial aspect.

2. Being on the internet with your work has a lot of great advantages: look at all the people who see it that would otherwise be ignorant, since the only place it might otherwise live is in your portfolio in your basement (like my work!). And apparently, I've got enough connections out there now that people actually recognize my work as mine (who'd have thought!), so that's quite an advantage to having it "out there". Related to people being able to find your work easily is being able to buy it - if they can't even see it, how are they going to know that they want your work hanging on their wall?

3. Being on the internet with your work has a lot of potential disadvantages: someone else either using your work directly and claiming it as their own, or making copies and selling the copies without your permission, or creating a work based very much on your work, are all examples of that.

4. As artists, we have a right to our original work, and no one else does, without our express permission. But we don't have a right to be jerks about it. It's always worth taking as polite and careful approach as possible. If I'd flown off the handle right away, I think that artist could very well have not responded so positively. While I don't want this to go any further, I do like sharing my artistic experiences with my interweb friends, especially those that might help others in their own art or life.

5. Some artists feel that watermarking their work is sufficient protection. I choose not to do so: the software used to create a watermark is just as easily confounded by other software by those who are determined to make use of your work. You decide for yourself.

So as always, thank you to the many readers of my blog, and visitors to my various sites, who support my efforts towards my art, and who share your experiences with me. I think the advantages of the internet that I've garnered have so far outweighed any disadvantages. I deeply value the connections I've made with other artists & printmakers all over the world, through my work and my sites, so thank you all for the opportunity to get to know you all a little bit better!

Print Mosaic Project - Work in Progress #2

A couple more sketches (6"x6", ink on paper) for the print mosaic project:

Tortoise Shell pattern #1

Pussy Willow pattern

Tortoise Shell pattern #2