Sunday 12 May 2013

Not much progress

Since being back at work I’ve not has the time to make much progress on anything creative.
Although last weekend I did take the day off to go to Printfest in Ulverston.

 
There was some interesting work on display. I especially liked the relief work of Jane Walker and Mark Pearce and the lovely expressive drypoints by Emerson Mayes. The technical virtuosity of the mezzotint prints by Martin Mitchell was amazing. 

I was lucky enough to get the last ticket for the demonstration by Ross Loveday. It turned out to be a talk about his work and career rather than a demo but it was interesting. 

I came back inspired and ready to get on with the prints for Lesley’s exchange. Unfortunately the weather improved and rather than spending the next two days thinking print I spent most of them painting the outside of the house.

This exchange has been a challenge. The more I doodle and try out ideas in rough the more I have come to realise that I think ‘long and thin’ rather than ‘square’. It’s good to be forced out of your comfort zone.
I’ve decided I’m going to etch and I’ve produced a few tonal sketches that  I may develop further. 


Although after Printfest, I’m contemplating completely changing my usual way of working and trying something much more abstract.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Jac. Stupidly, I forgot to follow the blogs of everyone in Lesley's print exchange until now. It's so interesting to read about your thoughts on the print swap when I've been going through exactly the same thing. Jane

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  2. Good luck with you ponderings Jac - I am sure the outcome will be a delight; quite excited by the thought of receiving them!

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  3. What a shame Ross Loveday didn't demonstrate the process Jac as I'd love to find a way to get carborundum to really stick to perspex and I could have picked your brains for the answer! Can't wait to be on the receiving end of an etching. I struggle with tone so it will be fascinating to see how you resolve it in a print.

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    1. The 2 plates that he showed us were cardboard and aluminium. He said that he painted on PVA then scattered on the carborundum.
      In a workshop at Hot Bed Press a few years ago the tutor showed us how they mixed system 3 white acrylic(he was insistent that system 3 worked best) with carborundum and then painted on the mixture, again onto aluminium (but if you sand perspex to give it a tooth the paint should stick, shouln't it). The amount of grit to paint meant that you could vary tones.

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